24 Jun
2007
24 Jun
'07
10:48 a.m.
One can argue over various criteria for
'firsts', but in general the 9830
seems to be an overlooked/underrepresented machine in these sorts of
I am still wondering why the IBM5100 gets regarded as a significant
machine when the HP9830 was a couple of years ealier and had a very
similar specificiation.
I was pleased to see that the BT 'Connected Earth' site gives the HP9830
a fleeting metion as being the first personal computer.
assessments. Perhaps the lack of a CRT-type display
results in it not being
recognised for what it is.
Maybe. I think it's a bit of a strange requirement, though.
Incidentally, I forgot to mention in my last message that there are a
couple of websties with useful information on this machine.
http://www.hpmuseum.org/ has some nice pictures of the machine, including
one with the cover removed
http://www.hpmuseum.net/ has some pdfs of scanned manuals available,
including the user manual, service manual (boardwapper guide mostly),
schematics, etc. Both for the machine, and peripherals.
-tony