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6,654 pages: 1,289 machines, 702 software, 460 companies, 64 history, 17 articles, 59 fun.
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Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01YDRjtmAiNpo5mK5N3d7QwZ

content/museum/digital-equipment-corporation-vt-180.md

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+---
+title: Digital Equipment Corporation VT-180
+categories:
+- Computers
+types:
+- Professional Computer
+origins:
+- U.S.A.
+years:
+- '1982'
+cpus:
+- Z80
+params:
+  name: VT-180
+  company: /companies/digital-equipment-corporation
+  company_name: Digital Equipment Corporation
+  specs:
+  - label: NAME
+    value: VT-180
+  - label: MANUFACTURER
+    value: Digital Equipment Corporation
+  - label: TYPE
+    value: Professional Computer
+  - label: ORIGIN
+    value: U.S.A.
+  - label: YEAR
+    value: '1982'
+  - label: END OF PRODUCTION
+    value: Unknown
+  - label: BUILT IN LANGUAGE
+    value: None (Microsoft M-BASIC was included on diskette)
+  - label: KEYBOARD
+    value: Full-stroke 83 keys with numeric keypad & arrows keys
+  - label: CPU
+    value: Z80
+  - label: SPEED
+    value: 4 MHz
+  - label: RAM
+    value: 64 KB
+  - label: ROM
+    value: 8 KB
+  - label: TEXT MODES
+    value: 80 or 132 columns x 24 lines (14 lines in option)
+  - label: GRAPHIC MODES
+    value: None
+  - label: COLORS
+    value: Monochrome
+  - label: SOUND
+    value: Beeper
+  - label: SIZE / WEIGHT
+    value: Unknown
+  - label: I/O PORTS
+    value: 2 x serial ports, printer, modem, EIA interface
+  - label: BUILT IN MEDIA
+    value: 2 or 4 x 5.25'' floppy drives (180 KB each)
+  - label: OS
+    value: CP/M
+  - label: POWER SUPPLY
+    value: Built-in power supply unit
+  - label: PRICE
+    value: About $5,000
+  tabs:
+  - photos
+  - adverts
+  photos:
+  - title: VT-180 COMPUTER
+    subtitle: ''
+    text: As seen in a french advert published in June 1982.
+    image: null
+  - title: THE VT-100 TERMINAL
+    subtitle: ''
+    text: ''
+    image: null
+  adverts:
+  - title: U.S. ADVERT (1982)
+    subtitle: ''
+    text: ''
+    image: null
+  - title: FRENCH ADVERT (JUNE 1982)
+    subtitle: ''
+    text: ''
+    image: null
+  comments:
+  - author: Niles Mills (United States)
+    date: Saturday 27th October 2012
+    text: I purchased two new VT180''s when they were first available, with four drives each. There was lots of good software to purchase back then from a company called Lifeboat. DEC published the CP/M source code, and so it was possible to do things like increase the size of the serial FIFO buffer (beyond it''s default 4 bytes) so that serial comm speeds greater than 2400 baud would not $ bytes. I wrote quite a few utilities (in BDS C) for the VT180''s, including one that communicated between the two VT180''s over the extra serial port, allowing them to spool each other''s print jobs. I still have both systems and they are in good condition. DEC hardware back in the 1980''s was truly "commercial grade" and nearly indestructible. Looking back, it''s hard to believe that those 5-1/4" floppies were sufficient, but they were.
+  - author: Chris Wildermuth (USA)
+    date: Friday 30th September 2011
+    text: A VT180 was my first computer. I bought it used from a DEC employee. It had 4 drives that would whirl away, one for CP/M, two for applications and one to store files. It included a BASIC program with with hand typed, Xeroxed instructions from a company called "Micro-Soft" based in Albuquerque, as well as Multiplan and WordStar. I became a master of formatting WordStar because you only saw the commands and had to print out the finished product. Many many years later someone asked me if I knew HTML. I said no, I wasn''t a programmer. Later, I looked over the person''s shoulder and asked, "Where did you find WordStar? I have not seen that in years!" She said, "What are you talking about? What''s WordStar? This is HTML." That is how I lovingly remember my old Robin. My wife eventually forced me to donate it as it was talking up precious closet space in a one-bedroom apartment. Sure wish I''d kept those old "Micro-Soft" instructions.
+  - author: Jan-Erik Karlsson (sweden)
+    date: Saturday 7th August 2010
+    text: I have a VT180 ( robin ) up running and still used with multiplan for accounting
+  oc_id: 605
+  source:
+    url: https://web.archive.org/web/20230528092247/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=605
+    date: '2023-05-28'
+---
+
+In 1982, Digital introduced an option board which turned a VT-100 terminal into a personal computer using the CP/M operating system. It was called the **Digital's Personal Computing Option**. Customer could purchase just the option board or could buy the complete terminal/computer package called the **VT-180**.
+
+The VT-100 terminal was introduced by Digital in August 1978. It rapidly enjoyed great popularity and soon became the most widely imitated asynchronous terminal. Its control codes and escape sequences still form the basis of the **xterm** set and of the ANSI or IBM PC standards. VT100 compatibility is still provided by most terminal emulators. All terminals that came after the VT100 was able to emulate their ancestor, although they offered new features in addition to what the VT100 could do.
+
+The VT-180, also called 'Robin', was thus basically a VT100 terminal with an extra board installed which includes a Z80 processor, 64 KB of RAM memory, a floppy disk controller and an extra serial port controller. The single sided floppy disk drives came in a dual case. The system supported up to four individual disk drives (two dual drive units).