Difference between revisions of "PC-9800 series"

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The PC-9800 series (PC-9800シリーズ) is a range of 16 and 32-bit Japanese home computers manufactured between October 1982 and 1995 by NEC.

Following the release of first PC-9801 computer, the PC-9800 series became would become a dominant force in the Japanese computing market, owed in part to NEC's history with the PC-8000 series and PC-8800 series, the ability to quickly display Japanese kanji symbols at then-high screen resolutions, and an early decision to adopt MS-DOS as an official operating system. More than 18 million PC-9800 series computers had been sold in Japan by 1999^[1].

History

The original PC-9801 was designed as a 16-bit business machine, building lessons learned with the N5200, first released in 1981. Many components were shared with the N5200, but it was the µPD7220 graphics display controller which was its main selling point; a NEC-produced chip that could quickly decode and render kanji text at a high-enough resolution to read. At the time, most computers either lacked support for the thousands of kanji characters, be it memory limitations, or the processing speeds required to render them on-screen; NEC tapped into this market early, and before its rivals had caught up, had become the dominant force in business computing.

Unlike the PC-8800 series, where only two major hardware revisions were introduced throughout the 1980s (the original PC-8801 and 1985's PC-8801 mkII SR), the PC-9800 series featured ever-evolving computers in a number of form factors. Significant updates were released annually, with notable increases in processor capabilities, memory and available graphics modes throughout the decade. This constant change caused problems for developers, especially in the early days when compatible disk formats would change between machines, and so the PC-9800 series software market is more fractured than its contemporaries.

Unlike the IBM PC which rapidly gained traction in the West, the PC-9800 series involved bespoke equipment all manufactured by NEC. An absense of "PC-9800 compatibles" meant NEC could control pricing; only in the early 1990s after pressure from IBM compatibles running DOS/V (which could now handle kanji characters in software) was the company forced to open up to compete, though ultimately gave way to the cheaper and more versitile nature of what had been set in motion by IBM and Microsoft. A successor, the PC-9821 series bridged the gap even further and maintained PC-9800 series support.

When the series was forced to work with Microsoft to create a PC-9800/PC-9821 compatible version of Windows 95 (then 98, then 2000), the concept of NEC maintaining a different set of bespoke computing standards became redundant, and like its peers in the computing industry, began to produce PC compatibles instead.

In 1997 the firm released the PC compatible PC-98NX which in turn had revisions and successors; these are not covered by NEC Retro, as while compatibility layers were created for traditional PC-9800 software, they effectively stand as IBM PCs with NEC branding, as opposed to bespoke NEC hardware.

NEC tailored its flagship computing series to different markets, creating slim-size models with the PC-9801 U and its successors, higher-end workstations for CAD (starting with the PC-98XA), laptops (PC-98LT), notebooks (PC-9801 N) and servers.

List of computers

The PC-9800 series adopted an arguably complex naming scheme for its hardware. "U" denotes built-in 3½-inch floppy disk drives, "X" usually suggests a 80286 processor (unless the machine was built after 1992), and numbers typically hint towards the capacity of the built-in hard drive (4 and 5 often suggest 20MB and 40MB respectively, though NEC were very inconsistent over the years). "W" means the computer shipped with a PC-98 version of Microsoft Windows, but the situation is not always clear cut - "A" models for example tend to be more powerful than "S" models, and there are multiple definitions for "F".

On top of this, longer product names were not printed on the casing. While there are technically five different PC-9801 VM models, identifying them from a distance is not always easy, particularly if the machine had been modified from its default state (and modifications were common - no PC-98 computer shipped with both a 5¼-inch and 3½-inch floppy drive - consumers had to choose between one or the other, though not all PC-98 software was distributed on both disk formats).

