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CPU: ZILOG Z80A @ 3.5 MHz
RAM: 4 K  20K MAX
Display: Built in TV Modulator 40 X 24 Text,  80 X 72 Graphics, 16 colors
Expansion: Expansion Connector
Ports: TV modulator, Cartridge / Expansion Printer, Tape Recorder
Storage: Cassette Recorder and (Proposed, but unknown if ever produced) Hard Drive/ Floppy Drive unit
O/S: Microsoft Basic 2.0

Mattel Electronics by 1983 Decided the need a "REAL" computer as a "Big Brother" to their

Intellivision gaming system, so they went to Radofin who was already making the

Intellivision for them. After the fiasco with the Intellivision Computer component, the

launched the "Aquarius". The Aquarius WAS state of the art in 1970, too bad this was 1983.

It was only shipped for 4 months under the Mattel logo and only (reportedly) in the US and

U.K.  Some reports say there was less then 8,000 units shipped, making it a rare computer

indeed.

Not much is really known

about the fate of the

Aquarius after Mattel

discontinued shipping, but

a few "Non- Mattel" units

have surfaced on E-Bay. They are identical units in every way, except that there is no  "Mattel logo

on the unit or anywhere in

the manual or box, and

the box is multi-lingual.

The best authorities on the net about the Aquarius is The Blue Sky Rangers website at

www.intellivisionlives.com. (the Blue Sky Rangers are the original programmers for the

Intellivision.)  Not too many peripherals  are know too exist. 2 Printers were produced, a

thermal printer and a color dot matrix. A 300 baud Modem was created as a Cartridge. And

various Games, Like Tron, Night Stalker, Snafu, 

Astrosmash and Utopia,

But in order To Play games, you had to have had

the Mini-expansion unit. There also was a hard drive/ Floppy Drive unit.  Called the Aquarius Master Expansion Module, but it is unknown if Radofin ever produced any. The Non- Mattel

instruction manual makes a very clear reference to

it, but So -far none have seemed to have surfaced.

Mattel Also published reference to a Aquarius 2 unit with 20

K of Ram and a better keyboard, but it is unknown if any were made by Radofin.

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(c) 2004, 2005 Brian K. Hahn

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