The MAX-80 is a

personal computer A personal computer, commonly referred to as PC or computer, is a computer designed for individual use. It is typically used for tasks such as Word processor, word processing, web browser, internet browsing, email, multimedia playback, and PC ...

released in 1982 by ''Lobo Systems'' (formerly ''Lobo Drives International'', a company from California). It differed from other

TRS-80 The TRS-80 Micro Computer System (TRS-80, later renamed the Model I to distinguish it from successors) is a desktop microcomputer developed by American company Tandy Corporation and sold through their Radio Shack stores. Launched in 1977, it is ...

compatible computers in that it was not hardware compatible with the TRS-80.

Hardware

The MAX-80 featured a

Zilog Zilog, Inc. is an American manufacturer of microprocessors, microcontrollers, and application-specific embedded System on a chip, system-on-chip (SoC) products. The company was founded in 1974 by Federico Faggin and Ralph Ungermann, who were soo ...

Z80-B

CPU A central processing unit (CPU), also called a central processor, main processor, or just processor, is the primary processor in a given computer. Its electronic circuitry executes instructions of a computer program, such as arithmetic, log ...

which ran at 5.07 MHz, a very fast speed for its time. It came standard with 64KB of

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, and was expandable via sockets for a further 64KB. The standard configuration originally consisted of a 64KB unit (later 128KB) and

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 ...

. The user could buy a complete system, or provide their own monitor and disk drives. The

floppy disk controller A floppy-disk controller (FDC) is a hardware component that directs and controls reading from and writing to a computer's floppy disk drive (FDD). It has evolved from a discrete set of components on one or more circuit boards to a special-purpo ...

could handle 8-inch drives using the standard IBM 3740 format in single-sided or double-sided modes, as well as 5.25-inch floppy drives with up to 80 cylinders. The Max-80 included a hard disk interface and two

RS-232 In telecommunications, RS-232 or Recommended Standard 232 is a standard introduced in 1960 for serial communication transmission of data. It formally defines signals connecting between a ''DTE'' (''data terminal equipment'') such as a compu ...

serial ports. The MAX-80's

character generator A character generator, often abbreviated as CG, is a device or software that produces static or animated text (such as news crawls and credits rolls) for keying into a video stream. Modern character generators are computer-based, and they can ...

was user programmable.

Software

Up to 95% of

TRS-80 Model III The TRS-80 Micro Computer System (TRS-80, later renamed the Model I to distinguish it from successors) is a desktop microcomputer developed by American company Tandy Corporation and sold through their Radio Shack stores. Launched in 1977, it is ...

software would function without modification on the MAX-80. This did not include games. The special version of LDOS used was able to run most Model III programs with a patch disk available for those, such as

VisiCalc VisiCalc ("visible calculator") is the first spreadsheet computer program for personal computers, originally released for the Apple II by VisiCorp on October 17, 1979. It is considered the killer application for the Apple II, turning the microco ...

, which it couldn't. The CP/M

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 ...

was offered as well. A patched version of the

TRS-80 Model 4 The TRS-80 Model 4 is the last Z80-based home computer family by Radio Shack, sold from April 1983 through late 1991. Model 4 Tandy Corporation introduced the TRS-80 Model 4 on April 26, 1983 as the successor to the TRS-80 Model III. The ...

's LS-DOS 6.x operating system was later made available for the MAX-80. This was called MAXDOS.

Community

users' group A users' group (also user's group or user group) is a type of club focused on the use of a particular technology, usually (but not always) computer-related. Overview Users' groups started in the early days of mainframe computers, as a way to sh ...

called MAXIMUL published a MAX-80 newsletter. MAXIMUL actually outlived Lobo Systems, lasting until 1989.

Reception

Jerry Pournelle Jerry Eugene Pournelle (; August 7, 1933 – September 8, 2017) was an American scientist in the area of operations research and ergonomics, human factors research, a science fiction writer, essayist, journalist, and one of the first bloggers. ...

wrote in September 1983 that if the Max-80 came with more

bundled software In marketing, product bundling is offering several products or services for sale as one combined product or service package. It is a common feature in many imperfectly competitive product and service markets. Industries engaged in the practice ...

"it would be a strong contender for the best deal in microcomputerland. As it is, it's a lot of machine for the money". He recommended that customers join Maximul.

References

External links

Lobo MAX-80 at Oldcomputers.net

The Lobo MAX-80
a
trs-80.org

Lobo Drives International MAX-80 at Old-Computers.com

By Tim Mann {{TRS-80 and Tandy computers Z80-based home computers Computer-related introductions in 1982