Acorn R140

The Acorn R140 adapted the A440/1-class hardware as a Unix workstation running Acorn’s BSD-derived RISC iX operating system. It combined a graphical RISC OS boot environment with multi-user Unix tools and networking.

The R140 was Acorn’s first commercial ARM Unix workstation and took the Archimedes architecture beyond education and personal computing.

Notable Features

• Acorn ARM2 at 8 MHz provides the system’s processing architecture.
• The standard memory configuration was 4MB.
• Storage was supplied as 800KB floppy drive and approximately 60MB hard disc.

Historical Significance

• The R140 was Acorn’s first commercial ARM Unix workstation and took the Archimedes architecture beyond education and personal computing.
• This record separates a genuine processor, memory, enclosure or storage model from software bundles and dealer-only configurations.

Collector’s Notes

• Confirm the exact model from its front badge and rear serial label because many Acorn systems were upgraded during their working lives.
• Original monitors, three-button mice, keyboards, expansion podules, manuals and installation media add historical value.

Specifications

Technical Information
Name	Acorn R140
Manufacturer	Acorn Computers
Launched	Sunday, January 1, 1989
Discontinued	1990
Country	United Kingdom
CPU	Acorn ARM2 at 8 MHz
Units Sold
CPU Speed	8 MHz
RAM	4MB
ROM	512KB RISC OS boot ROM
Display	External high-resolution monitor
Graphics	Acorn VIDC colour and monochrome graphics
Sound	Eight-channel, eight-bit stereo sound
Storage	800KB floppy drive and approximately 60MB hard disc
Keyboard	Separate keyboard and three-button mouse
I/O	Video, audio, serial, parallel, Ethernet/Econet options and four podule slots
Operating System	RISC iX 1.1 with RISC OS boot environment