Acorn Electron

E360388

8-bit computer home computer personal computer

The Acorn Electron is a compact 8-bit home computer released in the 1980s as a cost-reduced, consumer-oriented version of Acorn's BBC Micro.

Try in SPARQL Jump to: Surface forms Disambiguation Statements Elicitation Referenced by

All labels observed (3)

Label	Occurrences
Acorn Electron canonical	3
Acorn Plus 1	1
Acorn home computers	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T3421677 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Acorn Electron
Context triple: [Acorn Computers, notableProduct, Acorn Electron]

A. Acorn Atom
The Acorn Atom was an early 1980s home computer from Acorn Computers that helped establish the company in the personal computing market and paved the way for its later BBC Micro line.
B. Amstrad CPC
The Amstrad CPC is an 8-bit home computer line from the 1980s, popular in Europe for gaming and productivity software.
C. Atari ST
The Atari ST is a 16/32-bit home computer line from the mid-1980s known for its advanced graphics and MIDI capabilities, popular in gaming, music production, and desktop publishing.
D. BBC Micro
The BBC Micro was a popular 1980s British home and educational computer, widely used in schools and influential in early personal computing and programming education in the UK.
E. Amiga
Amiga is a family of advanced 16/32-bit home computers developed by Commodore in the 1980s and early 1990s, renowned for their pioneering multimedia and gaming capabilities.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Acorn Electron
Target entity description: The Acorn Electron is a compact 8-bit home computer released in the 1980s as a cost-reduced, consumer-oriented version of Acorn's BBC Micro.

A. Acorn Atom
The Acorn Atom was an early 1980s home computer from Acorn Computers that helped establish the company in the personal computing market and paved the way for its later BBC Micro line.
B. Amstrad CPC
The Amstrad CPC is an 8-bit home computer line from the 1980s, popular in Europe for gaming and productivity software.
C. Atari ST
The Atari ST is a 16/32-bit home computer line from the mid-1980s known for its advanced graphics and MIDI capabilities, popular in gaming, music production, and desktop publishing.
D. BBC Micro
The BBC Micro was a popular 1980s British home and educational computer, widely used in schools and influential in early personal computing and programming education in the UK.
E. Amiga
Amiga is a family of advanced 16/32-bit home computers developed by Commodore in the 1980s and early 1990s, renowned for their pioneering multimedia and gaming capabilities.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (50)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	8-bit computer ⓘ home computer ⓘ personal computer ⓘ
architecture	MOS Technology 6502 ⓘ
basedOn	BBC Micro architecture ⓘ linked to: BBC Micro
caseColor	beige ⓘ
clockSpeed	2 MHz ⓘ
compatibleWith	many BBC Micro software titles ⓘ
countryOfOrigin	United Kingdom ⓘ
CPU	MOS Technology 6502A ⓘ linked to: MOS Technology 6502
designGoal	cost-reduced version of BBC Micro ⓘ
developer	Acorn Computers ⓘ
discontinued	1980s ⓘ
expansionUnit	Acorn Advanced Plus 3 ⓘ linked to: Acorn Plus 3 Acorn Plus 1 ⓘ linked to: Acorn Electron Acorn Plus 2 ⓘ Acorn Plus 3 ⓘ Acorn Plus 4 ⓘ linked to: Acorn Plus 2
formFactor	all-in-one keyboard computer ⓘ
graphicsMode	up to 640×256 resolution ⓘ up to 8 colors ⓘ
I/OPort	RGB video (via expansion) ⓘ cassette interface ⓘ edge connector expansion port ⓘ joystick port (via expansion) ⓘ printer port (via expansion) ⓘ
introductionYear	1983 ⓘ
keyboardType	full-travel QWERTY keyboard ⓘ
manufacturer	Acorn Computers ⓘ
marketRegion	United Kingdom ⓘ Western Europe ⓘ
notableFeature	BBC BASIC in ROM ⓘ cost-reduced design using ULA to integrate logic ⓘ software compatibility with BBC Micro (partially) ⓘ
operatingSystem	Acorn MOS ⓘ
powerSupply	external power supply unit ⓘ
predecessor	BBC Micro ⓘ
primaryLanguage	BBC BASIC ⓘ
RAM	32 KB ⓘ
releaseDate	August 1983 ⓘ
ROM	32 KB ⓘ
soundChannels	1-channel sound ⓘ
soundChip	Texas Instruments SN76489-compatible ⓘ linked to: Texas Instruments SN76489
storageMedium	3.5-inch floppy disk (via expansion) ⓘ 5.25-inch floppy disk (via expansion) ⓘ compact cassette ⓘ
targetMarket	home computer market ⓘ
videoOutput	RF output ⓘ composite video (via expansion or modification) ⓘ
wordSize	8-bit ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (5)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Acorn Computers → notableProduct → Acorn Electron ⓘ

BBC BASIC → usedOn → Acorn Electron ⓘ

BBC Micro → relatedPlatform → Acorn Electron ⓘ

subject linked to: BBC Micro in 1981

Acorn Electron → expansionUnit → Acorn Plus 1 ⓘ

linked to: Acorn Electron

The National Museum of Computing → hasExhibit → Acorn home computers ⓘ

subject linked to: The National Museum of Computing, Bletchley Park