Like the ACE 1000 from wich it kept all its features, the Franklin ACE 1200 was completely compatible with the Apple II+.
It was equipped from factory line with a Z80 board, a floppy disk controller 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 weren't automaticaly recognized by Apple II management software.
Franklin machines ran FDOS - Franklin DOS, which was compatible with DOS 3 from Apple, but had a lot of cool features such as built-in RAM disk, disk caching, loadable device drivers, shortened commands, support for hard drives, etc.
In september 1983, Franklin lost a trial against Apple for counterfeiting
ROM software from the Apple II and II+. Moreover the Apple IIe, launched a few 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) for about two years before devoting them to pocket translators.
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I have a Franklin 1200 and it can put out color its not a monochrome system (the 1000 might have been) although the monitor that came with it is. It however has no graphical capability of its own.
Monday 8th July 2019
Aaron (USA)
i owned the franklin 1200 plus computer back in the day 1984 I paid $1000.00 for the computer part and the monitor and it came with software..
The computer was built like a tank. But, I remember it i as very hard to find a modem for the computer since. mine did not have a serial card at the time. I mostly used apple 2 software on my computer..
Wednesday 26th September 2007
Randy Fisher (USA)
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
CO-PROCESSOR
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
