29 Jul
2013
29 Jul
'13
2:28 p.m.
Hi guys,
This is an impossible request, but I suppose one has to start somewhere.
I am on the lookout for an original Three Rivers/ICL PERQ workstation, as
pictured here:
http://www.vintagecomputer.net/perq/PERQ-1_pic3.jpg
Also any advise on how to acquire one will be much appreciated. I am
located in the United Kingdom.
Thanks
29 Jul
29 Jul
3:26 p.m.
Hi guys,
This is an impossible request, but I suppose one has to start somewhere.
Good luck -- you'll need it. A number turned up about 15-20 years ago,
but I've not heard of any coming out of the woodwork since. All that I
know of are in good homes...
[Incidetnalyl, why not make it really difficult and ask for a PERQ 2T4 ;-))
I am on the lookout for an original Three Rivers/ICL PERQ workstation, as
pictured here:
http://www.vintagecomputer.net/perq/PERQ-1_pic3.jpg
Do you require a PERQ 1, or would a 1A do (the latter looks the same, it
has the 16K WCS processor board (which has a few more microsinstruction
phrases too). It was a common field upgrade to put a 16K board in place
of the 4K WCS board in a PERQ 1, so finding a genuine PERQ 1 is going to
be rather difficult.
I asusme a later PERQ 2 machine is not waht you're looking for at all
(it's a very simialr machine with rather better I/O (In particular you
cna downolad and run code on the Z80A I/O processor, the PERQ 1/1A CIO
board only runs the code in the ROM). But they do look very different.
Not that I have any of said machines for sale....
If you do find one, feel free to ask me what to do before moving it. The
PERQ 1 (14" Shugart SA4000 hard disk) and PERQ 2T1 (8" Micropolis 1203
hard disk) need to have the heads locked before moving the machine.
-tony
4:33 p.m.
Thanks for the response.
Yes, I should have been more concrete about specifying that I'm after
anything from the first series.
Incidentally, do you still own four PERQs?
On 29 July 2013 20:26, Tony Duell <ard at p850ug1.demon.co.uk> wrote:
Hi guys,
This is an impossible request, but I suppose one has to start somewhere.
Good luck -- you'll need it. A number turned up about 15-20 years ago,
but I've not heard of any coming out of the woodwork since. All that I
know of are in good homes...
[Incidetnalyl, why not make it really difficult and ask for a PERQ 2T4 ;-))
I am on the lookout for an original Three Rivers/ICL PERQ workstation, as
pictured here:
http://www.vintagecomputer.net/perq/PERQ-1_pic3.jpg
Do you require a PERQ 1, or would a 1A do (the latter looks the same, it
has the 16K WCS processor board (which has a few more microsinstruction
phrases too). It was a common field upgrade to put a 16K board in place
of the 4K WCS board in a PERQ 1, so finding a genuine PERQ 1 is going to
be rather difficult.
I asusme a later PERQ 2 machine is not waht you're looking for at all
(it's a very simialr machine with rather better I/O (In particular you
cna downolad and run code on the Z80A I/O processor, the PERQ 1/1A CIO
board only runs the code in the ROM). But they do look very different.
Not that I have any of said machines for sale....
If you do find one, feel free to ask me what to do before moving it. The
PERQ 1 (14" Shugart SA4000 hard disk) and PERQ 2T1 (8" Micropolis 1203
hard disk) need to have the heads locked before moving the machine.
-tony
30 Jul
30 Jul
2:42 p.m.
Thanks for the response.
Yes, I should have been more concrete about specifying that I'm after
anything from the first series.
Meaning 14" Shugard SA4000 hard disk and a horizontally-mounted 8" floppy
drive, I guess.
Incidentally, do you still own four PERQs?
Yes. I don't own every model, but I beleive I can put together any model.
What I mean by that is, for example, I have an original PERQ 1. I do not
have a PERQ 1A. But I have a 16K CPU board, so I can fit the ribht boot
PROMs, plug it int othe PERQ 1 chassis and have a 1A.
