The Epson PX-8 a.k.a. Geneva was a small

laptop A laptop computer or notebook computer, also known as a laptop or notebook, is a small, portable personal computer (PC). Laptops typically have a Clamshell design, clamshell form factor (design), form factor with a flat-panel computer scree ...

computer made by the

Epson Seiko Epson Corporation, commonly known as Epson, is a Japanese multinational electronics company and one of the world's largest manufacturers of printers and information- and imaging-related equipment. Headquartered in Suwa, Nagano, Japan, t ...

Corporation in the mid-1980s. It had a

Z80 The Zilog Z80 is an 8-bit microprocessor designed by Zilog that played an important role in the evolution of early personal computing. Launched in 1976, it was designed to be software-compatible with the Intel 8080, offering a compelling altern ...

-compatible

microprocessor A microprocessor is a computer processor (computing), processor for which the data processing logic and control is included on a single integrated circuit (IC), or a small number of ICs. The microprocessor contains the arithmetic, logic, a ...

, and ran a customized version of the

CP/M CP/M, originally standing for Control Program/Monitor and later Control Program for Microcomputers, is a mass-market operating system created in 1974 for Intel 8080/Intel 8085, 85-based microcomputers by Gary Kildall of Digital Research, Dig ...

-80

operating system An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware and software resources, and provides common daemon (computing), services for computer programs. Time-sharing operating systems scheduler (computing), schedule tasks for ...

as well as various applications from a pair of

ROM Rom, or ROM may refer to: Biomechanics and medicine * Risk of mortality, a medical classification to estimate the likelihood of death for a patient * Rupture of membranes, a term used during pregnancy to describe a rupture of the amniotic sac * ...

sockets which were treated as drives. For file storage, it had a built-in

microcassette The Microcassette (often written generically as microcassette) is an audio storage medium, introduced by Olympus in 1969. It has the same width of magnetic tape as the Compact Cassette but in a cassette roughly one quarter the size. By using ...

drive. The microcassette drive is integrated into CP/M as a disk drive, default designation H:. The PX-8 did not have an internal disk drive, and instead allowed either memory to be partitioned into application memory and a

RAM disk A RAM drive (also called a RAM disk) is a block of random-access memory ( primary storage or volatile memory) that a computer's software is treating as if the memory were a disk drive (secondary storage). RAM drives provide high-performance te ...

, or an external 60 KB or 120 KB intelligent RAM disk module to be attached (64K and 128K internally but some used for the processor). The intelligent RAM disk module had its own Z80 processor with a backup battery. The PX-8 had an 80 column by 8 line

LCD display A liquid-crystal display (LCD) is a flat-panel display or other electronically modulated optical device that uses the light-modulating properties of liquid crystals combined with polarizers to display information. Liquid crystals do not emi ...

, which was monochromatic and non- backlit. It used an internal nickel-cadmium battery, and had a battery life in the range of 6–8 hours when using word-processing software. An additional battery provided backup for the internal RAM. There were a number of proprietary accessories available including a portable printer, bar code reader, and an early 3.5-inch diskette drive, the PF-10. The disk drives from the

HX-20 The HX-20 (also known as the HC-20) was an early laptop computer released by Epson, Seiko Epson in July 1982. It was the first Notebook (laptop), notebook-sized portable computer, occupying roughly the footprint of an A4 paper, A4 notebook while ...

could also be used. For the ROM cartridge slots a number of applications were available:

Basic Basic or BASIC may refer to: Science and technology * BASIC, a computer programming language * Basic (chemistry), having the properties of a base * Basic access authentication, in HTTP Entertainment * Basic (film), ''Basic'' (film), a 2003 film ...

, CP/M utilities, Portable

WordStar WordStar is a discontinued word processor application for microcomputers. It was published by MicroPro International and originally written for the CP/M-80 operating system (OS), with later editions added for MS-DOS and other 16-bit computing, ...

, CalcStar, Scheduler,

dBase II dBase (also stylized dBASE) was one of the first database management systems for microcomputers and the most successful in its day. The dBase system included the core database engine, a query system, a forms engine, and a programming languag ...

and Portable Cardbox-Plus. The PX-8 was not initially a commercial success, especially compared against the

TRS-80 Model 100 The TRS-80 Model 100 is a Notebook form factor, notebook-sized portable computer introduced in April 1983. It was the first commercially successful notebook computer, as well as one of the first notebook computers ever released. It features a k ...

portable computer but achieved some increased success after a large number were sold discounted in the United States through the DAK Catalog. The PX-8 combined some of the features from its predecessors, the

being portable, battery-operated and the QX-10 being

compatible. In 1985, Epson introduced the PX-4, combining features from both the PX-8 and the

Reception

BYTE The byte is a unit of digital information that most commonly consists of eight bits. Historically, the byte was the number of bits used to encode a single character of text in a computer and for this reason it is the smallest addressable un ...

'' in February 1985 called the PX-8 "a good second computer, especially for people with CP/M systems" or WordStar users. The magazine approved of its documentation and tape storage, and described the display as "acceptable" but less legible than the Model 100's. ''BYTE'' concluded that "after the disappointment of the Epson HX-20, the Geneva PX-8 represents a giant improvement. It is, at this time, the most powerful 8-bit portable available".

References

External links

ByteCellar's 1984 PX-8 magazine review scans

Epson PX-8 used as Mac OS X dumb terminal

PX-8 info, documentation and software

USA patent on the PX-8

Official Epson PX-8 Brochure
* {{microcompu-stub PX-8 Geneva Computer-related introductions in 1984