Franklin ACE 1200

NAME	ACE 1200
MANUFACTURER	Franklin
TYPE	Home Computer
ORIGIN	U.S.A.
YEAR	1983
END OF PRODUCTION	1984
BUILT IN LANGUAGE	None
KEYBOARD	Full Stroke 71 keys
CPU	6502
SPEED	1.022 MHz
COPROCESSOR	None
RAM	64 KB
ROM	16 KB
TEXT MODES	40 x 24
GRAPHIC MODES	40 x 48 / 208 x 160 / 280 x 192
COLORS	Monochrome
SOUND	1 voice - built-in speaker
SIZE / WEIGHT	46 (W) x 50 (D) x 20.5 (H) cm.
I/O PORTS	Joystick, composite video, 8 Apple II compatible slots
BUILT IN MEDIA	1 or 2 integrated 5.25 160 KB F.D. drives
OS	Apple II DOS (DOS-1) and CP/M
POWER SUPPLY	Built-in switching power supply unit
PERIPHERALS	Apple II extensions
PRICE	Unknown

Franklin ACE-1200

ACE 1200

The Franklin ACE 1200 was the last Apple compatible computer made by Franklin Computers Corporation. Like the ACE 1000, from which it kept all its features, it was completely compatible with Apple II+.

It was equipped from factory line with a Z80 board, a floppy disk control board, a 80 columns board and a serial / parallel board that gave it the ability to also run all the software for the CP/M operating system.

The box lid plugged the two floppy drives and the keyboard had typematic and lower case ability. The serial / parallel board experienced some compatibility flaws as printers connected to them were not automatically recognized by Apple II management software.

In September 1983, Franklin lost a trial against Apple for counterfeiting ROM software from Apple II and II+. Moreover the Apple IIe , launched some time later with 2 special keys allowed to distinguish between true Apple and compatible machines. However, Franklin still produced Apple II and PC compatible computers (ACE-500, ACE-2000, PC-8000) for about two years before devoting them to pocket translators.