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1. Two (2) Altos MP/M (multi-user CP/M) systems.
Built circa 1978; purchased used in 1986.
CPU:
Zilog Z80A 4 MHz
RAM:
From 32 KB to 208 KB
Storage:
Two 8" floppy drives
Networking: Four RS232 serial ports for
ASCII terminals
O/S:
Digital Research
CP/M or
MP/M
Notes: Up to four users could be accommodated
on these machines, using terminals;
each user got
something like a 48K memory
space. It has been
difficult to pin-point the exact
age of these machines;
Altos Computer Systems was founded
in 1976, and
these appear to be one of their
early models since it
uses
8” floppy
disks, a format that by
1980 was
considered to be obsolete. In the machines I have,
Altos mounted the floppy drives upside down,
apparently by accident. The previous owner of these
machines learned to always insert their floppies
upside
down to match! I have a small supply of 8”
floppies
that came with these machines.
Acquired with these machines were two
Hazeltine
terminals and two
heavy-duty Texas
Instruments
model 820 line
printers. The Hazeltine terminals
eventually stopped
working and I had to junk them; the
printers kept working
so I
still have them. Amazingly
almost thirty years later
you can still get replacement
ribbons and service for these printers.
Historical Notes: Altos Computer Systems was one
of the earliest companies making
business-oriented
microcomputers. Founded in 1976, it
peaked in the
mid-Eighties with a popular line of
Xenix-based multi-
user systems. The company was sold to
Acer
America in 1990. The Altos name is still being used
for
Acer’s line of
file servers.
The
CP/M (Control Program for
Microcomputers)
operating system was
developed in the early
Seventies, almost a decade before
MS-DOS. Until MS-
DOS took over, CP/M was the
business operating
system for microcomputers. Many popular business
applications such as
WordStar and dBase were first
published for the CP/M platform. Apple developed
a
Z80 card for the Apple II so it could run
CP/M business
applications; Commodore took the
approach of
building in a Z80 CPU in addition to the usual 6510
microprocessor in some of it’s more advanced
machines (see the SX-64 and C128, below).
A typical CP/M screen shot is at
right.
In popular culture, a CP/M machine (the
IMSAI 8080)
was featured in the 1983 movie WarGames.
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(An example of Altos's "Packed With Fresh Ideas" advertising)
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2. Atari 800 System.
Built 1979, Purchased used in 2002.
CPU:
MOS Technology 6502 1.79 MHz
RAM: 48 KB
Storage:
Two internal cartridge slots.
Atari 810 external
5.25" floppy drive,
180 KB per disk (90 KB per
side).
Atari 410 external
cassette tape drive,
aprox. 100 KB per 60-minute tape.
Graphics: 320 x 192 mono or 160 x 192 x 4 colors
Audio: Mono, up to
16-bit
Misc
Hardware: RGB and TV-RF
output, bus
expansion
slots, four joystick ports
O/S:
Atari DOS (proprietary)
Along with my model 400s this
is the oldest personal
computer in my collection.
The photo at upper right shows the system and
peripherals I purchased. The 800 was the high-end
system to
the lower-end 400 model (see below).
Unlike the 400, the more expensive 800 featured a full-
size regular keyboard and more memory.
With the
optional diskette drive this system cost around $1,600
in 1979 dollars.
The photo at right from the Atari Museum web site
shows a closer view of the external floppy drive.
This drive
was expensive ($600) but much faster than
the cassette drive for storage.
One
of the big motivations for building this collection
of antique computers is to able to finally play with
the
many cool machines I couldn't afford back in the day;
these first Atari computers were high on my list of
"wish I could have" machines.
I haven't been able to find definitive
info on the
capacity limit of the ROM (Read-Only Memory)
cartridges; since the 6502 CPU could only address
64 KB of memory, I'm guessing that was the
maximum storage capacity of a compatible ROM
cartridge. Due to the high cost of that much memory
in 1979, most cartridges probably contained only 8 to
16 KB.
Additional Links:
Atari Museum page on the Atari 800
Oldcomputers.net page on the
Atari 800
Atari Source - Hardware page
Inside Atari DOS
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Original 1979 Advertisement
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3. Two (2) Atari 400s.
Built 1979, Purchased used in 2002.
CPU:
MOS Technology 6502 1.79 MHz
RAM:
16 KB
Storage:
One ROM cartridge slot
(probable max
64 KB of memory per cartridge).
Graphics: 320 x 192 mono or 160 x 192 x 4 colors
Audio: Mono,
up to 16-bit
Misc
Hardware: RGB and TV-RF
output, four joystick ports,
came with one Atari
joystick.
O/S: Atari proprietary
Along with my model 800 the oldest
personal
computers in my collection. I have five software
cartridges (Pacman,
Defender, two
other games plus
BASIC). As you can see from the picture, the
machine has a nice streamlined
case design that still
looks remarkably modern 23
years later. Other nice
features are zero boot time
when using the application
cartridges, and
completely silent operation since a
1.79 MHz processor doesn’t
need a cooling fan…
The keyboard (see photo at right) is a membrane-type,
designed to be child-proof.
Technology notes: Nine of my antiques are powered
by 6502-based CPUs; this microprocessor was
shipped in tens of millions of computers and game
consoles throughout the Seventies & Eighties and in
fact is
still being used in 2008 for various specialty
applications (cars, toys, etc.).
Additional Links:
Wikipedia Atari 8-bit Systems page
Wikipedia High Resolution Photo of System
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"Star Wars" for the Atari
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4. Timex Sinclair ZX81.
Built circa 1981, purchased used in 2007.
CPU:
Zilog Z80A 3.5 MHz
RAM: 1 KB internal (expandable to 64 KB
with
external modules)
Storage:
Cassette port
Graphics: 24 lines x 32 characters text or 64 x 48
pixel graphics monochrome.
Audio: None
Misc
Hardware: Z80 bus
expansion slot, tape port.
Sinclair thermal printer
O/S: Sinclair ROM
BASIC
Notes: A very popular home computer due to it’s low
price of only $100. Over one million were sold before
it was replaced by a model capable of color output.
Expansion modules for this computer could be daisy-
chained together from the side expansion slot.
Additional Links:
Wikipedia
Sinclair ZX81 page
Old Computers.com page
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4A. Commodore VIC-20.
Built circa 1981, purchased used in 2002.
CPU:
MOS Technology 6502 1.0 MHz
RAM: 5 KB (expandable to at least 32K
with
an external cartridge)
Storage:
One ROM cartridge slot
Commodore C2N Cassette drive
Graphics: 22 lines x 23 characters text or 176 x 184
pixel graphics with 16 colors.
Audio: Mono
Misc
Hardware: Expansion
port, serial port, joystick port
O/S: Commodore proprietary ROM
BASIC
Notes: Another popular home computer due to it’s low
price ($299), in fact at
the time it was probably the
least expensive machine that had a full-size keyboard
and color graphics and sound. More than a million
units were sold
during the couple of years that
this
model was available.
Commodore C2N Cassette drive is shown at right.
This was the only way on the VIC-20 to save programs
written in Commodore BASIC.
