The Genie I was hardware- and software-compatible with the TRS-80 Model I, but not as reliable. The Genie I was sold in Europe as the Video Genie, in the U.S. by Personal Micro Computers Inc. as the PMC-80, in South Africa as the TRZ-80, and in Australia as the Dick Smith System 80. A Genie II was also TRS-80 Model I-compatible, but did not have a built-in cassette recorder or RF modulator. The systems were poorly shielded for RF interference. In the U.S., the PMC-80 Expander allowed up to four floppy drives to be connected to the system and provided an S-100 expansion slot.
Tandy sued Personal Microcomputers and Eaca International for patent infringement in early 1981. That didn’t stop PMC from introducing the PMC-81 that year. It was similar to the PMC-80, but with a keypad and an optional EXP-100 Expander. The EXP-100 provided an S-100 bus and interfaces for a disk drive, printer, and RS-232C. A Genie II EG3008 model had an integrated keyboard/keypad combination
Primarily a CP/M system, the Genie III’s BASIC was same used in Tandy TRS-80 systems. A multiuser version of the Genie III was available with 192K RAM and the MPM/II operating system. The Colour Genie was sold primarily in Europe, Asia, and Australia.
Eaca International Genie I EG3003 (1980, desktop)
Original Retail Price: $645
Base Configuration: 1.79MHz Z80, 16K RAM (48K max), 13.5K ROM, TV video and monitor ports, integral keyboard, RS-232 port, Level II BASIC in ROM, user’s guide, beginner’s programming manual, BASIC reference manual
Video: 16-line x 64-column uppercase text, 128 x 48 graphics
Size/Weight: 21.26 x 4.33 x 14.57 inches, beige
Important Options: internal or external cassette recorder, floppy disk drive, monochrome monitor, uppercase character modification, Expander box, Communicator (modem and parallel ports)
Eaca International Genie III (1982, desktop)
Base Configuration: 3.2MHz Z80A CPU, CP/M 2.2 or GDOS 2.0, 64K RAM, 2K ROM, two 5.25-inch floppy disk drives, integral 12-inch monochrome CRT, keyboard/keypad, RS-232C and parallel ports, Microsoft Level II BASIC, owner’s and programming manuals
Video: 24-line x 80-column text
Size/Weight: 21 x 4.3 x 14.4 inches
Important Options: MPM/II, 5MB hard disk drive, cassette recorder, hi-res graphics card, technical reference
Eaca International EG2000 Colour Genie (1982, desktop)
Base Configuration: 2.2MHz Z80 CPU; expansion port; 16K RAM (32K max); 16K ROM; monitor port; TV adapter; keyboard; RS-232C, parallel, and light-pen ports; Extended Microsoft BASIC, two BASIC manuals; setup cassettes
Video: 24-line x 40-column text, 160 x 96 graphics, eight colors
Size/Weight: 17.3 x 3.3 x 10.9 inches
Important Options: expansion unit, EG2016 cassette recorder, 5.25-inch floppy disk drive, EG2013 joysticks, light pen, EG602 printer
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