Sol terminal computer

IMHO, the Sol is the next most important early commercial microcomputer after the Altair and IMSAI. Although it had 5 S-100 slots, it really was a single-board computer with built-in 64x16 video, serial and parallel ports, keyboard, cassette tape interface, and ROM monitor which supported its use as a serial terminal supporting VDT escape sequences as well as being usable as a true computer. Cassette-based software included 5k BASIC, 16k Extended BASIC, FOCAL, PILOT, ALS-8 (Assembly Language System), arcade style "real time" games (Target, Trek80) as well as BASIC games and 8080 Chess. Its 8" Helios disk system was expensive and the PerSci drives finicky - which is why so many SOL users opted for a NorthStar controller and 5.25" drives. Contact jordan_ruderman(a)supermac.com - he has been compiling an audio CD-ROM of all the cassette software. You can substitute a portable CD player in place of the SOL's cassette player, or just dub copies onto cassette (to capture that ol' time flavor!). Also, if your keyboard is acting flakey, it may be because the little foam pads inside have deteriorated over the years. Contact Jim Willing at the Computer Garage http://www.rdrop.com/~jimw for DIY replacements or he will do it for you. Jim is very knowledgable about SOLs. Bob Stek Saver of lost SOLs On 25 Aug 1998 22:29:33 GMT, george(a)agora.rdrop.com (George Rachor) wrote: Ie: