Introduction to 8-bit Famicom Clone – Subor – SB2000


Nintendo Entertainment System Family Game Console (often known as NES) was quite popular in 1980’s and early 90’s.  The NES comes with a 6502 CPU which has a 1.78MHz frequency. Two joysticks and the game often comes with ROM (known as the cartridge).

In the 1990’s, in China, there were many manufactures that produce the famicom clone. These machines are built based on the NES (copier, not the original import from Japan), and they have the keyboards. And the parents believed that they can be used to help kids study. But in fact, most of the children spent time on NES games.

The SB2000, produced by Subor company in Zhongshan, China, was their last famicom clone (with floppy drives) in the product line. The machine has a separate keyboard, unlike other similar products that have keyboard and everything together in one piece. The Keyboard is *AT* socket (big PS/2) so it can be replaced.

The mouse is RS232 (9 pin) and it can use the standard PC mouse as well. A 1.44M (3.5 inch) floppy driver is included. a 8-bit CPU UM6576. The box looks like this when shipped (brand new, in store)

IMG_3114 Introduction to 8-bit Famicom Clone - Subor - SB2000 6502 8 bit famicom hardware Subor

Let’s take a look into what is included inside:

IMG_3115 Introduction to 8-bit Famicom Clone - Subor - SB2000 6502 8 bit famicom hardware Subor

You can see the big keyboard (i like how it looks), and the mouse, two joysticks, the power adapter (220V, 9V 800mAh) and the main box. The keyboard has *AT* big PS/2 socket, you can buy a converter to convert *AT* to *PS/2*, so that you can use the PC standard PS/2 keyboard to this famicom clone.

2013-12-11-13.22.27 Introduction to 8-bit Famicom Clone - Subor - SB2000 6502 8 bit famicom hardware Subor

The rear look is like this:

IMG_3128 Introduction to 8-bit Famicom Clone - Subor - SB2000 6502 8 bit famicom hardware Subor

The overall looks when everything set up is:

0f4e35721e822d6717bd365c5b1a28e1.jpg Introduction to 8-bit Famicom Clone - Subor - SB2000 6502 8 bit famicom hardware Subor

1216f3bf3e7fb4ba64513c702fb24556.jpg Introduction to 8-bit Famicom Clone - Subor - SB2000 6502 8 bit famicom hardware Subor

The floppy disk can be replaced by a Floppy Disk Emulator, so it looks more modern. USB drivers can be used to simulate 100 floppy disks (1.44M each) and switched by the buttons on the panel.

77ec68fa29f10a508c67d44994837873.jpg Introduction to 8-bit Famicom Clone - Subor - SB2000 6502 8 bit famicom hardware Subor

It has a 8-bit Operating System (SB-DOS), which has basic commands like: dir, cd, format and etc (disk/file management)

5ffaa1bf398181827fc99a5a53666066.jpg Introduction to 8-bit Famicom Clone - Subor - SB2000 6502 8 bit famicom hardware Subor

The SB2000 powers up, and a system checkup is performed: we can see that 1024 K RAM (in fact 512K usable + 512K ROM), 512K Graphic Memory.

QQ%E5%9B%BE%E7%89%8720131123013748 Introduction to 8-bit Famicom Clone - Subor - SB2000 6502 8 bit famicom hardware Subor

The SB2000 has a 6502-series CPU, i.e. UM6576, 8 bit.

Subor SB2000 Hardware List

  • CPU – UM6561 (8-bit)
  • RAM – 512 KB
  • ROM – 512 KB
  • Mouse – RS232
  • Keyboard – AT
  • Floppy Drive 3.5 inch
  • Famicom cartridge slot (compatible with most 8-bit game cartridges, 60 pin)
  • 2 Joysticks (15 pin)
  • Power adapter 220 V (In), 9V 800mhA (Out)
  • RF Lead
  • 2 Programming Manuals (F-basic etc)
  • 4 Floppy Disks
  • DB25 Port (parallel print port)
  • 9 pin COM port (serial port)
  • Composite A/V port

–EOF (The Ultimate Computing & Technology Blog) —

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