Name	Date	Price	Processors				RAM	Built-in media drives				Video	Sound
Name	Date	Price	Main CPU	Clock	2nd CPU	Clock	RAM	HDD	5¼-inch FDD	3½-inch FDD	CD-ROM	Video	Sound
PC-9801	1982-10-13^[2]	¥298,000	8086	5MHz			128KB	No	No	No	No	640x400, 8 colours	Beeper
PC-9801 F1	1983-10	¥328,000	8086-2	5/8MHz			128KB	No	1x 2DD	No	No	xx	Beeper
PC-9801 F2	1983-10	¥398,000	8086-2	5/8MHz			128KB	No	2x 2DD	No	No	xx	Beeper
PC-9801 E	1983-11	¥215,000	8086-2	5/8MHz			128KB	No	No	No	No	xx	Beeper
PC-9801 F3	1984-10	¥758,000	8086-2	5/8MHz			256KB	10MB	1x 2DD	No	No	xx	Beeper
PC-9801 M2	1984-11	¥415,000	8086-2	5/8MHz			256KB	No	2x 2HD	No	No	xx	Beeper
PC-9801 M3	1985-02	¥838,000	8086-2	5/8MHz			256KB	20MB	1x 2HD	No	No	xx	Beeper
PC-9801 U2	1985-06	¥298,000	V30	8MHz			128KB	No	No	2x 2DD	No	xx	Beeper
PC-9801 VF2	1985-07	¥348,000	V30	8MHz			256KB	No	2x 2DD	No	No	xx	Beeper
PC-9801 VM0	1985-07	¥295,000	V30	10MHz			384KB	No	No	No	No	xx	Beeper
PC-9801 VM2	1985-07	¥415,000	V30	10MHz			384KB	No	2x 2HD	No	No	xx	Beeper
PC-9801 VM4	1985-10	¥830,000	V30	10MHz			384KB	20MB	2x 2HD	No	No	xx	Beeper
PC-9801 UV2	1986-06	¥318,000	V30	10MHz			384KB	No	No	2x 2HD	No	xx	FM, SSG
PC-9801 VM21	1986-11	¥390,000	V30	10MHz			640KB	No	2x 2HD	No	No	xx	Beeper
PC-9801 VX0	1986-11	¥353,000	80286	8MHz	V30	10MHz	640KB	No	No	No	No	xx	xx
PC-9801 VX2	1986-11	¥433,000	80286	8MHz	V30	10MHz	640KB	No	2x 2HD	No	No	xx	xx
PC-9801 VX4	1986-11	¥693,000	80286	8MHz	V30	10MHz	640KB	20MB	2x 2HD	No	No	xx	xx
PC-9801 VX4/WN	1986-11	¥730,000	80286	8MHz	V30	10MHz	640KB	20MB	2x 2HD	No	No	xx	xx
PC-9801 VX01	1987-06	¥353,000	80286	10MHz	V30	10MHz	640KB	No	No	No	No	xx	xx
PC-9801 VX21	1987-06	¥433,000	80286	10MHz	V30	10MHz	640KB	No	2x 2HD	No	No	xx	xx
PC-9801 VX41	1987-06	¥630,000	80286	10MHz	V30	10MHz	640KB	20MB	2x 2HD	No	No	xx	xx
PC-9801 UV21	1987-06	¥318,000	V30	10MHz			640KB	No	No	2x 2HD	No	xx	FM, SSG
PC-9801 VX41/WN	1987-07	¥658,000	80286	10MHz	V30	10MHz	640KB	20MB	2x 2HD	No	No	xx	xx
PC-9801 UX21	1987-10	¥348,000	80286	10MHz	V30	8MHz	640KB	No	No	2x 2HD	No	xx	FM, SSG
PC-9801 UX41	1987-10	¥545,000	80286	10MHz	V30	8MHz	640KB	20MB	No	2x 2HD	No	xx	FM, SSG
PC-9801 UV11	1988-03	¥265,000	V30	10MHz			640KB	No	No	2x 2HD	No	xx	FM, SSG
PC-9801 CV21	1988-03	¥355,000	V30	10MHz			640KB	No	No	2x 2HD	No	xx	FM, SSG
PC-9801 RA2	1988-07	¥498,000	i386DX	20MHz	V30	8MHz	1.6MB	No	2x 2HD	No	No	xx	xx
PC-9801 RA5	1988-07	¥736,000	i386DX	20MHz	V30	8MHz	1.6MB	40MB	2x 2HD	No	No	xx	xx
PC-9801 RX2	1988-09	¥398,000	80286	12MHz	V30	8MHz	1.6MB	No	2x 2HD	No	No	xx	xx
PC-9801 RX4	1988-09	¥566,000	80286	12MHz	V30	8MHz	1.6MB	40MB	2x 2HD	No	No	xx	xx
PC-9801 VM11	1988-11	¥328,000	V30	10MHz			640KB	No	2x 2HD	No	No	xx	Beeper?
PC-9801 ES2	1989-04	¥448,000	i386SX	16MHz	V30	8MHz	1.6MB	No	No	2x 2HD	No	xx	xx
PC-9801 ES5	1989-04	¥638,000	i386SX	16MHz	V30	8MHz	1.6MB	40MB	No	2x 2HD	No	xx	xx
