Re:
Barry Watzman
[former Product Line Director for Heathkit computers and Zenith Data
Systems]
Oh REALLY! 8-) Perhaps I can pick your brain for a moment. :)
There was a neat Heath machine, I believe it was 8086 or 8088 based,
that had a solderless breadboard built into it...I believe it was
even connected to the bus. What would that have been? I'd like to
find one, but it's been a difficult search not knowing what it was
called."
There were a couple of them, actually. Those were not my products, however.
The products you refer to (the early ones were based on a Motorola 6800
series, if I recall, the later ones were based on the Intel 8088) were
products from the educational products division of Heathkit, rather than the
computer division. I don't remember the model number of the later one (the
earlier one, based on the Motorola CPU, was the ET-3400 series), and the
later one, I think it was the ET-100 (which was derived from and compatible
with the Z-100 series ... would run 16-bit Z-100 software) wasn't made in
particularly large numbers (also, an even more rare expansion accessory was
required for full Z-100 and MS-DOS compatability). But they did exist, and
you may find them on E-Bay from time to time.