Back in 1982 I briefly borrowed a
VIC-20 to practice
some programming; unfortunately it did not have the
tape drive, so anything I wrote only lasted until the
machine was switched off. Luckily for me,
Marin
County,
where I was living at the time, received a large
amount of money from an
estate trust.
Some of
these funds were used to equip every county library
with a brand-new
Commodore PET
business
computer complete with cassette drive. Not being
able to afford my own computer, I spent many hours
at the local library learning programming on their
machine, using a cassette tape I purchased to save
and retrieve my work.
In 1984 I was finally able to afford
to buy my first
computer, which was an
IBM PCjr. The system
cost
around $1,200. For an extra $500 the IBM floppy drive
could be added but I couldn't afford it, so I continued to
use tape cassettes for storage. Both the original
IBM PC
and the PCjr were made with tape cassette
interfaces.
Additional Links:
Wikipedia Commodore
VIC-20 page
Wikipedia High Resolution Photo of System
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Video - Commodore VIC-20
Commercial
with William Shatner
(circa 1981)
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5. Two (2) Commodore 64 machines.
Built circa 1982, purchased used in 2002.
CPU:
MOS Technology 6510 1.0 MHz
RAM: 64 KB
Storage: Commodore
1541 5¼” 170K external
floppy drive.
Game cartridge slot
Commodore C2N tape cassette drive
Graphics: 24 lines x 40 characters text or 320 x 200
pixel graphics with 16 colors.
Audio: Mono
Misc
Hardware: Expansion
port, serial and parallel ports,
2 joystick ports
O/S: Commodore proprietary ROM BASIC 2.0
I have only one Commodore tape drive
and two floppy
drives. However the tape drive can be hooked up to
any Commodore system of this era and the floppy
drives to any Commodore from the model 64 or newer,
so these same peripherals are listed with each system
they are compatible with.
Historical
Notes: By number of units sold (17 to
22
million) the 64 is probably the most popular
micro-
computer ever made. Cost $595 in 1982. Under the
category of “how the mighty fall”, Commodore
went
from making the best-selling computer on the
planet
and being the first microcomputer company to achieve
$1 billion dollars in sales, to corporate liquidation only
twelve years later (in 1994).
Ken Polsson has created a
detailed
chronology of the
Commodore 64.
At right is a
screen-shot from the Commodore 64
racing game "Pitstop II".
Additional Links:
Wikipedia Commodore 64
page
Wikipedia High Resolution Photo of System
Video - Commodore 64
Commercial (circa 1982)
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6.
Commodore SX-64 Executive Portable.
Built
circa 1984; purchased used in 2002.
CPU:
MOS Technology 6510 1.0 MHz
Z80 CPU (on expansion card?)
RAM: 64 KB
Storage:
Internal 5¼”
170K floppy drive
Internal cartridge slot
Commodore
1541 5¼” 170K external
floppy drive.
Graphics: Built-in 5" Color CRT
24 lines x 40 characters text or 320 x 200
pixel graphics with 16 colors.
Audio: Mono
Misc
Hardware: Expansion
port, serial and parallel ports,
2 joystick ports
O/S: Commodore proprietary ROM BASIC 2.0
Notable as the world’s
first portable computer with a
color screen. Due to it's high price (over $1,000 in
1984 dollars) only a small number were
sold; this
model today is sort-after by collectors.
Notes:
Like the later Commodore 128 (see below), the
SX-64 had two CPUs; the 6510 to
run C64 software
and the Z80 to run
CP/M applications.
Additional Links:
Wikipedia Commodore
SX-64 page
Oldcomputers.net page on the SX-64
Zimmers.net page on the
SX-64
Video - Commodore SX-64
Commercial
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7.
Quasar HK-2600TE Hand Held Computer.
Built circa 1983, purchased used in 2007.
CPU: 6502 1 MHz
RAM: 4 KB
Storage:
Three
sockets for ROM expansion, ROMS
can be up to 16 KB each.
Display: Built-in LCD, 1
lines x 26 characters text
Audio: None
Networking: Optional
modem
Misc
Hardware: Thermal printer,
expansion port.
O/S: SNAP / ROM BASIC
This computer was also
sold under the Panasonic
brand name. You could make custom ROMs for it;
insurance companies
and others burned their own
special programs on to the ROM chips for their
representatives to use in the field.
This system and my
Epson Geneva (see below) are
the earliest systems in my collection with
Liquid Crystal
Displays ("LCD"s).
Additional Links:
Oldcomputers.net page on the
Panasonic / Quasar HHC
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8. Epson Geneva PX-8.
Built circa 1983, purchased used in 2002.
CPU: Z80 4 MHz
RAM: 128 KB
Storage:
Interchangable
internal ROM application
chips (have chips for WordStar
and Calc).
Internal
Microcassette
drive (10 KB to 30 KB
per tape).
Epson PF-10 external battery-powered
floppy drive.
Display: Built-in LCD, 8
lines x 80 characters text,
graphics 480 x 64
pixels.
Audio: Built-in
speaker, can play audio recorded
on microcassette
tape.
Networking: 300 baud
modem expansion base
Misc
Hardware: Serial port, audio
in/out
O/S: CP/M 2.2
This was a cool machine for it's time, with a multi-line
flip-up screen, built-in micro-cassette drive
that could
be used to record both data and audio, and
advanced
peripherals like the battery-powered floppy
drive.
There's a small community of folks that
still use this
system; one of them, Fred Jan Fraan, maintains an
excellent
web-site devoted to the
PX-8.
The ROM application
WordStar included with this
machine was at the time the dominant word
processor
program. The publisher was
MicroPro;
I visited their headquarters in
San Rafael back the
early Eighties. They had a large and impressive
operation with multiple sites and hundreds of
employees. However, in just a few short years
MicroPro’s fortunes declined as users switched from
WordStar to
a new market-leader, WordPerfect. San
Rafael in the early Eighties was one of the centers of
the
microcomputer software industry; within walking
distance
of MicroPro was
Broderbund software, where
I was
employed for a short time as a temp packaging
game software (I did a lot of odd jobs before
embarking on a career as a programmer).
Additional Links:
Wikipedia Epson PX-8 page
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9. Texas Instruments TI-99/4A
Built circa 1983, purchased used in 2007.
CPU:
Texas Instruments
TMS9900 16-bit 3.0 MHz
RAM: 16 KB
Storage:
Cartridge slot
Graphics: 24 lines x 32 characters text or 192 x 256
pixel graphics with 16 colors.
Audio: Mono
Misc
Hardware: Cartridge
port, cassette port, Joystick port
and bus expansion slot.
O/S: Proprietary ROM
BASIC
This was the second home computer that Texas
Instruments made. It was popular with over two million
sold during it's lifetime. Originally introduced in 1981 with
a black and silver case, I have the cheaper beige version
that came out in 1983 and was priced at $99.
A fairly unique feature was the proprietary CPU; while
most computer makers were using third-party chips,
Texas Instruments used their own CPUs, which were
based upon the company's mini-computer chips.
At one time Texas Instruments was selling TI-99
computers at the rate of 150,000 per month; but after
a money-losing price war with Commodore and other
competitors, TI left the home computer market in 1984
and never returned.
