Dragon 32/64

The Dragon 32/64 was a line of computers introduced in 1982 by Welsh company Dragon Data. Like its close cousins, the TRS-80 Color Computer (CoCo) and Fujitsu FM-7/77, the Dragon line was based on a reference machine designed by Motorola for its 6809 processor. The Dragon was licensed to be sold in several different markets, including in the US by Tano (where it competed with the CoCo on its home turf), in Scandinavia by Finlux and in Spain by Enseñanzas ATV but its main success was in the UK.

Like the other 6809 machines, the Dragon did not have impressive graphics capabilities, managing 128x192 with 4 colors or 256x192 in monochrome despite having a more capable processor than its other 8-bit contemporary microcomputers. It offered decent sound capabilities with up to 4 channels of sound with a 7 octave range. The names of the two classic Dragon models, the 32 and 64 reflect the amount of RAM shipped with each model (32K and 64K respectively). The 64 model also added a serial port. Unfortunately as a game and graphics platform, the Dragon trailed in the UK market behind both other British machines like the ZX Spectrum and BBC Micro as well as international microcomputers like the Commodore 64/128.

Dragon Data was a subsidiary of the toy company Mettoy which had considerable financial difficulties even before Dragon was spun off into its own company. Dragon did little better and by early 1984 the company entered receivership. Attempts were made to sell the company to Tandy as the Dragon did outsell the CoCo in the UK, but ultimately the deal fell through and the intellectual rights to the Dragon were sold to Eurohard in August 1984, who moved production to Spain.

Eurohard continued to produce the Dragon 32 and 64 models before introducing the Dragon 200 a version of the Dragon 64 with a Spanish keyboard layout and larger case designed to act as the base for a monitor. A variant, the Dragon 200E was also produced which offered additional graphical capabilities such as an 80 column text mode. Ultimately, few pieces of software took advantage of the extra features of either the 64 or the 200, and most Dragon software is backwards compatible to the initial 32 model. The Dragon failed to catch on in Spain, with less than 17,000 models sold by Eurohard (although the Spanish government purchased an additional 20,000 for educational use in schools), and Eurohard closed its doors in early 1987.

Most Dragon software was distributed on cassettes, although cartridges and diskettes were also available over the life of the system.