PC-9801 EX2	1989-04	¥348,000	80286	12MHz	V30	8MHz	640KB	No	No	2x 2HD	No	xx	FM, SSG
PC-9801 EX4	1989-04	¥488,000	80286	12MHz	V30	8MHz	640KB	20MB	No	2x 2HD	No	xx	FM, SSG
PC-9801 RX21	1989-10	¥338,000	80286	12MHz	V30	8MHz	1.6MB	No	2x 2HD	No	No	xx	xx
PC-9801 RX51	1989-10	¥508,000	80286	12MHz	V30	8MHz	1.6MB	40MB	2x 2HD	No	No	xx	xx
PC-9801 RS21	1989-11	¥398,000	i386SX	16MHz	V30	8MHz	640KB	No	2x 2HD	No	No	xx	xx
PC-9801 RS51	1989-11	¥398,000	i386SX	16MHz	V30	8MHz	640KB	40MB	2x 2HD	No	No	xx	xx
PC-9801 RA21	1989-11	¥498,000	i386DX	20MHz	V30	8MHz	1.6MB	No	2x 2HD	No	No	xx	xx
PC-9801 RA51	1989-11	¥668,000	i386DX	20MHz	V30	8MHz	1.6MB	40MB	2x 2HD	No	No	xx	xx
PC-9801 DX2	1990-11	¥318,000	80286	12MHz			640KB	No	2x 2HD	No	No	xx	FM, SSG
PC-9801 DX/U2	1990-11	¥318,000	80286	12MHz			640KB	No	No	2x 2HD	No	xx	FM, SSG
PC-9801 DX5	1990-11	¥468,000	80286	12MHz			640KB	40MB	2x 2HD	No	No	xx	FM, SSG
PC-9801 DX/U5	1990-11	¥468,000	80286	12MHz			640KB	40MB	No	2x 2HD	No	xx	FM, SSG
PC-9801 DS2	1991-01	¥358,000	i386SX	16MHz			640KB	No	2x 2HD	No	No	xx	FM, SSG
PC-9801 DS/U2	1991-01	¥358,000	i386SX	16MHz			640KB	No	No	2x 2HD	No	xx	FM, SSG
PC-9801 DS5	1991-01	¥508,000	i386SX	16MHz			640KB	40MB	2x 2HD	No	No	xx	FM, SSG
PC-9801 DS/U5	1991-01	¥508,000	i386SX	16MHz			640KB	40MB	No	2x 2HD	No	xx	FM, SSG
PC-9801 DA2	1991-01	¥448,000	i386DX	20MHz			1.6MB	No	2x 2HD	No	No	xx	FM, SSG
PC-9801 DA/U2	1991-01	¥448,000	i386DX	20MHz			1.6MB	No	No	2x 2HD	No	xx	FM, SSG
PC-9801 DA5	1991-01	¥598,000	i386DX	20MHz			1.6MB	40MB	2x 2HD	No	No	xx	FM, SSG
PC-9801 DA/U5	1991-01	¥598,000	i386DX	20MHz			1.6MB	40MB	No	2x 2HD	No	xx	FM, SSG
PC-9801 DA7	1991-02	¥698,000	i386DX	20MHz			1.6MB	100MB	2x 2HD	No	No	xx	FM, SSG
PC-9801 DA/U7	1991-02	¥698,000	i386DX	20MHz			1.6MB	100MB	No	2x 2HD	No	xx	FM, SSG
PC-9801 UF	1991-02	¥218,000	V30HL	8/16MHz			640KB	No	No	2x 2HD	No	xx	FM, SSG
PC-9801 UR	1991-02	¥218,000	V30HL	16MHz			640KB	No	No	1x 2HD	No	xx	FM, SSG
PC-9801 UR/20	1991-02	¥348,000	V30HL	16MHz			640KB	20MB	No	1x 2HD	No	xx	FM, SSG
PC-9801 CS2	1991-10	¥398,000	i386SX	16MHz			640KB	No	No	2x 2HD	No	xx	FM, SSG
PC-9801 CS5	1991-10	¥548,000	i386SX	16MHz			640KB	40MB	No	2x 2HD	No	xx	FM, SSG
PC-9801 CS5/W	1991-11	¥675,000	i386SX	16MHz			3.6MB	80MB	No	2x 2HD	No	xx	FM, SSG
PC-9801 FA/U2	1992-01	¥458,000	i486SX	16MHz			1.6MB	No	No	2x 2HD	No	xx	FM, SSG
PC-9801 FA5	1992-01	¥578,000	i486SX	16MHz			1.6MB	40MB	2x 2HD	No	No	xx	FM, SSG
PC-9801 FA/U5	1992-01	¥578,000	i486SX	16MHz			1.6MB	40MB	No	2x 2HD	No	xx	FM, SSG
PC-9801 FA7	1992-01	¥648,000	i486SX	16MHz			1.6MB	100MB	2x 2HD	No	No	xx	FM, SSG
PC-9801 FA/U7	1992-01	¥648,000	i486SX	16MHz			1.6MB	100MB	No	2x 2HD	No	xx	FM, SSG
PC-9801 FA2	1992-02	¥458,000	i486SX	16MHz			1.6MB	No	2x 2HD	No	No	xx	FM, SSG
PC-9801 FX2	1992-05	¥278,000	i386SX	12MHz			1.6MB	No	2x 2HD	No	No	xx	FM, SSG
