Sam User Manual

An unchanged reprint (complete with errors) is available, styled as the '30th Anniversary Edition' and sale on Amazon:

The SAM Coupé was an 8-bit British home computer first released in late 1989. Designed to offer backwards compatibility with the ZX Spectrum, it was marketed as a logical upgrade for owners of the much-loved range of Sinclair machines. Originally manufactured by Miles Gordon Technology, the SAM Coupé promised a great deal. Sadly, however, it was not a financial success due to a lack of commercial software and tough competition from the faster 16-bit processors of its rivals.

This 30th Anniversary Edition User's Guide features a new foreword from Mel Croucher, the original author. The manual is Illustrated throughout by Robin Evans, his memorable creation Sam the Robot always on hand to help users get the most out of their wonder machine.

Offered as both a collector's piece and a valuable resource for lucky owners of a SAM Coupé today, we are excited to bring this slice of computing history back to life for the first time in thirty years.

30th Anniversary Edition ISBN-13: 9781789824520, ISBN-10: 1789824524

Errata

Published - see also Errata Sheet

Page 78 - The BLITZ command is optimised for MODE4, to RECORD it in MODE3 you must set FATPIX 1, although it can be BLITZed in either FATPIX modes

Page 94 - BEEP command has a maximum duration of 7.999 seconds, not 16

Page 106 - DUMP command requires a driver to be loaded via SAMDOS disk

Page 107 - To print printer control codes you must use binary mode first e.g. OPEN#3;"b" : PRINT #3;CHR$<code>: CLOSE #3 followed by reopening it for text with  OPEN#3;"p".  Alternatively you can use channel 4 for control codes leaving 3 open for text as normal:OPEN#4;"b" : PRINT #4;CHR$<code>: LPRINT "Test Text"

Page 178 - [SYMB] [RETURN] to toggle the keys [F0] to [F9] to give numbers is incorrect, this is [SYMB] [EDIT]

Additional

Page 3 - RF lead shown as seperate, this was built into the External PSU and thus there is no lead and no phono socket on the PSU

Page 4 - There is no TV phono plug, it is an RF plug

Page 11 - Power input is not 15VDC, it is 5V and 12V

Page 67 - Misattributed quote https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_pen_is_mightier_than_the_sword

Page 104 - SCART socket pin out does not conform to SCART standard.

Page 133 - The 'C' in ASCII is 'Code' not 'Codes' https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ASCII

Page 133 - BASIC is missing the 'I' definition https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BASIC

Page 134 - BLOCKS mentions command 'BGRAPHICS' that does not exist.

Page 139 - Typo of DEF FN as DEF IN (OCR error?)

Page 140 - Disc Drive confusion with Memory Expansion - This should read something like 'The SAM Coupé is fitted with two sockets for custom-made disk drives. Each drive can store 800Kbytes of data'

Page 151 - Memory - There are no sockets to install RAM, there is a single header for the Memory Expansion board

Page 152 - Mouse section omits BUTTON reference

Page 156 - Typo of PI as PT (OCR error?)

Page 160 - ROLL has a capitalised 'x'

Page 161 - SCROLL is missing the 'y' parameter

Page 170 - DC power is also 12V at 100mA

Page 172 - SCART requires resistors and blanking/switching connections for modern TV's, RF lead shown as seperate, this was built into the External PSU and thus there is no lead