NEC PC 8001A / 8001BE
The PC-8001A and later the 8001BE was introduced in the US by NEC in 1981. It is the same system as the Japanese version, the PC-8001, but the Japanese Characterset Katakana has been removed and replaced with a ROM containing the Greek alphabet.
The PC-8001 has an NEC μPD780C-1 (Z80-compatible processor) clocked at 4 MHz, 16 KB of RAM (expandable to 32 KB), CRT video output, cassette port, parallel port for a printer, serial port and an expansion bus. The built-in BASIC interpreter, called N-BASIC, fits in 24 KB of ROM. This is a variant of Microsoft Disk BASIC 4.51. Optional DISK BASIC allows disk I/O for an external floppy drive. The video output is provided by an NEC μPD3301 CRT controller and a μPD8257C (Intel 8257 clone) DMA controller. It has various text modes, and the maximum screen is 80×25 text with 8×8 pixel font. Each character has two attributes chosen from blinking, highlight, reverse, secret, vertical line, over line, under line and RGB colors, and up to 20 different attributes per line can be set. The attribution also supports semi-graphics, and each characters have a 2×4 matrix.
Connectors:
- Centronics printer port
- RS232C serial communications
- IEEE 488
- Cassette Interface, 600 Baud
- Separate Color & BW CRT connectors
The PC-8001 came in a few different models, information about the differences is scarce.
- The PC-8001 - Japanese Market, contains Katakana glyphs in ROM
- The PC-8001 A - US Market, Katakana is replaced with Greek alphabet.
- The PC-8001 BE
CPU View - Zilog Z80 Family
The Z80 quickly became popular in the personal computer market, with many early personal computers, such as the TRS-80 and Sinclair ZX80, using the Z80 as their central processing unit (CPU). It was also widely used in home computers, such as the MSX range, SORD, and the Amstrad CPC, as well as in many arcade games. Additionally, it was also used in other applications such as industrial control systems, and embedded systems. The Z80 was widely used until the mid-1980s, when it was gradually replaced by newer microprocessors such as the Intel 80286 and the Motorola 68000.
The Z80 microprocessor was developed by Zilog, a company founded by Federico Faggin in 1974. The Z80 was released in July 1976, as a successor to the Intel 8080. It was designed to be fully compatible with the 8080, but also included new features such as an improved instruction set, more powerful interrupts, and a more sophisticated memory management system.
The Z80 quickly became popular in the personal computer
RAM max: 64kB
ROM: 24kB
VRAM: 3kB Sound Chip none Sound Built in beeper Display Chip iPD3301D CRT Controller Display 36x20, 36x25, 40x20, 40x25, 72x20, 72x25, 80x20, 80x25 text
160x100 graphics Best Color 8 colors Graphics 320x200 with expansion Sprites n/a System OS N-BASIC Storage External Tape
External floppy disk drives Original Price $1295