PC-9801 FX/U2	1992-05	¥278,000	i386SX	12MHz			1.6MB	No	No	2x 2HD	No	xx	FM, SSG
PC-9801 FX5	1992-05	¥398,000	i386SX	12MHz			1.6MB	40MB	2x 2HD	No	No	xx	FM, SSG
PC-9801 FX/U5	1992-05	¥398,000	i386SX	12MHz			1.6MB	40MB	No	2x 2HD	No	xx	FM, SSG
PC-9801 FS2	1992-05	¥348,000	i386SX	20MHz			1.6MB	No	2x 2HD	No	No	xx	FM, SSG
PC-9801 FS/U2	1992-05	¥348,000	i386SX	20MHz			1.6MB	No	No	2x 2HD	No	xx	FM, SSG
PC-9801 FS5	1992-05	¥468,000	i386SX	20MHz			1.6MB	40MB	2x 2HD	No	No	xx	FM, SSG
PC-9801 FS/U5	1992-05	¥468,000	i386SX	20MHz			1.6MB	40MB	No	2x 2HD	No	xx	FM, SSG
PC-9801 FS7	1992-05	¥538,000	i386SX	20MHz			1.6MB	100MB	2x 2HD	No	No	xx	FM, SSG
PC-9801 FS/U7	1992-05	¥538,000	i386SX	20MHz			1.6MB	100MB	No	2x 2HD	No	xx	FM, SSG
PC-9801 US	1992-07	¥248,000	i386SX	16MHz			1.6MB	No	No	2x 2HD	No	xx	FM, SSG
PC-9801 US40	1992-07	¥358,000	i386SX	16MHz			1.6MB	40MB	No	2x 2HD	No	xx	FM, SSG
PC-9801 US80	1992-07	¥418,000	i386SX	16MHz			1.6MB	80MB	No	2x 2HD	No	xx	FM, SSG
PC-9801 BX/U2	1993-01	¥218,000	i486SX2	20MHz			1.6MB	No	No	2x 2HD	No	xx	Beeper
PC-9801 BX/U6	1993-01	¥288,000	i486SX2	20MHz			3.6MB	80MB	No	1x 2HD	No	xx	Beeper
PC-9801 BX/M2	1993-01	¥232,000	i486SX2	20MHz			1.6MB	No	2x 2HD	No	No	xx	Beeper
PC-9801 BA/U2	1993-01	¥328,000	i486DX2	40MHz			1.6MB	No	No	2x 2HD	No	xx	Beeper
PC-9801 BA/U6	1993-01	¥388,000	i486DX2	40MHz			3.6MB	80MB	No	1x 2HD	No	xx	Beeper
PC-9801 BA/M2	1993-01	¥342,000	i486DX2	40MHz			1.6MB	No	2x 2HD	No	No	xx	Beeper
PC-9801 BX2/U2	1993-11	¥178,000	i486SX	25MHz			1.8MB	No	No	2x 2HD	No	xx	Beeper
PC-9801 BX2/U7	1993-11	¥238,000	i486SX	25MHz			3.6MB	120MB	No	1x 2HD	No	xx	Beeper
PC-9801 BX2/M2	1993-11	¥192,000	i486SX	25MHz			1.8MB	No	2x 2HD	No	No	xx	Beeper
PC-9801 BS2/U2	1993-11	¥238,000	i486SX	33MHz			3.6MB	No	No	2x 2HD	No	xx	Beeper
PC-9801 BS2/U7	1993-11	¥278,000	i486SX	33MHz			3.6MB	120MB	No	1x 2HD	No	xx	Beeper
PC-9801 BS2/M2	1993-11	¥252,000	i486SX	33MHz			3.6MB	No	2x 2HD	No	No	xx	Beeper
PC-9801 BA2/U2	1993-11	¥338,000	i486DX2	66MHz			3.6MB	No	No	2x 2HD	No	xx	Beeper
PC-9801 BA2/U7	1993-11	¥378,000	i486DX2	66MHz			3.6MB	120MB	No	1x 2HD	No	xx	Beeper
PC-9801 BA2/M2	1993-11	¥352,000	i486DX2	66MHz			3.6MB	No	2x 2HD	No	No	xx	Beeper
PC-9801 BX3/U2	1995-01	¥98,000	i486SX	33MHz			1.6MB	No	No	2x 2HD	No	xx	Beeper
PC-9801 BX3/U2/W	1995-01	¥163,000	i486SX	33MHz			5.6MB	210MB	No	2x 2HD	No	xx	Beeper
PC-9801 BA3/U2	1995-01	¥138,000	i486DX2	66MHz			3.6MB	No	No	2x 2HD	No	xx	Beeper
PC-9801 BA3/U2/W	1995-01	¥198,000	i486DX2	66MHz			7.6MB	210MB	No	2x 2HD	No	xx	Beeper
PC-9801 BX4/U2	1995-07	¥98,000	486DX2	66MHz			2.0MB	xx	No	2x 2HD	No	xx	PCM
PC-9801 BX4/U2/C	1995-07	¥113,000	486DX2	66MHz			2.0MB	xx	No	2x 2HD	Yes	xx	PCM
PC-9801 BX4/U2-P	1995-09	¥98,000	Pentium	63MHz			2.0MB	xx	No	2x 2HD	No	xx	PCM
PC-9801 BX4/U2/C-P	1995-09	¥113,000	Pentium	63MHz			2.0MB	xx	No	2x 2HD	Yes	xx	PCM

