1983 Micro prices (was Re: The Origins of DOS)

[Adrian Graham]

Hi folks,

I know this was published in the UK media in 1983 which doesn't really vouch
for its authenticity, but it gives a good idea of prices for the micros that
were available at the time.

It's the A-Z of Personal Computers published by Video Press in 1983 and some
of its prices are thus: (all UK pounds, multiply by roughly 2 to get the $)

Tandy TRS80 M1: 199
Apple ][ and ][e: 1209/1270
Osborne 1: 1430
Commodore 4016: 632
Apple ///: 2418
Apple Lisa: 7500
DEC Rainbow 100: 2300
HH Tiger: 2700
IBM PC: 2390
N* Advantage/Horizon: 2300/2295
ACT Sirius 1 (Victor 9000): 2754
Intertec Superbrain II: 2100

Send your 'oh no it was priced at x' comments to 12 Kingsbridge Ave, London,
W3 9AJ, UK though I guess whoever is now at that address won't know what
you're talking about given that it was 23 years ago :o))


On 31/10/06 21:20, "Chuck Guzis" <cclist at sydex.com> wrote:

> On 31 Oct 2006 at 12:34, Fred Cisin wrote:
> 
>>> From the time that it was introduced (August 1981), the IBM PC 5150 was
>> also available bare for about $1360 (USD).  If you put in your own Tandon
>> TM100 drives at ~$150 each, instead of IBM's at ~$500 each, put in your
>> own RAM at ~$75 per 16K v IBM's at $300 per 16K, added a serial card for
>> ~$150?, added an FDC board for ~$300, a video board for ~$300, and your
>> own monitor for ~$100 v IBM's at ~$600, etc. you ended up with a machine
>> at comparable prices to an Apple ][.
> 
> But it was IBM's picing and packaging of options that engendered the
> third-party add-on board makers, like Quadram and Everex.  What made
> them really attractive was packing more than a single function on a
> board (remember that the original 5150 had only 5 expansion slots)
> So, for example, a board that gave you RAM, a parallel port two
> serial ports, as well as a clock was very attractive if the
> alternative was purchasing an expansion box ($$$) for the extra
> single-function cards that you'd need from IBM.
> 
> Cheers,
> Chuck
> 
> 

-- 
Adrian/Witchy
Binary Dinosaurs creator/curator
Www.binarydinosaurs.co.uk - the UK's biggest private home computer
collection?