24 Jun
1998
24 Jun
'98
1:31 a.m.
I have made contact with an individual who has
what he describes as an Altair 8800 which is
in an "Attache" case made by Icom in 1976. Would
appreciate any information about this "Attache".
Is it a very desirable thing. Were very many produced, etc?
It has MITS
boards (CPU, IO, disk controller) and power suppy.
He wants to trade it to me for an Imsai 8800.
Would that be a good trade on my part?
Thanks,
Bob
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24 Jun
24 Jun
3:16 a.m.
On Wed, 24 Jun 1998, Bob Wood wrote:
I have made contact with an individual who has what he
describes as an
Altair 8800 which is in an "Attache" case made by Icom in 1976. Would
appreciate any information about this "Attache". Is it a very desirable
thing. Were very many produced, etc? It has MITS boards (CPU, IO, disk
controller) and power suppy. He wants to trade it to me for an Imsai
8800. Would that be a good trade on my part?
For the sheer novelty of it I would say absolutely. I somehow vaguely
remember reading this somewhere. Let us know some more details.
Sam Alternate e-mail: dastar(a)siconic.com
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4:18 a.m.
On Wed, 24 Jun 1998, Bob Wood wrote:
I have made contact with an individual who has
what he describes as an Altair 8800 which is
in an "Attache" case made by Icom in 1976. Would
appreciate any information about this "Attache".
Is it a very desirable thing. Were very many produced, etc?
Attache "Altair" is somewhat misleading. MITS never put out a portable
machine, however PERTEC made an attempt after they acquired MITS (and were
in the process of driving it into the ground).
The Pertec "Attache" was an attempt at an integrated S-100 computer. With
cabinet markings very similar to the MITS Altair 8800B computer, it used
the existing MITS CPU, Memory, and I/O boards, and the ICOM (another
acqusition) floppy controller for 5.25 inch drives. (although I do recall
seeing a unit or two with the standard MITS controller connected to 8 inch
drives)
It is an interesting unit as a representative item in the progression of
early production micro-computers.
No idea how many were made however...
It has MITS
boards (CPU, IO, disk controller) and power suppy.
He wants to trade it to me for an Imsai 8800.
Would that be a good trade on my part?
Well... if you don't take it... (big grin) point him my way! B^}
-jim
---
jimw(a)agora.rdrop.com
The Computer Garage - http://www.rdrop.com/~jimw
Computer Garage Fax - (503) 646-0174
25 Jun
25 Jun
8:36 p.m.
On Wed, 24 Jun 1998, Bob Wood wrote:
I have made contact with an individual who has
what he describes as an Altair 8800 which is
in an "Attache" case made by Icom in 1976. Would
appreciate any information about this "Attache".
Is it a very desirable thing. Were very many produced, etc?
It has MITS
boards (CPU, IO, disk controller) and power suppy.
He wants to trade it to me for an Imsai 8800.
Would that be a good trade on my part?
Thanks,
Bob
From the deservingly-neglected ComputerList file I was
working on three or
four years ago:
Altair Attache - Portable computer - ?2,695 (single disk)
[Photo: Longley] ?2,995 (twin disks)
(1985, Longley)
Processor: 8080A (2 MHz)
RAM Min, Max: 16 KB, expandable to 64 KB
Included ROM: MITS BASIC
I/O Ports: RS232C serial port (factory set to 9,600 bps), composite
video, 10 S-100 slots (only 7 available)
Keyboard: detached 63-key keyboard
OS: MITS BASIC
Display Type: internal composite monitor, can use external composite
Screen Size: 64 x 16 chars.
Graphics:
Sound:
Dimensions:
Weight:
Mass Storage
Included: one or two 8-inch 310 KB drives
Power Supply: internal
Notes:
Release Date: 1979
Reference: Longley, The Microcomputer Users Handbook 1985, p.216
Unfortunately, it was simply listed under "Altair", and not under the
manufacturing company's name. I'd have to go back to my original source
to see what contact information was given, etc.
Oh yeah, there were a LOT of errors in the book I got this from, so a lot
of these details may be bogus, or confused, or arrived at by reading
between badly written lines.
At any rate, I'd say it's definitely an interesting machine.
Doug Spence
ds_spenc(a)alcor.concordia.ca
http://alcor.concordia.ca/~ds_spenc/
9677
days inactive
9679
days old
3 comments
4 participants
participants (4)
-
altair8800＠hotmail.com -
dastar＠ncal.verio.com -
ds_spenc＠alcor.concordia.ca -
jimw＠agora.rdrop.com