<s>
The	O
ABC	B-Device
80	I-Device
(	O
Advanced	B-Device
BASIC	I-Device
Computer	I-Device
80	I-Device
)	O
was	O
a	O
personal	B-Device
computer	I-Device
engineered	O
by	O
the	O
Swedish	O
corporation	O
Dataindustrier	O
AB	O
(	O
DIAB	O
)	O
and	O
manufactured	O
by	O
Luxor	O
in	O
Motala	O
,	O
Sweden	O
in	O
the	O
late	O
1970s	O
and	O
early	O
1980s	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
ABC	B-Device
80	I-Device
was	O
based	O
on	O
an	O
earlier	O
modular	O
computer	O
system	O
from	O
the	O
same	O
company	O
and	O
built	O
around	O
a	O
Z80	B-General_Concept
and	O
of	O
ROM	B-Device
containing	O
a	O
fast	O
semi-compiling	O
BASIC	O
interpreter	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
had	O
of	O
RAM	B-Architecture
as	O
main	O
memory	O
and	O
a	O
dedicated	O
(	O
included	O
)	O
tape	O
recorder	O
for	O
program	O
and	O
data	O
storage	O
,	O
but	O
could	O
also	O
be	O
expanded	O
to	O
handle	O
disk	O
drives	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
many	O
other	O
peripherals	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
ROM	B-Device
could	O
be	O
extended	O
in	O
increments	O
of	O
1	O
or	O
4KB	O
in	O
order	O
to	O
handle	O
such	O
so	O
called	O
"	O
options	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
monitor	B-Device
was	O
a	O
black	O
and	O
white	O
TV	O
set	O
modified	O
for	O
the	O
purpose	O
,	O
an	O
obvious	O
choice	O
since	O
Luxor	O
also	O
made	O
TVs	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
ABC	B-Device
80	I-Device
was	O
used	O
in	O
schools	O
and	O
offices	O
around	O
Scandinavia	O
and	O
parts	O
of	O
Europe	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Like	O
its	O
successor	O
,	O
the	O
ABC	B-Device
800	I-Device
,	O
the	O
computer	O
had	O
an	O
unusually	O
quick	O
and	O
usable	O
BASIC	O
with	O
excellent	O
I/O	O
response	O
times	O
,	O
something	O
that	O
was	O
often	O
discovered	O
when	O
trying	O
to	O
switch	O
to	O
IBM	O
PC-based	O
personal	B-Device
computers	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Due	O
to	O
its	O
roots	O
in	O
an	O
industrial	O
computer	O
system	O
,	O
the	O
ABC	B-Device
80	I-Device
also	O
had	O
a	O
flexible	O
bus	B-General_Concept
extension	I-General_Concept
system	O
with	O
many	O
(	O
external	O
)	O
expansion	O
and	O
peripheral	O
cards	O
available	O
for	O
various	O
purposes	O
and	O
applications	O
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
high	O
quality	O
support	O
and	O
documentation	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
ABC	B-Device
80	I-Device
was	O
also	O
manufactured	O
on	O
license	O
as	O
BRG	O
ABC80	B-Device
by	O
Budapesti	O
Rádiótechnikai	O
Gyár	O
in	O
Hungary	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
addition	O
to	O
its	O
widespread	O
use	O
in	O
schools	O
,	O
offices	O
and	O
industrial	O
applications	O
,	O
the	O
initially	O
also	O
grasped	O
a	O
majority	O
share	O
of	O
the	O
rising	O
personal	B-Device
computer	I-Device
market	O
in	O
Sweden	O
,	O
partly	O
thanks	O
to	O
its	O
office	B-Application
software	I-Application
in	O
Swedish	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
computer	O
was	O
robust	O
and	O
well	O
engineered	O
,	O
mechanically	O
and	O
electrically	O
,	O
and	O
its	O
BASIC	O
was	O
fast	O
enough	O
that	O
it	O
could	O
be	O
used	O
to	O
write	O
arcade	O
games	O
,	O
without	O
resorting	O
to	O
assembly	B-Language
language	I-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
despite	O
such	O
technical	O
virtues	O
,	O
it	O
could	O
n't	O
defend	O
the	O
home	O
market	O
against	O
the	O
dedicated	O
