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Today, behind the windows of our cozy time machine is far 1984 and we will learn about the first laptop in the history of mankind with a full-fledged keyboard called the NEC PC-8300. This seemingly inconspicuous computer, which looked more like an advanced calculator and was powered by ordinary finger batteries, played its modest but important role in the history of high technology, for the first time showing people that a small electronic computer can do something replace the big one. It is enough to equip it with a convenient input device.
Technical characteristics of NEC PC-8300
The prices for the NEC PC-8300 historical annotations have not been reported to us, although we remember that in the past, as well as today, there were also expensive and budget computers. It is known that this computer was introduced in 1984 and weighed ~ 1.72 kilograms. Its 80C85 processor ran at 2.4 megahertz. Today, even cheap smartphone chips are hundreds of times more powerful. This computer was stored by a usual audio cassette.
The NEC PC-8300 RAM was 32 kilobytes, but could be expanded to 64 kilobytes. Behind were located the parallel ports and RS-232 connector. In addition, there were a barcode scanner and a modem on board, the data transfer rate of which was as much as ... 300 bits per second or, as they said then, three hundred baud.
Its LCD display boasts a resolution of 40 x 8 pixels. As already noted, the NEC PC-8300 received power from four AA batteries. The power supply of these batteries was enough for the first laptop with a full keyboard for sixteen hours. In addition, the computer could be powered by a nine-volt external adapter.
The NEC PC-8300 operating system was the BASIC interpreter. More specifically, Microsoft BASIC v1.1, stitched in a read-only memory (ROM). This miracle of technology came into being in 1984 and for those times it was a considerable achievement to shove the power of a full-fledged computer into such a compact body.
Another important feature of the NEC PC-8300 was that its ports were enough to satisfy the needs of any user. Of course, based on the needs of 1984.
NEC PC-8300. Known facts and additional features
Apparently, NEC PC-8300 never gained too much popularity and fame. Therefore, only some facts are known about him, which we will meet today.
The NEC company made it under the license Kyocera. It came with 32 kilobytes of RAM. It was possible to add another bar of 32 kilobytes or replace the “native” memory bar with 64 kilobytes. In this and in another case, the maximum NEC PC-8300 RAM was 64 kilobytes.
The computer had a display that contained eight lines of text. It was possible to set other character sets, a peculiar change of fonts. It was possible to insert memory cartridges with a capacity of up to 128 kilobytes into a special slot.
Information display capabilities could be expanded by connecting the NEC PC-8300 to a video monitor. For this there was a special connection interface. From the peripherals, the corresponding portable floppy disk drive and the corresponding portable printer were compatible with the computer.
NEC PC-8300 could work in PC8201 emulation mode. The computer was optionally packaged with a built-in modem that is connected using Berg-connectors. In addition, he had additional features. Advanced text capabilities with formatting for printing. And advanced features of TELCOM with X-Mode data transfer.
Source: Oldcomputers.net
The article is based on materials .
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