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PC-9801

From NEC Retro

PC9801.jpg
PC-9801
Manufacturer: NEC
Release Date RRP Code
PC-9801
JP 		¥298,000298,000

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The PC-9801 is a computer released by NEC in 1982, and the first computer in the PC-9800 series.

Hardware

The PC-9801 was envisioned as a high-end business machine by NEC, being built around a 16-bit µPD8086 processor (NEC's version of Intel's 8086) and two µPD7220 graphics chips, developed by NEC to efficiently display the kanji character set (at a high enough resolution to read). In this original setup, one is used for graphics, and the other for text.

This PC-9801 shares much in common with the original PC-8801, with many peripherals designed for the PC-8801 (such as monitors) being compatible with both machines. Built into ROM is N88-BASIC (86), which derives from the PC-8801's N88-BASIC; the two are very similar, and though the languages are not completely interchangable, often only minor changes were required to make a PC-8801 BASIC program run on a PC-9801.

The PC-9801 was significantly more expensive than the PC-8801 at launch; as well as taking into account for the computer itself, customers were expected to purchase an external PC-9881 8-inch disk drive in order to interface with the machine. Likewise while the default PC-9801 can handle some types of kanji characters, if the user wanted to make full use of word processing software, a PC-9801-01 expansion board would need to be purchased for JIS kanji level 1. Were a printer required as well, the combined cost would reportedly total nearly ¥1,000,0001,000,000.

While not strictly designed for gaming, the PC-9801's popularity in business inevitably led to video games being produced for the system (not dissimilar to the IBM PC in the West). The PC-9801 has higher resolution graphics than most of its contemporaries, but is limited to 8 colours. Much like the PC-8801, sound hardware is limited to a simple "beeper".

The PC-9801 and all subsequent models support four screen modes: 640×200 with 2 colors and 6 pages, 640×200 with 8 colors and 2 pages, 640×400 with 2 colors and 3 pages, and 640×400 with 8 colors and 1 pages.

Technical specifications

{{#vardefine:systemspecs|

  • Main processor: µPD8086 clocked at 5MHz
  • Graphics processor: 2x µPD7220 clocked at 2.5MHz
  • RAM: 128KB
  • Text VRAM: 8KB
  • Graphics VRAM: 96KB
  • ROM: 96KB
  • Floppy Disk drive(s): None
  • Sound: Internal "beeper"
  • Expansion Slot: 5 slots[2][3]

List of games

Promotional material

  • PC-9801 JP advert.jpg

  • JP Flyer

References

  1. ↑ http://www.nec.co.jp/press/ja/0210/1004.html#chu4 (Wayback Machine: 2002-10-20 22:38)
  2. ↑ PC-9800_TechnicalDataBook_HARDWARE_1993.pdf, page 25
  3. ↑ PC-9800_TechnicalDataBook_1986.pdf, page 43


PC-9800 series hardware
PC-9800 series Desktop hardware
PC-9801 (1982) | PC-9801 F (E) (1983) | M (1984)

V30 Computers: U | VF | VM (21) | UV (21) | CV (1985-1988)
286 Computers: VX | UX | RX | DX | UR | UF | FX (1986-1992)
386 Computers: RA | RS | ES | DA | DS | CS | FS | US (1988-1992)
486+ Computers: FA | BX | BA | BX2 | BS2 | BA2 | BA3 | BX4 (1993-1995)

PC-9800 series Laptop hardware
V30 Computers: PC-9801 LV (1988)

286 Computers: PC-9801 LX (1989)
386 Computers: PC-9801 LS (1988) | PC-9801 T (1990-1991)
V50 Computers(9801 Incompatible): PC-98LT (1986) | PC-98HA (1993)
Other: PC-9801 P (1993)

PC-9800 series Notebook hardware
PC-9800 series Workstation hardware
286 Computers: PC-98XA (1985) | PC-98XL (1986)

386 Computers: PC-98XL² (1987) | PC-98RL (1990)
386/486 Computers: PC-H98 (1990-1992)

PC-9800 series Peripherals
Not sure how to organize this one
stuff
Okay so I have no idea how best to do this
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