Additional Links:
Wikipedia Texas Instruments
TI-99/4A page
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Screenshot from "Popeye" for
the TI -99/4A.
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10.
Apple IIc.
Built circa 1984, purchased used 2002.
CPU:
WDC
65C02 1.0 MHz
RAM: 128 KB
Storage:
Internal 5.25"
140 KB floppy drive
Graphics: 80 x 24 text, graphics 560 x 192 15 colors
Display: Apple 9" monochrome CRT monitor
Audio: Built-in
speaker
Networking: 300 baud
modem expansion base
Misc
Hardware: Serial ports,
mouse/joystick port, floppy port,
video expansion port, audio out.
O/S: Apple
ProDOS
The portable version of the Apple II,
perhaps most
famous for being seen in the movie
2010 (the idea that
an astronaut in the year
2010 would be using what
would by then be a twenty-six
year old computer
does seem a little far-fetched
today).
Note:
While technically a portable, this machine,
like most “portable” computers of
the day, needed to
be plugged-in to an external power
source to run.
Additional Links:
Wikipedia Apple IIc page
Video - Apple IIc
commercial (1984)
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11.
IBM PCjr.
Built circa 1984,
purchased used 2002.
CPU:
Intel 8088
4.77 MHz
RAM: 640 KB
Storage:
Two 5.25" 360 KB
floppy drives
Two ROM cartridge slots
Graphics: 80 x 25 line text, graphics 320 x 240 x 16
colors or 640 x 200 x 4 colors
Display: IBM PCjr 13" RGB Color CRT monitor
Audio: Music and
system sounds
Networking: Internal
300 baud modem card
Misc
Hardware: Infrared wireless
keyboard, stackable
'Sidecar' expansion modules (I have three
sidecars, 512 KB memory expansion,
Parallel port and Speech Attachment).
Mouse/joystick ports, two IBM joysticks.
O/S: IBM PC-DOS 2.1
IBM’s “home” version of the original PC, introduced
in 1984.
The Jr. I acquired was
greatly customized by the
previous owner to get around the original limitations
of the
Jr. IBM didn’t want the Jr. to compete
with the
more expensive
IBM PC, so it limited the
machine to
one disk drive and a maximum of 128K of RAM. To
get around these limitations, the previous owner
of this
system added a second floppy drive mounted in
it’s
own chassis, with special ‘extension’ power and
signal cables running to it from the main case. An
extra 512K of RAM was added using a memory
sidecar. Custom system drivers were added to the
boot
floppy to allow DOS to see the second drive and
the full
640K of RAM. This system is probably
one of
the most expanded Jr.s in existence;
the modifications
sound a little
funky, but I tested them and they do
actually work.
A personal historical note: This is
actually my second
PCjr. The first
one I purchased brand new in March
1984; it was in fact the first computer I actually owned
(I had borrowed
and leased machines earlier). The
computer was unfortunately lost in the
1989 San
Francisco
earthquake.
Detailed technical info on the Jr. can
be found at
Michael Brutman’s (a different Mike…)
web-site.
This
guy owns three PCJrs.
Additional Links:
Wikipedia IBM PCjr page
Oldcomputers.net IBM PCjr page
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King's Quest on the PCjr
Video - IBM PCjr
Commercial circa 1984
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12.
Two (2) Commodore 128s.
Built circa 1985,
purchased used in 2002.
CPU: MOS Technology
8502 2.0 MHz and
Zilog Z80A 4 MHz
RAM: 128 KB
Storage: Commodore
1541 5¼” 170K external
floppy drive.
Game cartridge slot
Commodore C2N tape cassette drive
Graphics: 24 lines x 80 characters text or 320 x 200
pixel graphics with 16 colors.
Audio: Mono
Misc
Hardware: Expansion
port, serial and parallel ports,
2 joystick ports
O/S: Commodore proprietary ROM BASIC 7.0,
Digital Research
CP/M
3.0,
Commodore
GEOS (Graphical Environment
Operating System).
An upgrade from the C64 with multiple personalities.
This system could be run in Commodore 64 mode,
128 mode ("native") or in CP/M using the built-in
second CPU, a CP/M-compatible Z80A.
René van Belzen has a good C128 info
page
here.
In 1986 GEOS was released, a graphical operating
system which was Commodore's response to the
Apple Macintosh. I picked up a copy of
GEOS
but
haven't had time yet to try it out. The
screen shot at
right shows a typical GEOS desktop view.
Additional Links:
Wikipedia Commodore 128 page
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13.
Commodore Amiga 1000.
Built circa 1985, purchased used in 1990 with an
Okidata color printer. I acquired
the official Amiga
color
monitor for it in 2002.
CPU:
Motorola 68000 7.0 MHz
RAM: 512 KB (expandable to 8 MB)
Storage: Internal
3.5" 880 KB
floppy drive
External 3.5" 880 KB floppy drive
Graphics: 320 x 200 with 4,096 color
palette
or 640 x 400 x 16 colors.
Display: Amiga Color CRT 13"
Audio:
Stereo 8 bit 28 KHz sampling rate
Misc
Hardware: System expansion
port, serial and parallel
ports, 2 joystick/mouse ports.
Okidata color printer
O/S:
Amiga OS 1.x
Historical Notes: This was the first Amiga model,
introduced in 1985. It was
considered a revolutionary
machine due to it’s advanced
color graphics (see
screen shot at right). It had a 4,096 color
palette at a
time
when the IBM PC was limited to 16 colors and
the Mac was monochrome only.
As a result, the
Amiga developed a
large and almost fanatical
following in it’s
time. Commodore went bust in 1994,
but
fans
of this machine and it’s operating system
continue to try to get the
platform
resurrected in some
form.
Additional Links:
Wikipedia
Amiga 1000 page
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14. Nintendo Entertainment System Game
Console.
Manufactured circa 1985, purchased
used in 2008.
CPU:
Ricoh 2A03 8-bit 1.79 MHz, based upon a
MOS Technology 6502 core.
RAM:
2 KB internal, could be expanded with
additional memory built into a game cartridge,
maximum address space 48 KB.
Graphics: 256 x 224 NTSC resolution, max 25
simultaneous colors from 53 color
palette.
Audio: Mono
Storage:
Proprietary
game cartridges,
usually up to
64 KB
capacity.
O/S:
Proprietary
Misc
Hardware: Two game controller ports.
Two controllers, plus also the
NES Zapper
light gun (see photo).
Notes: Probably the most popular console
of the
Eighties, with over 62 million machines sold. The
platform was finally discontinued in 1995.
Along with a first-generation machine I also acquired the
official light gun and seven game cartridges as shown
in the photo.
The
game cartridges are huge, each one is close to
the size and weight of a modern-day Sony Playstation
Portable. A NES cartridge
usually contains two
ROM
chips - one for the game program itself and the second
for the game's graphics. For the more elaborate games
bank-switching could be used to get around the 48 KB
memory limit. Further info on the cartridges and
instructions on how to hack one can be found
here.
