--- title: BASIS 108 categories: - Computers types: - Professional Computer origins: - Germany years: - '1982' cpus: - '6502' params: name: BASIS 108 image: /media/museum/photos/basis_108.jpg company: /companies/basis company_name: BASIS specs: - label: NAME value: BASIS 108 - label: MANUFACTURER value: Basis - label: TYPE value: Professional Computer - label: ORIGIN value: Germany - label: YEAR value: '1982' - label: KEYBOARD value: |- Detached full-stroke keyboard (AZERTY/QWERTY), 100 keys\ 15 functions keys, separated numeric keypad and editing keypad - label: CPU value: 6502 and Zilog Z80 (For CP/M compatibility) - label: CO-PROCESSOR value: None - label: RAM value: 128 kb (two switchable 64k banks) - label: ROM value: 12 kb - label: TEXT MODES value: 40 x 24 / 80 x 24 - label: GRAPHIC MODES value: 280 x 192 / 280 x 160 / 80 x 48 / 40 x 48 - label: COLORS value: 6 for the two first graphic modes and 15 for the other ones - label: SOUND value: 1 voice - label: SIZE / WEIGHT value: Heavy ! - label: I/O PORTS value: Centronics , RS232c , Tape, Joystick, six Apple II slots, video RGB, video composite - label: BUILT IN MEDIA value: Two 5.25'' disk-drives (optional) - label: OS value: CP/M 3.0+ or CP/M 2.2 - DOS 3.2 or DOS 3.3 - label: POWER SUPPLY value: Built-in power supply - label: PERIPHERALS value: Most of the Apple II extensions... - label: PRICE value: 2290 (France, 1983) tabs: - photos - adverts photos: - title: INSIDE subtitle: '' text: Once the Basis 108 is opened the power supply (top left), mother board (top right), two disk-drives (bottom left and right) and speaker (between the two disk-drives) are easily recognizable. image: /media/museum/photos/basis_108_inside.jpg adverts: - title: FIRST U.S. AD (1982) subtitle: '' text: A discreet advert and a nice monitor. image: /media/museum/pubs/basis_108_uspub_1.jpg - title: U.S. AD (1983) subtitle: '' text: The Basis 108. Microcomputin'g "Best Of Both Worlds" image: /media/museum/pubs/basis_108_uspub_2.jpg - title: 'FRENCH AD #1' subtitle: '' text: |- ''The European Alternative'' ! The Basis 108 was sold in France by BMI. image: /media/museum/pubs/basis_108_pub_alternative.jpg - title: 'FRENCH AD #2' subtitle: '' text: '''''The memory tool''''' image: /media/museum/pubs/basis_108_pub_outil-memoire.jpg comments: - author: former basis user (usa) date: Monday 1st August 2022 text: But I did get some money for recycling the huge and thick Basis aluminum cases!!! One could pretty much drive a car over them without damage - and I stood on the cases several times to reach something on a high shelf. - author: former basis user (usa) date: Monday 1st August 2022 text: I had two Basis 108s, each with the two floppy drives. I was also in the user group, communication over a telephone handset modem. I needed CP/M for Wordstar, and the 6502 to run programs colleagues had written. I really did like those Basis machines, but eventually I needed more computing power, so switched to a PC (I might have stayed with Apple, had they not locked everything up with the Lisa - I need to be able to choose my own hardware and software, not have Jobs do it for me). - author: Charlie Weesner (Tucson, Az) date: Friday 23rd May 2014 text: |- I used my Basis 108 for two or three years. The 16 MB retro-fit hard disk, and everything. There was a "Basis Users Group" with about 125 members (peak). I moved from Apple DOS to p-system, then to CP/M. Almost everything worthwhile I did under CP/M - including a command processor replacement whose name I don''t recall. I upgraded the 2 MHz 8080 CPU on the motherboard with an 8 MHz Z80 card. Centronics port to a dot-matrix printer. Serial port to a Hayes modem. Eventually Basis got shut out for copyright infrigement on Apple DOS in ROM. - author: Ed Weiner date: Friday 12th April 2013 text: |- I too had a Basis 108. I visited a nice couple in Munster, Germany and got the first upgrade z80 card to run at 4.5\ Also a very smart audio engineer, a Mr. Smith, in Cali, adapted a $995 hard drive to work with the Basis. The hard drive Co. failed in their attempt. - author: Peter Gilvarry (USA formerly Hong Kong) date: Wednesday 11th April 2012 text: I had one of theses that was built under a licence in Hong Kong, known as Medfly. I belonged to a US based user''s group and learned a lot about computing using this PC. I ran both Applesoft and CPM on it for many years. - author: Andy Harper (USA) date: Sunday 19th February 2012 text: I remember playing Karatika on this computer. I think Lotus 123 was used as well. - author: RockDoctor (Minnesota, US) date: Tuesday 16th November 2010 text: The Basis 108 was my first personal computer. Bought it in spring, 1982, so that I''d have a unit at home compatible with the Apple II in my office. It served me well! - author: George (USA) date: Tuesday 5th January 2010 text: Why did Basis fail? oc_id: 92 source: url: https://web.archive.org/web/20230608082659/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=92 date: '2023-06-08' --- This professional computer was compatible with most of the hardware and software designed for the [Apple II](/museum/apple-ii/). It could run under DOS 3.x, but thanks to its second CPU, a Z80 processor, it could also run under CP/M. The Basis 108 had 128 KB RAM, (two switchable memory banks of 64k). Two 5"1/4 disk-drives (Apple compatible) could also be mounted inside the computer. In the picture, these are Apple Disk II drives. The Basis 108 was a good Apple II compatible machine with a lot of options built-in (80 columns, disk-drives controller, CP/M, high-resolution graphics), and was cheaper than the equivalent Apple system... A year after introduction, the Basis Junior was presented at various different electronic shows. It was basically the same computer but with only 64 KB RAM (with optional expansion to 128k).