Vintage DEC Rainbow 100 PC in Rare Tower Case w/ VR201 Monitor & LK201 Keyboard For Sale
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Vintage DEC Rainbow 100 PC in Rare Tower Case w/ VR201 Monitor & LK201 Keyboard:
$249.99
Vintage DEC Rainbow 100 PC in Rare Tower Case w/ VR201 Monitor & LK201 Keyboard
Description
Vintage item. Tested working.
PC has been tested to power on and boot fromfloppy. Monitor works, but has what appears to be screen rot under the glass. Cosmeticcondition is otherwise good with some minor yellowing, as well as light scuffs,scratches and signs of use.
This is a vintage item. It was inspectedat time of listing and shown to be in the condition described above. However,due to the age of this item, we cannot guarantee continued functionality and itis being sold “as-is.”
What’s Included:
1x Vintage DEC Rainbow PC in Rare Tower Case
1x DEC Monochrome Monitor
1x DEC Keyboard
1x IEC Power Cable
Does not include any additional cables, parts oraccessories
Description
The 1982, DEC released the Rainbow 100 - alow-cost, user installed personal business computer designed to runapplications in the Fortune 100 marketplace. It was displayed at the June 1982NCC - National Computer Conference - in Houston Texas.
The system provides hardware and software forboth stand-alone processing, and as a terminal emulator for DEC and othermanufacturer's systems.
The Rainbow 100 includes a two-processorarchitecture based on the simultaneous operation of an 8088 and Z80A CPU.
In addition to running applications, eachprocessor supports a portion of the needed functions of the computer.
The Z80A processor supports the functionsrequired to read/write the floppy drive. The 8088 handles the video output,keyboard I/O, printer port, and installed options.
The dual-processor design means that the Rainbow100 can run either the CP/M or MS-DOS operating system.
CP/M was quickly being replaced by MS-DOS as thepreferred operating system, due to the IBM Personal Computer, which was takingover the market.
Unfortunately, due to hardware differences, theDEC version of MS-DOS was not 100% compatible with the IBM PC, so softwarewritten for one of the systems would probably not run on the other.
In addition to booting into either CP/M orMS-DOS, the Rainbow 100 can also boot into "terminal" mode - atext-only mode based on their own popular VT102 format, as a "locallyintelligent" satellite to a larger computer system.
The internal "RX50" floppy drive readsand writes single-sided, 5 1/4-inch floppy disks, storing 409KB on each, whichwas a lot of data at the time.
This floppy drive is a very unique, proprietarydesign by DEC, and no other manufacturer used it in their systems.
While it does hold two floppy disks, it can onlyaccess one of them at a time. This is because the read-heads for both drivesmove in unison, controlled by a single stepper motor. Additionally, the twofloppy disks must be inserted upside-down from each other, confusing many a newuser. The upper floppy disk is inserted face-up, but the lower floppy isinserted face-down.
PaymentPayment via PayPal is expected within 2-days after the winning offer.We only accept offers from US buyers with confirmed PayPal addresses and only accept PayPal as the form of payment.ReturnsItems sold as New, Tested and/or Working may be returned within 30 days of receiving if you are not satisfied with your purchase. Restocking fee may apply. Buyer is responsible for return shipping costs.Please review all photos carefully as they are part of the description per policy.ShippingARG-Tech directly only ships to the United States. All international shipments are processedthrough 's Global Shipping Program.We take pride in packing items carefully to ensure safe arrival.We ship promptly, usually same or next day after PayPal confirmation.If you have any special requirements or questions regarding shipping, please contact us before buying.Our business hours are Monday – Friday 7AM-4:30PM EST
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