Additional Info:
Wikipedia Nintendo Entertainment System Page
Raphael
Assenat's NES Stuff Page
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Game "Super
Mario Bros 3"
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15.
Panasonic Executive Partner portable
suitcase computer.
Purchased new in
1986.
CPU:
Intel 8086
7.0 MHz
RAM: 640 KB
Storage: Internal
5.25" 320 KB
floppy drive
Internal
Seagate 20 MB hard drive
Graphics: 640 x 200 monochrome
Display: Built-in 11"
gas plasma screen
Audio: Speaker for
beeps
Misc
Hardware: Built-in
thermal printer, serial and parallel
ports.
O/S:
MS-DOS 2.0
This was the
second computer I ever owned.
With the gas plasma screen and built-in thermal
printer, the Executive Partner was an
exotic &
expensive machine for it’s time. It originally cost
$5,000 but due to some sort of trade dispute this
model in 1986 could no longer be imported into
the
United States. I therefore picked this unit
up for a
discount and I paid the dealer to replace one of
the
two floppy drives this system originally had with
a
20 MB hard drive. This is the oldest system
in my
collection with a hard drive.
Due to the high price and the import ban this computer
appears to be very rare; I found only two collectors
besides myself that have this system listed in their
antique collections, and neither machine had a hard
drive.
The
gas plasma screen
was the best kind of portable
display in 1986, much more readable than the
primitive LCDs of the time but much lighter than a
CRT. The
drawbacks of gas plasma were that they
were power hungry (no running on battery power) and
expensive. Gas plasma displays were used
extensively in GRID Systems portable computers,
very high-end
machines used by military organizations
and NASA.
Gas plasma technology is still in use today
in
flat-panel plasma TVs.
The first couple of years I owned the Panasonic I
used to take it with me to client
sites. Customers
were either impressed or mortified, perhaps
both,
when I used this machine’s built-in thermal
printer to
print my bill to them right on the spot.
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16.
Apple IIe Platinum system.
Built circa 1987, purchased used in 2001.
CPU:
MOS 65C02
1.0 MHz
RAM: 128 KB
Storage: Two
external 5.25" 140 KB
floppy drives
Graphics: 560x192 monochrome,
140x192 16-color.
80 column text display card installed.
Display: Apple Color CRT
Audio: Speaker for
beeps
Misc
Hardware: Parallel printer port card
O/S: Apple DOS and ProDOS
The IIe Platinum was introduced by Apple in 1987; it
was the last and most advanced Apple II that still came
in the classic case that had been used since 1977.
The IIe Platinum was in production for five years;
it
lasted until the Apple II line itself was discontinued
in
November 1993.
Historical Note: My first paying programming job was
writing an educational game for
the Apple II, in 1983.
I couldn't afford to buy an Apple II so I rented one
for
the project.
Another Historical Note: The Apple II probably had
the longest manufacturing life of
any microcomputer
design; stretching from 1977
through 1993 (seventeen
years!). A detailed history of the entire Apple II
line can
be found
here.
Additional Links:
Wikipedia - Apple II Page
Video - Apple II
Commercial (1986)
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17.
Apple Macintosh SE
Built circa 1987, purchased used in 2009.
CPU:
Motorola MC68000 8
MHz
RAM: 1 MB expandable to 4 MB
Storage: 80
MB SCSI internal hard drive
One 800 KB
3.5"
floppy drive
SCSI port (5 Kbps) for external devices.
Graphics: 512 x 342 monochrome
Display:
Built-in 9" CRT monochrome
Audio:
Mono 8-bit, minijack out, also built-in
speaker.
Misc
Hardware: 1 SE PDS internal slot, 2 external
ADB
ports, 2
serial ports, 1 floppy drive port.
O/S:
Apple System 6.0.3
My first original
form-factor Mac; been wanting to get one
of these ever since
1984. :)
The
original Mac
introduced in 1984 set the computer
world on fire with it's graphical interface and 'appliance'
orientation. The
SE and the Mac II were both released
in 1987, and were the first really expandable Macs which
marked a move away from
the original 'computer
appliance' concept. The SE's expansion slot was labeled
'PDS', short for for Processor Direct Slot; it can take
accelerator cards
up to 50 MHz in speed. This was also
the first Mac with a cooling fan, a feature that Steve Jobs
had forbidden in previous models (by 1987 Jobs was no
longer at Apple).
I actually picked-up
two Mac SEs from the seller; they
both power-up but only one of them is able to boot from
the internal hard drive.
The working machine
currently has Apple System 6.0.3
installed (see
screenshot at right). It also has
Microsoft
Word 3.0. The most recent O.S. that an SE can run is
System
7.5.5.
The list price of this
system in 1987 with the original 20
MB hard drive was $3,700; the equivalent of $7,000 in
today's money.
Additional Links:
Wikipedia - Apple
Macintosh SE Page
Apple - Macintosh SE Technical
Specifications
|
Dual-floppy model (from Wikipedia)
Larger version
Mac System 6 typical screen
(from Wikipedia)
Larger version
|
|
18.
Two (2) Atari Mega ST4 computers.
Built circa 1988,
purchased used in
2007.
CPU:
Motorola 68000
8.0 MHz
RAM: 4 MB
Storage: Internal
3.5" 720 KB
floppy drive.
Two Atari SH205 Stackable hard drive
enclosures with 20 MB drives.
32KB x 6 ROMs for the BIOS.
Graphics: 320 x 200 x 16 colors, 640 x 200 x 4 colors,
or 640 x 400 monochrome.
Display: One Atari Color CRT monitor
and
one Atari
Monochrome monitor.
Audio: Yamaha
stereo chip
Misc
Hardware:
MIDI in-out,
serial, parallel, joystick, mouse,
external drives, RGB ports.
O/S:
TOS /
GEM
(Graphical Environment
Manager) 2.x
This was the computer for folks in the
Eighties who
wanted an Apple Macintosh but couldn't afford one. It
used the same CPU as the Macintosh and a graphical
operating system but was priced thousands less than
a similarly-configured Mac. Comparing the systems,
the Atari STs had more memory and color, but the Mac
had an edge sometimes when it came to industrial
design and presentation. For example, the graphical
design of the Mac operating system was superior to
Atari's. Apple did introduce a color-capable Macintosh
a year after the first Atari ST, but it cost over $5,000
(around $9,300 in 2009 dollars). In comparison, a
similarly-equipped color Mega 4 sold for only $2,600
($4,800 in 2009 dollars).
A significant advantage that Atari had was support for
electronic musical instruments, thanks to it's built-in
MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital
Interface) ports. This
made these systems quite popular with musicians;
in fact I purchased my Atari Megas from a local
composer.
The GEM operating system was developed by
Digital
Research, a company that in the early days was a
leader in the field of microcomputer operating systems
but eventually lost the market to Microsoft.
Additional Links:
Wikipedia
Atari ST / Mega page
|
Larger version
GEM Desktop
Video
- Atari Mega vs. Apple Mac Commercial
|
|
19.
Atari Portfolio palmtop computer.
Built circa 1989, purchased used in 2008.
CPU:
Intel 80C88 16-bit
5 MHz
RAM: 128 KB
Storage: 128
KB ROM, Atari memory storage cards
(128 KB to 640 KB each).
