Hewlett-Packard Advert - 1983
From US Magazine
After you ask what it can do for you now, ask what it can do for you later: HP-86
More proof that it took at least a few years for the IBM PC format to bulldoze everything in its path, comes this advert for the Hewlett-Packard HP-86.
Looking a bit like a very slimmed-down Commodore PET - and for sale the year after the advent of the IBM - it featured HP's own custom CPU, running at a modest 625KHz, which was nominally only three times faster than a 1962 Elliott.
It made up for it with its advanced floating-point maths capability, which was not really surprising as HP was also a manufacturer of scientific calculators.
It came with a built-in BASIC interpreter and 64K RAM, however it could also run CP/M software via a plug-in Z80A module which included an additional 64K. The advert claims 128K "memory", however this included at least 32K of ROM for the BASIC.
The entry-level - and barely usable - system with just a single 3½" floppy disk drive and a 12" monitor retailed for around $2,820, which is about £8,830 in 2025.
Date created: 01 July 2012
Last updated: 11 December 2024
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