VAX-11? and some C64 stuff

From: allisonp <allisonp_at_world.std.com>
Date: Wed May 31 16:55:13 2000

>On May 31, Jason McBrien wrote:
>> First, there was the PDP/8 which came out in the sixties. It was a
largish
>> "Minicomputer" meaning it didn't fill a room like the IBM 360's, but you
>> couldn't exactly toss it in a closet either. Then came the PDP/11, which
was
>> a bit smaller and 16-Bit in the seventies. Then came the VAX 11/750,
>> Digital's first 32-Bit mainframe, in the late seventies/early eighties,
and
>> dominated the minicomputer market for quite a while. The first VAXes
where
>> large cabinet sized affairs, needing wacky 380V power mains and hard
drives
>> the size of a decent size car transmission. Then came the VAXStation
2000,
>> which had almost all the power of a VAX 11/750 in a case the size of a
>> largish shoebox. The home minicomputer was born. Through the eighties DEC
>> still made the huge company-running VAX 7000's, 8000's, 9000's, and
10000's,
>> but also made smaller workstation-style counterparts, the VAX 3100's,
>> 4000's, MicroVAXes, VAXStations, and VAX-Servers. You can pick up a 3100
or
>> 2000 for under $50 if you look hard. 4000's are nicer and run upwards
$100.


By 1971 a PDP-8 did fit nicely in a closet, small one at that.

The VAX lineup was:

1978 1988

 780----750---730---microvax-I---MicrovaxII---MV2000

None of the above require 380V 3phase your thinking of the 8650
and others. The 780 did require three phase but was not a bad deal
and the 750 and 730 were 110V power.

Allison
Received on Wed May 31 2000 - 16:55:13 BST