7 Jul
2005
7 Jul
'05
12:13 a.m.
Size is probably a big issue, but DEC made some big
machines and IBM made some small ones, and the DEC
boxes still seem to get more attention from
collectors. I think that the relative availability of
DEC hardware, software, and documentation simply makes
I suspect is is partly the doucmentation. DEC machines of this period
tended to come with schematics rather than board-swapper guides (which is
what the IBM service manuals I've seen were). There are thus plenty of
PDP8, PDP11, etc shematics around.
And IBM used custom parts a lot earlier than DEC. I've not seen a 370,
but I'd be suprised if it was all off-the-shelf components. Unibus PDP11s
PDP8s, etc tended to be.
-tony