ALTOS computer

From: Sam Ismail <dastar_at_wco.com>
Date: Wed Mar 4 17:34:11 1998

On Wed, 4 Mar 1998, Seth J. Morabito wrote:

> I've spotted an ALTOS computer at WeirdStuff today. At first I thought
> it was a disk drive only, but it appears to be the whole computer.

> I remember seeing lots and lots of ALTOS ads and info in my old BYTE
> collection (sadly, 3000 miles away from me right now), so I'm guessing
> it's not all that rare of a beast. The front is black and says only
> "ALTOS", and the case is metal with a faux wood-grain. (mmmm, how 70's!)

I've got two. But I'd say they are at least uncommon.

> It looks like your standard desktop late-70's-early-80's vintage S100 type
> computer, about IMSAI-sized. Should I pick it up? It's $12.50, seems
> like a rip-off to me :) Although it does have two manuals (!) with it.
> A rare find in themselves, probably.

Good price. Grab it.

> Although I do have an IMSAI 8080 in Connecticut (argh... again, 3000
> miles away :) my experience with S100 is very, very slim. I'm a bid
> DEC fan kinda-guy, so I'll need all the help I can get :)

I don't think the Altos has an S-100 bus. In fact I'm almost sure of it.
Ask them if its ok for you to open it up and check before you buy it. At
any rate, at $12.50 its definitely a good deal.

Sounds like WeirdStuff is back in the game. They stopped putting really
good stuff up for sale for a period of time there. I was talking to
someone at Sunday's ham fest about WS and they said that they now have a
back room where they sell everything as-is. I'll have to start checking
them out. BTW, is that Symbolics LISP machine still there or is it long
gone?

Sam Alternate e-mail: dastar_at_siconic.com
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Received on Wed Mar 04 1998 - 17:34:11 GMT

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