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PC-9801

From NEC Retro

Revision as of 18:02, 12 February 2022 by Black Squirrel (talk | contribs) (→‎Hardware)
PC9801.jpg
PC-9801
Manufacturer: NEC
Release Date RRP Code
PC-9801
JP

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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, released a year prior, expecting that the user purchase external disk drives in order to interface with the machine. Also built into ROM is N88-BASIC (86), which derives from the PC-8801's N88-BASIC, with many commands shared between the two (though some differences mean the two languages are not completely interchangable). Many peripherals designed for the PC-8801 (such as monitors) will also function with the PC-9801.

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".

Technical specifications

  • CPU: µPD8086 clocked at 5MHz
  • Graphics: 2x µPD7220 clocked at 2.5MHz
    • 640×400, 8 colours, 1 page
    • 640×400, 2 colours, 3 pages
    • 640×200, 8 colours, 2 pages
    • 640×200, 2 colours, 6 pages
  • RAM: 128KB
  • VRAM: 48KB
  • Sound: Internal "beeper"

List of games

References



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
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