Display: 240
x 64 monochrome LCD
Audio: Speaker for
beeps
Misc
Hardware: Expansion
slot takes Atari accessories
such as memory and application cards,
also hardware modules such as modems,
etc. Currently have the Atari Parallel
Interface module and an Atari PowerBasic
application card.
O/S:
DIP DOS 2.11 (MS-DOS clone)
This was the world's first PC-compatible palmtop
computer.
It can run most text-based MS-DOS
applications such as
Lotus 123. The internal memory
was configured to appear as drive "C:". The built-in
ROMs contain the operating system and five application
programs: a diary, calculator, text editor, spreadsheet
and address book.
The Intel 80C88 CPU is
a low-power CMOS version of
the venerable 8088, the
brain of the original IBM PC.
Thanks to this chip and the absence of any disk drives
this computer runs on ordinary 'AA' batteries.
I purchased several of
the Atari accessories for this
system (shown in photo at right): The Atari Parallel
Printer Interface module, the Atari PowerBasic card
and the PC Card Drive which allows a regular PC to
read and write Atari memory cards.
The Atari Portfolio appeared several times in the movie
"Terminator 2";
it is first used by John Conner to hack
an ATM and then later the vault security system at
Cyberdyne
Systems (see photo lower right).
Additional Links:
Wikipedia - Atari
Portfolio Page
|
Larger version
Accessories for the Portfolio -
Larger version
The Portfolio in use in a scene
from Terminator 2
|
|
20. Sega Genesis / Mega Drive Game
Console.
Manufactured circa 1989, purchased
used in 2008.
CPU:
Motorola 68000 16-bit 7.67 MHz
plus
Zilog Z80A 3.5 MHz for audio processing.
RAM: 64
KB internal
Graphics: 320 x 224 resolution, max 64 simultaneous
colors from 512 color
palette.
Audio: Stereo, generated by the
Z80 processor
with 8K dedicated memory.
Storage:
Proprietary
game cartridges, up to 5 MB
capacity.
O/S:
Proprietary
Misc
Hardware: Two game controller ports,
"EXT" serial port
Notes: One of the first
16-bit game
consoles, this was
Sega's most successful system with 29 million sold.
In Japan it was called the "Mega Drive", in the rest of the
world the Genesis.
The unit I acquired
was the first and most elaborate
version of the Genesis, equipped with a volume control,
stereo headphone jack and
RF out port. These features
were eliminated from later versions to save cost.
With the console I acquired eight game cartridges and
one controller, as shown in the photo.
I listed the cartridge
capacity at 5 MB since reportedly
that was the largest ever made for the Genesis, but
technical info I
have found on game cartridge design
indicates that the actual limit was the size of the CPU's
address space.
In the case of the Genesis that was
16 MB. Some game consoles supported memory
bank
switching which
allowed even the CPU address space
limit to be exceeded. The real constraint on cartridge
capacity was the cost of the
ROM chips, which
for
obvious reasons could not exceed the game's selling
price. In the end this is what eventually killed the
cartridge format;
optical discs ended-up being able to
hold far more information at a much lower cost.
The
progression in console game size has been
remarkable; in 1985 the typical size was 48 KiloBytes
or less; in 2008, a Playstation 3 game can be
up to 50
GigaBytes (the maximum capacity of a
Blu-Ray disc)
-
a staggering one million times the average size of a
1985 cartridge.
Additional Info:
Wikipedia
Sega Genesis / Mega Drive Page
|
Larger version
Game "Sonic the
Hedgehog"
|
|
21. Intel 80386
tower system.
Home-built in 1990.
CPU:
Intel
80386 25 MHz
RAM: 4 MB
Storage:
Internal 5.25" 1.2 MB
floppy drive
Internal 3 GB IDE hard drive
CD-ROM 2x drive
Colorado 250 MB tape drive
Graphics:
VGA 640 x 480 color
Display: Generic VGA Color CRT
Audio:
Sound Blaster
stereo card
Misc
Hardware: Parallel printer port card,
serial port card.
O/S:
MS-DOS, Windows 3.11
Originally had a Control Data 330 MB
ESDI
hard drive,
with
SCO Xenix installed (I was an authorized SCO
dealer
and major Xenix/Unix fan back in the day).
Circa 1993 I upgraded the
system with a CD-ROM
drive, VGA card
(to replace the original mono
graphics adapter), and
a Sound Blaster to make the
system
‘game ready’. Around this time I also
converted the machine over to
Windows 3.11 (see
screen shot at right), as more of my paying work
was
on this platform and the Xenix work was drying
up.
This was the fourth machine I
owned and was my
main computer for five years. The third, a home-built
286 machine with a 80
MB hard drive, I sold to a
friend to raise the
money needed to buy parts for this
machine. Acquiring the components
wholesale, the
386 motherboard with
4 MB of RAM still cost $2,500,
and the original 330 MB hard
drive a whopping $3,000.
I probably invested a bit north of $6,000 total building
this
system (the equivalent of $9,700 in 2009 dollars).
The Sound Blaster
was eventually removed and used
in my next computer, a
Dell
XPS Pentium-90 machine
I purchased in 1995 (I managed to entirely skip the
486 generation). In 2000 I gave
the Dell to one of
my cousins so that she could have
a PC to play with.
|
(No photo of system currently available)
Typical Windows 3.11 desktop, from
Rick Schinnell's web site. |
|
22.
IBM PS/2 Model P70-386 Portable computer.
Built circa 1990,
purchased used in 2002.
CPU:
Intel
80386 20 MHz
RAM: 16 MB
Storage:
Internal 3.5" 1.44 MB
floppy drive
Internal 60 MB
ESDI hard drive
Graphics:
VGA 640 x 480,
grayscale on internal
screen,16 colors on external monitor.
Display: Built-in 'pop-up'
gas plasma
Audio: ?
Misc
Hardware: One 16-bit
and one 32-bit
Micro
Channel
expansion slots, parallel and
serial ports,
VGA port, PS/2 mouse, external drive port.
O/S: PC-DOS, Windows capable
This was perhaps one of the most
expensive PC
portables ever made, with a list price of
$7,495 in
1990.
It's the only system in
my collection based upon
IBM's
PS/2
architecture. The PS/2 line was IBM's
attempt to take back control of the "IBM
compatible"
market and featured a number of technical
improvements and a proprietary bus system called
"Micro
Channel". Ultimately IBM's strategy failed as
the clone makers cherry-picked the features they
could (such as VGA graphics) and ignored the ones
legally out-of-bounds (such as Micro Channel).
It
didn't help that PS/2 equipment was
premium-priced
but IBM cut some corners on quality; as I recall
the
IBM PS/2 VGA monitors in particular were pretty
fuzzy.
Additional P70 Links:
Jim Shorney's web page on upgrading the P70
|
|
|
23. Commodore Amiga 3000.
Built circa 1990, purchased used in 2002.
CPU:
Motorola 68030
25 MHz
RAM: 2 MB (expandable to 16 MB)
Storage: Internal
3.5" 880 KB
floppy drive
Internal 50 MB SCSI hard drive
Graphics: 320 x 240 and up, 4096 colors
down to 4 depending upon resolution.
