Tony wrote:
> If we consider calculators for a moment, you can get 2 out of the 3
> machines by :
>
> Casio AL1000 (discrete transistor, programmable, not scientific)
> Casio AL2000 (ICs, much the same functionality as the AL1000)
> ???? (All-in-one-chip equivalent)
To check these out, see:
http://www.geocities.com/oldcalculators/commal-1000.html
This is a Commodore AL-1000. It's a Commodore-badged OEM version identical
to the Casio AL-1000.
and
http://www.geocities.com/oldcalculators/casal2k.html
This is the Casio AL-2000.
You can see quite a difference in size and number of boards as a result
of the IC technology used in the AL-2000. Most of the IC's are
small scale, but there are a few medium scale (adder and complimenter)
IC's in the AL-2000, whereas the AL-1000 all transistor.
The third one would be a little more difficult to find, as Casio pretty
much abandoned the architecture of their early programmable machines
in their later machines, so there's much less of a one-to-one
correspondence. The programming capability on the AL-1000 and
AL-2000 was extremely simple-minded.
> Or :
>
> HP9100 (discrete transistors, programmable, scientific)
> ??? (Equivalemt with simple ICs)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
How about the Cintra/Tektronix 909? It's got much
of the functionality that the HP9100 has (but not quite as much
memory, and lacks branching functions), and is implemented
with mostly SSI and MSI TTL & DTL, along with MOS RAM and ROM.
Information on it is at:
http://www.geocities.com/oldcalculators/tek909.html
> HP65 (Almost the same functionality in a handheld)
>
> Only worrying thing would be putting the AL2000 and the
> HP9100 alongside
> each other. They're almost the same size, but the HP uses 'older'
> technology and does a lot more...
>
No doubt that HP pulled a coup on the 9100 machines...the other
calculator makers couldn't come close in features, speed, and power
until a couple of years later...and by that time, HP had the 9800-series
machines, which were again a quantum leap in technology.
The AL-2000 is actually quite a bit smaller than the 9100, though.
Rick Bensene
The Old Calculator Web Museum
http://www.geocities.com/oldcalculators
Received on Fri Oct 22 1999 - 22:31:26 BST