gaming	O
computers	O
with	O
color	O
and	O
sound	O
that	O
appeared	O
in	O
the	O
early	O
1980s	O
,	O
neither	O
against	O
the	O
cheap	O
ultra	O
simplistic	O
home	O
computers	O
of	O
the	O
same	O
era	O
,	O
even	O
though	O
a	O
new	O
low	O
cost	O
version	O
was	O
released	O
that	O
could	O
use	O
an	O
ordinary	O
TV	O
instead	O
of	O
the	O
dedicated	O
monitor	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Luxor	O
(	O
and	O
Facit	O
)	O
held	O
on	O
to	O
its	O
more	O
professional	O
markets	O
for	O
some	O
more	O
years	O
with	O
the	O
ABC	B-Device
800	I-Device
series	O
(	O
also	O
sold	O
as	O
Facit	O
DTC	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
From	O
1985	O
DIAB	O
and	O
Luxor	O
also	O
tried	O
to	O
compete	O
against	O
the	O
IBM	B-Device
PC	I-Device
in	O
the	O
industrial	O
and	O
office	O
markets	O
with	O
its	O
high	O
performance	O
ABC	B-Operating_System
1600	I-Operating_System
and	O
ABC	O
9000	O
series	O
of	O
computers	O
based	O
on	O
DIABs	O
real-time	B-Operating_System
operating	I-Operating_System
system	I-Operating_System
called	O
DNIX	B-Operating_System
,	O
but	O
failed	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
many	O
ABC	B-Device
80	I-Device
and	O
ABC	B-Device
800	I-Device
machines	O
used	O
in	O
industrial	O
or	O
scientific	O
applications	O
were	O
in	O
use	O
in	O
their	O
respective	O
installations	O
for	O
many	O
years	O
to	O
come	O
,	O
sometimes	O
well	O
into	O
the	O
late	O
1990s	O
,	O
despite	O
no	O
longer	O
being	O
produced	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
order	O
to	O
see	O
how	O
the	O
ABC	B-Device
80	I-Device
would	O
compare	O
to	O
other	O
contemporary	O
personal	B-Device
computers	I-Device
,	O
in	O
1982	O
,	O
the	O
Swedish	O
magazine	O
MikroDatorn	O
ran	O
the	O
Rugg/Feldman	O
benchmarks	O
of	O
eight	O
short	O
BASIC	O
programs	O
(	O
referred	O
to	O
as	O
BM1	O
~	O
BM8	O
)	O
originally	O
published	O
by	O
the	O
American	O
Kilobaud	O
Magazine	O
and	O
routinely	O
used	O
by	O
the	O
British	O
magazine	O
Personal	B-Device
Computer	I-Device
World	O
for	O
testing	O
new	O
machines	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
result	O
was	O
that	O
ABC	B-Device
80	I-Device
's	O
interpreter	B-Application
turned	O
out	O
to	O
be	O
faster	O
than	O
most	O
other	O
BASICs	O
used	O
in	O
popular	O
machines	O
,	O
especially	O
when	O
integer	O
variables	O
are	O
used	O
,	O
the	O
results	O
for	O
some	O
well	O
known	O
computers	O
were	O
as	O
follows	O
(	O
times	O
in	O
seconds	O
,	O
lower	O
is	O
better	O
)	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
seen	O
from	O
the	O
table	O
,	O
the	O
ABC	B-Device
80	I-Device
were	O
up	O
to	O
as	O
fast	O
as	O
the	O
IBM	B-Device
PC	I-Device
using	O
integers	O
and	O
up	O
to	O
as	O
fast	O
using	O
floating	B-Algorithm
point	I-Algorithm
calculations	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
due	O
to	O
a	O
sub-optimal	O
exponentiation	O
algorithm	O
,	O
the	O
ABC	B-Device
80	I-Device
was	O
slow	O
on	O
BM8	O
(	O
which	O
was	O
fixed	O
in	O
the	O
ABC	B-Device
800	I-Device
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Compared	O
to	O
the	O
cheap	O
Sinclair	O
ZX81	O
,	O
the	O
ABC	B-Device
80	I-Device
was	O
actually	O
as	O
fast	O
on	O
the	O
simple	O
loop	O
of	O
BM1	O
(	O
with	O
the	O
ZX81	O
running	O
in	O
fast	O
mode	O
,	O
i.e.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
circuitry	O
in	O
the	O
ABC	B-Device
80	I-Device
is	O
described	O
in	O
detail	O
in	O
the	O
book	O
Mikrodatorns	O
ABC	O
(	O
The	O
microcomputer	O
ABC	O
)	O
,	O
by	O
Gunnar	O
Markesjö	O
.	O
</s>