Display: Amiga Color CRT 13"
Audio:
Stereo 8 bit 28 KHz sampling rate
Misc
Hardware: 'Zorro3' expansion
slots, serial and parallel
ports, 2 joystick/mouse ports, external
floppy and SCSI-2 ports.
O/S:
Amiga OS
2.0
Considered a high-powered graphics workstation
in
it’s time, this computer was featured on the
cover
of Byte magazine when it was introduced
back in
1990.
Notes: The Amiga 2000, 3000 and 4000 series
were often used for video
production work; well-
known video tools such as
Newtek’s
Video Toaster
card and the
Lightwave 3D program were originally
developed for the Amiga
platform. Extensive
technical information on the 3000
is available
here
and
here.
Additional Links:
Amiga 3000 page on the Amiga
History site.
|
Larger version
Early ray-tracing on the Amiga - the
Juggler
|
|
24.
NeXT Computer NeXTstation Color Turbo.
Built 1992, purchased used in 2002.
CPU:
Motorola 68040
33 MHz
RAM: 32 MB (expandable to 128 MB)
Storage: Internal
3.5" 2.88 MB
floppy drive
Internal 2.1 GB SCSI hard drive
External Plextor SCSI
CD-ROM drive
Graphics: 1120 x 832 16-bit color
Display: Next Megapixel 21" Color CRT
Audio:
Stereo 16 bit 44 KHz sampling rate
Networking:
10Base-T Ethernet
Misc
Hardware: Serial, Parallel,
SCSI ports
O/S:
NextStep 3.3
An exotic, high-end
Unix-based
workstation. This
model was the most advanced one built
by NeXT
Computer before the company exited the hardware
business in 1993. This
system with the NeXT color
monitor cost
around $10,000 new in 1992.
Notes: The seller didn’t pack the CPU unit of the
system I purchased properly, and
in consequence the
original hard drive was destroyed
in transit. I replaced
the original 250 MB internal drive
with a much larger
2.1 GB drive purchased used from
Black Hole, Inc.,
an outfit in
Colorado that specializes in NeXT hard-
ware parts and systems. I also purchased for this
system a
Plextor external SCSI
CD-ROM drive
(refurbished, cost $50), since most Next software
comes on CD. For some reason the used NeXT
systems for sale almost never come with
CD drives…
History: NeXT Computer was founded by
Steve Jobs
in 1986 after he was forced out
of Apple Computer. In
1988 they shipped their first
system, a cube-shaped
computer in fact known simply as
“the Cube”. At the
time, I worked for the company
that made the first
circuit boards for the Cube,
Norcal Tech Incorporated
of Mountain View. The design of the Cube’s
motherboard was considered so
secret that scrapped
boards had to be returned to
NeXT, instead of being
discarded. I was lucky enough to be allowed to
accompany NTI executives on a
tour of another
company Steve Jobs had just
recently acquired,
Pixar.
In 1996 NeXT Computers was sold
to Apple and Steve
Jobs returned to the company he
founded twenty
years earlier. Apple took the Unix-based NeXT
operating system and used it as
the foundation for
the latest Mac operating system,
known as
OS X.
Additional Info:
Wikipedia NeXTstation Page
|
Excellent photo of a Nextstation
Turbo taken by Blake Patterson; see more of his photos
here.
Video - Steve Jobs
Introduction of the NeXTstation
on September 18th, 1990 |
|
25.
Apple Macintosh Performa 466 / LC III+.
Built 1993, purchased used in 2009.
CPU:
Motorola 68030 33 MHz
RAM:
20 MB (expandable to 36 MB)
Storage:
Quantum
CTS160S 160 MB
SCSI hard drive
1.4 MB floppy
Superdrive.
Graphics: 640
x 480 x 256 colors with standard 512K
of VRAM; with optional 256K VRAM expansion
up to 832 x 624 x 65,000 colors.
Monitor:
Apple
Color Plus 14" Trinitron CRT, 640 x 480
fixed resolution.
Audio: Mono 8-bit 22 KHz with
built-in speaker, also
external speaker and microphone jacks.
Misc
Hardware:
One internal LC III Processor Direct
expansion Slot, one external SCSI port and
two serial ports. System came with a Mac-
compatible Smart One 14.4
data/fax modem.
O/S:
Mac
System
7.1P6
Notes: This system was sold under the
"Performa"
mass market label, but under the skin is a
Macintosh LC
III+ with a larger hard drive. The "LC" line inaugurated
a low-profile "pizza box" style case which was used for
several Mac generations. This "III"
version fixed most of
the issues of the original LC line - it has a true 32-bit
bus, expandable video memory and a decent-sized
hard drive.
System
7, the operating system version supplied with
this machine, was a major step up from previous
editions. It featured full-time
co-operative multitasking,
TrueType fonts, a full-color interface and a built-in
scripting language among many other improvements.
The system I
acquired has the well-known
"After Dark"
screen saver installed. This was a very popular program
back in the early Nineties, with it's
flying toasters imagery
becoming something of a computer cultural icon of the
time (see screen shot at right).
With this machine, I
now have eight systems with CPUs
from the Motorola 68xxx line. This is exceeded only
by the nine different computers I have that all use a
variant of the MOS-Technology 6502 CPU. The LC III+
was one of the last
Apple computers to use a 68xxx
chip; two years
later Apple switched to the PowerPC
platform (see the
entry for my PowerMac 9500, below).
In 2006 Apple
switched platforms again, this time to
Intel x86
processors.
Additional
Links:
Apple History - LC III+/Performa 466 page
Apple - Macintosh Performa 466
Specifications
|
Larger version
Mac OS 7.x screen shot
(from Wikipedia)
Larger version
After Dark screen saver
(from Wikipedia)
Larger version
|
|
26.
Apple Newton MessagePad 110.
Built 1994, acquired Brand-new (still in the box) as
a gift from a friend in
2001. Spec sheet.
CPU: ARM
610 20 MHz
Memory
/
Storage:
1 MB RAM / 4 MB ROM
Display:
320 x 240 monochrome touch-screen
LCD
Misc
Hardware: PCMCIA Type II expansion slot,
Infrared sensor,
Appletalk / Serial port.
OS: Newton OS
This was the second edition of the
Newton, released in
1994. The Apple Newton was generally
regarded as
the first practical touch-screen PDA.
Historical Note: The Newton
product line was
discontinued in 1998, after Steve
Jobs returned to
Apple.
Additional info:
Wikipedia Newton Page
Video - Apple Newton Ad
(circa 1994)
|
|
|
27. Apple PowerMac 9500.
Built in 1995, purchased used in 2000.
CPU:
PowerPC 604 132 MHz
RAM:
330 MB (12 DIMM
slots, officially expandable
to 768 MB, unofficially to 1,536 MB).
Storage:
Quantum Atlas 4.5 GB
SCSI hard drive
(originally
came with a 2 GB drive).
Apple CD-ROM 4x drive.
Apple 1.4 MB floppy Superdrive.
