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Special Hybrid 386SX

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First post, by melbar

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There's something special actually on ebay which i've never seen before:

A hybrid 386-SX with integrated Mega-Drive. Looks really curious. Let's see what i find with google further info's from this rare PC...

http://segaretro.org/File:Megapc_uk_ad.jpg

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Reply 1 of 7, by HighTreason

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Ah, the Amstrad Mega PC. Certainly an interesting oddity if there ever was one.

I've heard they do some interesting things. As far as I know, they actually keep the DOS session alive while using the Mega Drive section and I think they have more than one ISA slot in them.

I don't own one, but I do have one of these;
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^ Not mine, but pretty much the same.

This doesn't save the session, has only a single slot and features a really crappy 286 processor. I don't believe I'm the only owner of this system on the forum. I do wonder if the Amstrad model can access the Mega Drive side from the DOS side as is possible on the Teradrive though, haven't seen anybody do that with it. Also uncertain which, if any, expansions it works with or if it contains a real Z80, the TD doesn't and I seem to remember no real 2612 either.

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Reply 2 of 7, by melbar

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Really interesting:

They say, it's the only MegaDrive / Genesis which has a VGA output 😀

http://www.retrothing.com/2007/07/amstrad-mega-pc.html

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EDIT:

here is the difference between Amstrad MEGA-PC and a TeraDrive:

"The Amstrad was more powerful than the TeraDrive, with a 25MHz 386 processor, and had more RAM (16MB compared to 2.5). The TeraDrive was more flexible, however. Where the Amstrad was literally a PC with a MegaDrive inside, the TeraDrive was a hybrid machine with both units integrated and to some extent aware of each other. The Amstrad had a sliding door which would shut off one unit and activate another, Slide it to the PC side and you unconvered the MegaDrive cartridge slot and pad ports. Slide it the other way to uncover the PC floppy drive. The Amstrad was also shoddily manufactured, where the TeraDrive was very robust."

http://nfggames.com/games/teradrive/

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Reply 3 of 7, by brostenen

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Lazy gamer's review (or something like that) has a series of oddyties and stuff like that on youtube.
These machines are being mentioned by him in one of his videos.
Someone else, or possibly the same dude, has a more in dept video on these machines.

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Reply 5 of 7, by ynari

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I remember the MegaPC - it seemed quite cool, but in difference to the linked page I remember it as not being that fast, and definitely being overpriced. In 1993 I bought a 486DX33 system, which wasn't exactly cheap, but was an awful lot better than a 386SX25..

Reply 6 of 7, by keropi

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Ofcourse the MegaPC would be more expensive, it had a custom design with a megadrive in it and came ofcourse with a dual-sync VGA monitor that wasn't exactly cheap on it's own back then 😉
At some time I was actively pursuing to get a complete setup, shipping was a killer but in retrospect I should have done it... now chances are less than slim to get one (for me) 😐

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Reply 7 of 7, by melbar

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Wow! The Mega PC is actually >150€ on ebay, it ends in a few hours.

Ok, the new price was also high: 599£ regarding the actual exchange rate: 758€ or "1483 D-Mark" 🤑

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EDIT:
Final price,

EUR 204,99 , with 70 bids, not bad!

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