Acorn Plus 1

"All in all, it's a very good piece of hardware that takes the Electron into the same league as other, more expensive micros. While the lack of joystick-compatible software and the cartridges is a mark against it, I have little doubt that time will remedy this. As it is, the Plus 1 has to be the most useful Electron expansion unit to come on the market." - Trevor Roberts, Electron User, September 1984

What It Does

The Acorn Plus 1 is a large 34cm x 9cm x 5cm expansion for the Acorn Electron. It connects to the edge connector of the Acorn Electron or the Acorn Plus 3.

The Acorn Plus 1 provides connections for many new peripherals to be added to the machine. Its rearside features a Centronics printer port and analogue joystick connector. Its top features two cartridge slots; originally these were designed for the Acornsoft ROM cartridges that were produced simultaneously. However, many third party distributors developed interfaces that also use them.

The Acorn Plus 1 came supplied with a User Guide, and a cable for connecting a Centronics printer.

The Acorn Plus 1 can be upgraded internally with the following products: PRES AP2 ROM, the PRES ADVANCED PLUS 6 and the PRES ADVANCED PLUS 7.

The Acorn Plus 1 was originally available in high street stores or by mail order from Acorn Computers for £99. A second hand Acorn Plus 1 will usually sell on eBay for £5-£10.

Note: Sellers are frequently unaware of any internal upgrades that have been made to an Acorn Plus 1. Internal upgrading involves unscrewing the three screws on the rear of the case. See the information on the expansions listed above for more details.