Ohio Scientific Advert - September 1978
From Byte - The Small Systems Journal
Ohio C2-8P: An exceptional value in personal computing
Released at about the same time as the company's much larger (and more expensive) Challenger III range, the II was aimed more at the small-business and personal end of the market - as seen by the cassette interface and domestic television in use in the advert.
It shipped with a reduced 8K BASIC in ROM, and 4K of user RAM. It was also apparently the only home computer at the time that could be expanded to support a hard disk drive. Ohio had been the first company to market a micro with a disk drive, back in 1977.
Ohio's extensive range of machine configurations, including the C2-8P at $799, or about £4,040 in 2024
Ohio offered an extensive range of microcomputers, including the budget-friendly offering of its original bare-board Superboard II - with video and audio interfaces and BASIC in ROM for only $279, which is about £1,420 in 2024, or the 1P - a Superboard in a case with a power supply for only $70 more.
Ohio's Superboard II - the basis of many of the company's microcomputers. From Byte, December 1978
There was also the C2-4P, called the "professional portable" - portable only in the sense that you could unplug it and it was light enough to carry around - and the C2-8P of the advert at $799, or about £4,040 in 2024.
The top-of-the-range was the fridge-sized C3-B - a 74MB Winchester hard-disk version with 48K RAM and dual floppy drives - at $11,090 - about £55,400 now.
Ohio was sold to M/A-COM in 1980, and after a series of further sales, ended up being owned by Sweden's Dataindustrier AB - the company which produced the Luxor ABC80.
Date created: 19 December 2023
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