Graphics: ATI
Rage 128
Xclaim VR All-In-Wonder
combination 3D graphics, TV out and
video
capture
card with 16 MB VRAM, capable of
up to 1920 x 1080 pixels and up to millions
of colors (depending upon resolution).
Audio: Stereo
16-bit, with built-in speaker and
external microphone & speaker
jacks.
Networking: 10 MBps Ethernet
with both standard
10BASE-T
and Apple proprietary
AAUI
connectors.
Misc
Hardware:
6
PCI
slots (one used by the video card),
2 serial ports,
SCSI &
ADB ports.
Special
Hardware:
Miro DC30+
video capture PCI card
O/S:
Mac OS 8.6
Notes: Along with the follow-on model 9600, this was
the last of the
super-expandable
PowerMacs, with no
less than 6
PCI
card slots and
12 (!) memory slots. It
was the first Mac to use industry-standard PCI bus (all
previous models had used proprietary expansion card
slots or had no slots).
In 1995 this was
Apple's
top-of-the-line system with a
retail price of $5,000 plus. In 2000 when I purchased
this machine, the 9500/9600 series was still popular
with Mac
enthusiasts who needed the expandability
these systems had for specialized tasks such
as high-
end audio & video post-production.
This model
has it’s CPU on a plug-in card; third-party
vendors made G3 and
G4 CPU cards that can
be
used to upgrade this machine to newer
processors.
The Miro DC30 video
capture card was originally in
my Dell XPS Dimension Pentium-100 PC; when I gave
away the Dell to a cousin who needed a computer I
moved the card to my Mac. The DC30 was one of the
first video capture cards that could both capture &
output high-quality analog video.
This was the first Macintosh I ever owned; in five years
of
use I had to replace the power
supply, video card and
hard drive which all
suffered fatal breakdowns; part of
the perils of
keeping an old computer
running! In 2006
I acquired a used G4 PowerMac
and so
this machine
has been retired to
my ‘antique’ collection.
Additional info:
Wikipedia Power
Macintosh 9500_Page
|
Larger version
(From Wikipedia)
Larger version
Mac OS 8.x screen shot (from Wikipedia)
Larger version
|
|
28. Sega Saturn Game
Console.
Manufactured circa 1995, purchased
used in 2008.
CPU:
Dual CPUs -
Hitachi
SuperH2 28.6 MHz
32-bit RISC with 4K cache
RAM: 2
MB internal
Graphics: Two custom
Video Display Processors,
704 x 480 maximum resolution, millions of
colors.
Audio: Stereo 44 KHz 16-bit
Storage:
CD-ROM
2X drive, also
slot for optional 512K
memory cartridge
O/S:
Proprietary
Misc
Hardware: Two game controller ports,
serial port.
One game controller.
Notes:
This machine was perhaps the most advanced
of the "5th generation" game consoles. Besides using
32-bit processing and optical discs, it also featured a
multi-processor
architecture. There were two
main
CPUs,
two
video processors, a dedicated
processor for
the optical drive and
two for
sound. The main CPUs
shared memory but the others had their own small
individual memory areas.
Unfortunately the programming tools at the time did not
do a good job of supporting this type of architecture and
so the capabilities of the hardware were often not fully
utilized by games. However multiple processors was
the way of the future; a decade later both the current
Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 consoles are multi-
processor
systems.
The Sega's CD drive was used for game discs, but could
also play regular audio CDs. It also supported "CD+G"
discs which combined music with graphics (mostly used
for karaoke).
Additional Info:
Wikipedia
Sega Saturn Page
|
Larger version
Game "Virtua Fighter"
-
Larger version
|
|
29. Toshiba Satellite
110CT, 11.3” LCD screen.
Purchased
new in 1997.
Spec sheet.
CPU: Pentium 100 MHz
16 KB cache
RAM:
40 MB
Storage:
Internal 800 MB HD
External
IBM CD-ROM drive /
sound unit (this
drive has attachable
stereo speakers and can
also function as a
standalone
battery-powered CD
music player).
Display:
11.3 " Active Matrix
TFT-LCD 800 x 600 16-bit
color
Graphics: C&T CT65548 1 MB VRAM up to 1024 x 768
x 256 colors when connected to external
display.
Misc
Hardware: PC-Card slot, serial and parallel ports.
O/S:
Windows 95
Notes: This was my first laptop
computer. At $2,400 it
was one first
'affordable' machines to have an
active-matrix (instead of
passive) LCD screen;
previously such a feature was confined to
portables costing far more. It was also one of the
first
laptops capable
of displaying thousands of
colors. As optical discs and audio became more
wide-spread, the lack these capabilities
in this
machine
started to be a problem; around 1999
I
purchased the IBM external CD drive, which
also
added audio functionality.
|
Larger version
Windows 95 desktop
Larger version
|
|
30. Nintendo 64 Game
Console.
Manufactured circa 1998, purchased
used in 2008.
CPU:
MIPS R4300i 64-bit
RISC 93.75 MHz
Silicon Graphics Reality Co-Processor
MIPS Vector Processor 62.5 MHz
RAM:
4 MB internal (expandable to 8 MB with
optional memory card)
Graphics: Up to 640 x 480 x 32,768 colors
Audio: Stereo 48 KHz 16-bit
sampling rate
Storage:
Plug-in ROM game cartridges (maximum
capacity 64 MB); some cartridges also
contained writable memory for game saves.
Optional external "Controller Pak" with 256K
of memory for saving game data.
O/S:
Proprietary
Accessories:
Nintendo translucent Jungle Green controller.
Nintendo translucent Watermelon Red
controller.
Third-party steering wheel and foot pedals
for driving games.
Notes: The last and most powerful of the
cartridge-based
game
consoles.
Silicon Graphics (at the time a
well-known
maker of high-end graphical work-
stations) contributed a considerable amount of
technology to the design.
Normally the Nintendo 64 was packaged in an
opaque
black case, but a limited number were
made in
various translucent colors. The version
I
acquired was known as "Jungle Green".
Additional Info:
Wikipedia Nintendo 64 Page
Byte Magazine
Article (December 1996)
N64 System Diagram
|
Larger version
Super Mario 64 -
Larger version
Video - N64 Super
Mario Game Play
|
|
31. Apple iMac DV SE (Digital Video
Special
Edition).
Manufactured circa 1999, purchased
used in 2008.
CPU:
PowerPC G3 400 MHz 512K
L2 cache
RAM:
256
MB (expandable to 1 GB)
Storage:
Internal 13 GB Ultra-ATA Hard Drive
Internal DVD-ROM 4x drive
Graphics:
ATI Rage 128 VR 8 MB VRAM
Up to 1024 x 768, millions of colors
Display: Built-in 15" CRT (13.8" viewable)
Audio: Stereo 48 KHz 16-bit
sampling rate
Built-in Harmon Kardon
speakers
Built-in microphone
Networking: 10/100
Ethernet, 56K Modem
Available slot for Airport card
Misc
Hardware:
Firewire,
USB 1.1 and VGA ports,
also built-in microphone.
O/S:
Apple OS 9.2, supports up to
OS X 10.4.
