28 Sep
2005
28 Sep
'05
3:34 p.m.
Cameron Kaiser wrote:
I have several, as I've always found them fascinating:
- They had diagnostics, BASIC, a "game" and other stuff in ROM
- They introduced 16-color graphics and 3-voice sound to the world of PC games,
however it was Tandy's CLONE of those graphics and sound that became popular
and advanced the industry
- To reduce costs, the case of the PCjr is not metal but plastic coated in
metal -- IBM patented a new process to do this (I'm not sure if they sprayed it
on or if it was dipped)
- The system is so small and light, it is more portable than the original
Compaq deskpro :-)
- built-in modem (albeit 300 baud)
In short, a radical departure from the model 5150. If it cost half of what it
debuted at, and came with a floppy drive standard, it easily would have taken
over. A fascinating little machine.
--
Jim Leonard (trixter at oldskool.org) http://www.oldskool.org/
Want to help an ambitious games project? http://www.mobygames.com/
Or check out some trippy MindCandy at http://www.mindcandydvd.com/
other than
video so they are helpful in diagnosing RAM problems. And the
sound, joystick, video, and floppy drive tests are helpful in determining if
the machine is functional on a basic level -- I always run them on any new
PCjr I come across to determine if it's worth hauling away or not :-)
I have to admit, even though I'm not a PC fan by any means, I found the PCjr
fascinating. It didn't deserve the fate it got (though it *did* deserve a
better price point than it was saddled with).