-tony
29 Jul
29 Jul
10:30 p.m.
New subject: 80s Bitmap Workstation Reminiscences - was Re: PERQ 1 Wanted
On 29/07/13 2:28 PM, Tom Harwood wrote:
Hi guys,
This is an impossible request, but I suppose one has to start somewhere.
I am on the lookout for an original Three Rivers/ICL PERQ workstation, as
pictured here:
http://www.vintagecomputer.net/perq/PERQ-1_pic3.jpg
Also any advise on how to acquire one will be much appreciated. I am
located in the United Kingdom.
Thanks
I saw a PERQ demo'd at a Melbourne Computer Graphics Society event while
I was still in high school, in the mid-1980s. Very sexy machine & a
serious lust object for a teenage boy. Helped ignite my interest in high
res bitmap workstations, leading to poring over Smalltalk-80 books and
eventually buying a Mac Plus when I left school (yes, Apple made several
high quality Smalltalk-80 releases).
Thanks for making me feel old ;-)
--Toby
10:38 p.m.
New subject: 80s Bitmap Workstation Reminiscences - was Re: PERQ 1 Wanted
When I started grad school at CMU in 1986, PERQs were the toxic waste of
computerdom. The corridor on the 3rd floor leading to the server room
was stacked to the ceiling with PERQs. When I moved offices up to the
8th floor there was a PERQ still sitting there from a previous occupant
and everyone was in a great hurry to get rid of it.
PERQs had their moment but they were so quickly overtaken by
workstations by DEC, Sun, and even IBM. I had an IBM RT at the time and
was grateful I didn't have to use a PERQ. An IBM RT! Luckily I rose up
in the ranks enough to get a real computer -- a VaxStation 3500, if I
remember correctly.
- Joe
30 Jul
30 Jul
3:02 p.m.
New subject: 80s Bitmap Workstation Reminiscences - was Re: PERQ 1 Wanted
PERQs had their moment but they were so quickly
overtaken by
workstations by DEC, Sun, and even IBM. I had an IBM RT at the time and
was grateful I didn't have to use a PERQ. An IBM RT! Luckily I rose up
in the ranks enough to get a real computer -- a VaxStation 3500, if I
remember correctly.
I think the problem was that the PEEQ was ncver designed to be a unix
workstation. There was no memory management, etc in the hardware, yes,
you could do it i nthe mcirocode, but it quickly became a mess.
Certainly, back then (and now), if you wanted a unix workstation, a PERQ
is not goign to eb high up the list. On the other hand, now, if you want
a very interesting machine with some nice features (like user modifyable
microcode), the PERQ is a machien to try to find.
-tony
7:37 p.m.
New subject: 80s Bitmap Workstation Reminiscences - was Re: PERQ 1 Wanted
On 29/07/13 10:38 PM, Joe Barrera wrote:
When I started grad school at CMU in 1986, PERQs were
the toxic waste of
computerdom. The corridor on the 3rd floor leading to the server room
was stacked to the ceiling with PERQs. When I moved offices up to the
8th floor there was a PERQ still sitting there from a previous occupant
and everyone was in a great hurry to get rid of it.
PERQs had their moment but they were so quickly overtaken by
workstations by DEC, Sun, and even IBM. I had an IBM RT at the time and
Yes, general purpose workstations (notably Sun) killed the older
workstations - Symbolics is another example, and NeXT is a much newer
example. But this wasn't, I think, so predictable when these designs
were being done. Only obvious in hindsight. Back when they were
designed, programmable microcode and DSPs looked like pretty sexy ideas.
was grateful I didn't have to use a PERQ. An IBM
RT! Luckily I rose up
in the ranks enough to get a real computer -- a VaxStation 3500, if I
remember correctly.
Which didn't fare so well either in the onslaught of cheaper,
commodified gear...
--T
- Joe
3986
days inactive
3987
days old
7 comments
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participants (4)
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ard＠p850ug1.demon.co.uk -
harwood.tn＠gmail.com -
joe-ml＠barrera.org -
toby＠telegraphics.com.au