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Notes |
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Manufacturer |
Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems [MITS] (US) |
Model |
Altair 8800 |
Date Launched |
January 1975 |
Price |
$439 as a kit |
Microprocessor type |
Intel 8080 @ 2 MHz |
ROM size |
ROM was optional, typically 1 kilobyte. |
Standard RAM |
256 bytes minimum |
Maximum RAM |
64 kilobytes theoretically |
Keyboard type |
No keyboard |
Supplied language |
Optional Microsoft BASIC (required a 4 kilobyte RAM expansion card). |
Text resolution |
No video display |
Graphics resolution |
Not applicable |
Colours available |
Not applicable |
Sound |
None |
Cassette load speed |
Not known |
Dimensions (mm) |
420 x 430 x 172 |
Special features |
Had sixteen internal expansion slots for such things as serial and parallel interfaces, disc drive controllers, teletype adaptor... |
Good points |
Was sold as a complete kit containing all the necessary parts. |
Bad points |
By modern standards would be considered unusable without a keyboard or display. |
How successful? |
About 5000 were sold. |
Comments |
MITS had previously sold kits for desktop and handheld electronic calculators but this market had largely disappeared and the company was in financial difficulties until the Altair was launched. |
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