Note: Floppy disk standards among NEC machines are both named and formatted slightly differently than Western counterparts:

Double Density (2DD): 640KB
High Density (2HD): 1.232MB

Typically a 2HD drive can read 2DD disks, but this was not guaranteed (the PC-9801 M being a prime example).

Promotional material

JP flyer

References

↑ Computing Japan. LINC Japan. 54-59: 18. 1999
↑ https://jpn.nec.com/profile/corp/history.html (Wayback Machine: 2024-03-24 14:48)

PC-9800 series hardware
PC-9801 (1982) \| PC-9801 F (E) (1983) \| M (1984) V30 Computers: U \| VF \| VM \| UV \| 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)
stuff
Okay so I have no idea how best to do this

[.5Bhttps:.2F.2Fbooks.google.com.2Fbooks.3Fid.3DoP61AAAAIAAJ_.27.27Computing_Japan.27.27.5D._LINC_Japan._54-59:_18._1999-1] Computing Japan. LINC Japan. 54-59: 18. 1999

[https:.2F.2Fweb.archive.org.2Fweb.2F20240324144808.2Fhttps:.2F.2Fjpn.nec.com.2Fprofile.2Fcorp.2Fhistory.html-2] ttps://jpn.nec.com/profile/corp/history.html (Wayback Machine: 2024-03-24 14:48)

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