Notes: In 1998 Apple made a big splash with
the intro-
duction of the original "iMac". This computer was avail-
able in a variety of translucent colors, a radical departure
from the bland beige boxes being made by other
computer manufacturers. To be fair, back in the
Eighties a line of computers based upon the
'MSX' plat-
form were made in a number of
glossy colors, but these
machines were sold only in Asia.
This particular model was the high-end iMac for 1999-
2000. In 2002 Apple discontinued the CRT-based iMacs
and at the same time sadly dropped the translucent
multi-color design motif; from that point on iMac cases
became opaque and monochromatic.
Additional Info:
Low-End
Mac Profile on the iMac DV SE
|
Larger version
Larger version
Video - Steve Jobs
introducing the original iMac (1998)
|
|
32. Three (3) Sega Dreamcasts.
Manufactured 1999, purchased
used in 2008.
CPU:
Hitachi SH-4 200 MHz CPU
Memory:
16 MB main memory, plus 8 MB video RAM,
2 MB for sound.
Graphics:
PowerVR2 chip, 640 x 480 x
16 million
colors.
Audio:
Yamaha AICA
Sound Processor (22.5 MHz
32-bit ARM7 RISC CPU), stereo output.
Storage:
Yamaha
GD-ROM drive, 1.2 GB
capacity.
Sega Visual Memory Units ("VMU"s)
with
128K memory each for game saves, etc.
Networking: Integrated 56K analog modem
O/S: Custom version of Microsoft
Windows CE
Accessories acquired
with these systems:
4 Sega game controllers white opaque
1 Sega game controller blue translucent
1 Sega "Millennium 2000" game
controller,
green translucent
1 Nyco game controller purple
translucent
1 Intec
game controller white opaque
1 Performance game controller blue
opaque
1 Interact game controller white opaque
3
InterAct Starfire light
guns
7 Sega Visual Memory Units
6 Performance Tremor Paks
1 Microphone
1 Gameshark CDX "Game Enhancer"
A very advanced game
system for its time; some of the
hardware, like the Visual
Memory Units ("VMU"s),
were
more sophisticated than what is available for today's
game consoles.
The VMUs are
fascinating little gadgets (see close-up
photo at right); they plug into the game controllers and
feature a small LCD screen
and built-in memory for
game saves. The LCD screen is used to display
images downloaded from the current game being
played on the console. The VMUs can also be
unplugged from the controllers and used standalone
to run mini games; besides the LCD screen, each VMU
has a tiny 4-axis
controller and game control buttons
("A", "B" plus Mode).
I acquired 16 games for this system,
including "Crazy
Taxi" (see
screenshot at right), "Shenmue",
"Resident
Evil Code Veronica", and "Seaman".
Home-brew folks have
figured out how to run
Linux and
the
Windows CE Toolkit on the Dreamcast.
Links:
Wikipedia
Dreamcast Page
RacketBoy
Dreamcast Page
Dreamcast Online Page
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Dreamcast Console and controller -
Larger version
Dreamcast VMU -
Larger version
Scene from Dreamcast game "Crazy Taxi" -
Larger version
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33. Palm Vx PDA.
Made circa 1999, purchased used in 2009.
CPU:
Motorola Dragonball 20 MHz CPU
Memory /
Storage:
8 MB
Display: 3.2 " 160 x 160 4-bit grayscale touch-screen
Special
Hardware: Infrared sensor,
rechargeable Li-ion battery.
Networking: RS232 serial port.
OS: Palm
3.3
Picked this up used for
around $20 (ten years ago it
retailed for $299) complete with sync / charging cradle
and the install disc. This unit is sleeker and lighter than
my Visor PDA (see below) which is from the same era.
However, the Visor came with a hardware expansion
slot
which was not present on the Palm
models.
Links:
Wikipedia Handspring Page
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34. Handspring Visor Deluxe PDA.
Purchased new in 2000.
CPU:
Motorola Dragonball 20 MHz CPU
Memory /
Storage:
8 MB
Display: 3.2 " 160 x 160 4-bit grayscale touch-screen
Special
Hardware: Infrared sensor
'Springboard' expansion slot
Magellan GPS module.
OS: Palm
3.1
This Palm-compatible PDA has a special slot for
add-on modules. I have one of these ‘Springboard’
modules,
the
Magellan GPS (Global Positioning
System) receiver purchased in 2002.
Links:
Wikipedia Handspring Page
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35. Jakks "Plug-and-Play" TV Game Machines.
Made circa 2003,
purchased used in 2008 ($5 each).
These devices
resemble joysticks but in fact are
complete game machines, with a CPU, memory
and a number of classic games built-in.
There is little technical info available on these devices,
but since they reportedly emulate an old
Atari 2600
game console, below are the minimum specifications
based upon the 2600 architecture:
CPU: Emulated
6507 1 MHz CPU
Memory /
Storage: At least 128 bytes of RAM, up to
4,096 bytes
of ROM storage per game.
Graphics: 160 x 192 x
128 colors, analog NTSC Color
output.
Audio: Mono
Special
Hardware: Powered by
internal AA batteries (no
external power supply supported).
Joystick controller built-in.
OS: Proprietary
Games:
Ms Pac-Man TV
Game Machine:
Ms Pac-Man
Galaga
Pole Position
Mappy
Xevious
Arcade Classics TV Game Machine:
Pac-Man
Galaxian
Bosconian
DigDug
Rally-X
Atari
Classics 10 in 1 TV Game:
Adventure
Asteroids
Breakout
Centipede
Circus Atari
Gravitar
Missile Command
Pong
Real Sports Volleyball
Yars' Revenge
Links:
Wikipedia
TV Game Page
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Galaga game
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36.
Motorola T730 Cell Phone.
Acquired circa 2004.
CPU: Unknown
RAM: 400 K
Storage: 1.5 MB flash memory
Networking: CDMA / Data 1xRTT
Special
Hardware: 4096 color 160x120 pixel
screen, 40-level
MIDI
and Yamaha MMF polyphonic sound.
OS: BREW 1.1
Received as a warranty replacement for my old T720,
which I originally purchased new back in
late 2002. This
unit, one of the first of the ‘2G’
phones, qualified as an
actual computer due to it’s ability
to download and run
applications written in the “BREW”
programming
language. This phone could also send and receive
email, browse the web (text only),
store photographs
and sound (voice notes), dial
numbers via voice
command, store five-hundred names
& phone numbers,
keep track of appointments and also
can function as a
numeric calculator. Caller-ID and GPS are also built-in.
NOTE: Photo is of a T720, I
could not find a high-res
image of the T730. Cosmetically these two
models are almost identical.
Some trivia - I have owned seven cell phones since 1989:
1989 - Panasonic “convertible”
(gigantic car/portable
model)
Mid-Nineties - Nokia (same model Mulder
carried in the
X Files).
Late Nineties - Motorola
Startac
2002 - Motorola T720
2004 - Motorola T730
2005 - Motorola V710
2008 -
Samsung SCH-i760
The Nokia and T720 were traded in for newer models.
The others I still have but only the Samsung and the
T730
are in current use (I don't have an account
anymore for
the T730 but it is still usable for emergency
calls).
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