3 Sep
2003
3 Sep
'03
4:20 p.m.
And thusly Tony Duell spake:
YEah, but... It's got a 16 bit (sort-of, it's bit-serial with 16 bit
registers) processor; it's got a 1-line LED display; the built-in BASIC
is really cut-down (no string variables, for example), but if you add all
the option ROM modules you get just about everything you'd expect
including matrices; it's got the legendary HP build quality; _and_ it
dates from 1973...
It's a good few yearrs earlier than most 'home computers'...
-tony
[That happens to be a true statement, BTW. And I am not sure the 9830 is
a 'calculator' by any reasonable definition, as it's a desktop machine
with a few K of RAM running BASIC...]
Sounds like a VIC-20... ;)