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Explore the extensive and ever-growing collection of trackers for each platform, featuring detailed information.
Explore the extensive and ever-growing collection of trackers for each platform, featuring detailed information.
The Elektronika BK is a series of fanless, 16-bit PFP-11-compatible home computers developed under the Elektronika brand by NPO Scientific Center, the leading Soviet team at the time. It was also the predecessor to the more powerful UKNC and DVK computers.
Released in 1984 (developed in 1983), the computer was based on the K1801BM1 (the Soviet LSI-11-compatible processor) and was the only "official" computer to be mass-produced.
They sold for around 600-650 rubles. This was expensive but affordable, making them one of the most popular computers in the Soviet Union, despite having several problems. Later, in the 1990s, their powerful processor and simple, easy-to-program design made them popular as demonstration machines. BK (БК) is the Russian abbreviation for "бытовой компьютер" – home computer. The machines were also used briefly as cash registers, for example, in the GUM department stores.
Although the BK-0010 was one of the least expensive Soviet computers and its speed (as well as its memory, graphics, etc.) differed little from basic 8-bit models, it was one of the world's first fully 16-bit home computers (unlike the TI-99/4A, the BK had controllers with the same data bus width). The Intellivision used a very similar, fully 16-bit processor, the General Instrument CP1600, and with the Keyboard Component or ECS extensions, it was transformed into a fully 16-bit home computer. The IBM PC and PCjr were 8/16-bit computers because their 8088 processor has an 8-bit data bus and a 16-bit internal bus.
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