--- title: Epson PX 8 / HC-88 / Geneva categories: - Computers types: - Portable origins: - Japan years: - '1984' cpus: - Zilog Z80 params: name: PX 8 / HC-88 / Geneva image: /media/museum/photos/epson_px8_system_1.jpg company: /companies/epson company_name: Epson specs: - label: NAME value: PX 8 / HC-88 / Geneva - label: MANUFACTURER value: Epson - label: TYPE value: Portable - label: ORIGIN value: Japan - label: YEAR value: '1984' - label: BUILT IN LANGUAGE value: Microsoft Basic - label: KEYBOARD value: Full-stroke 72 key with function keys and cursor keys - label: CPU value: Zilog Z80 (+ Hitachi 6301 for I/O) - label: SPEED value: 2.45 MHz (Z80) / 614 KHz (6301) - label: RAM value: 64 KB (up to 184 KB) - label: VRAM value: 6 KB - label: ROM value: 32 KB - label: TEXT MODES value: 8 lines of 80 characters - label: GRAPHIC MODES value: 480 x 64 dots - label: COLORS value: LCD monochrome display - label: SOUND value: beeper - Volume control - label: SIZE / WEIGHT value: 29.7 (W) x 21.6 (D) x 4.6 (H) cm (A4 size) / 1.8 Kg - label: I/O PORTS value: RS232, bar code reader, bus, ADC, cartridge, analog in (2) - label: BUILT IN MEDIA value: small tape recorder - label: OS value: CP/M 80 - label: POWER SUPPLY value: External 6V. AC adaptor and rechargeable Ni-cad battery - label: PERIPHERALS value: 64 KB or 128 KB Memory expansion units, 3.5'' and 5.25'' FDD units - label: PRICE value: |- £798\ 1990 FF (France, january 1988) tabs: - photos - adverts - hardware - software - emulators - links - videos forum_thread: 208 photos: - title: HC-88 (JAPANESE MODEL) subtitle: '' text: '' image: /media/museum/photos/epson_hc88.jpg - title: COMPLETE SYSTEM subtitle: '' text: Complete PX-8 system with 3.5" FDD unit and acoustic modem. image: /media/museum/photos/epson_px8_systemfdmodem_1.jpg - title: PX-8 DISPLAY subtitle: '' text: CP/M RAM drive directory image: /media/museum/photos/epson_px8_display_1.jpg - title: READY FOR TRAVELLING subtitle: '' text: '' image: /media/museum/photos/epson_px8_closed_1.jpg - title: RIGHT SIDE subtitle: '' text: Notice the power switch and the contrast adjustment knob. image: /media/museum/photos/epson_px8_rightside_1.jpg - title: LEFT SIDE subtitle: '' text: The system reset switch needs a pen to be pushed. image: /media/museum/photos/epson_px8_leftside_1.jpg - title: BOTTOM SIDE subtitle: '' text: Three trap doors allow BIOS ROM **(1)**, software and CP/M ROMs **(3)** as well as main battery **(2)**) to be replaced. image: /media/museum/photos/epson_px8_bottom_1.jpg - title: MICROCASSETTE DRIVE subtitle: '' text: The microcassette drive can be operated manually or managed by software. A tape directory placed at the beginning of each cassette allows the tape drive to be seen like a floppy disc drive by the operating system. image: /media/museum/photos/epson_px8_taperec_1.jpg - title: REAR CONNECTORS subtitle: '' text: |- **(1)** Speaker or headphones output jack\ **(2)** Analogue/digital converter input jack\ **(3)** Barcode reader input jack\ **(4)** Bus expansion 50 pin connector\ **(5)** First serial RS-232 mini-Din connector, mainly intended to a printer\ **(6)** Second serial connector intended to a modem\ **(7)** External AC adaptor connector image: /media/museum/photos/epson_px8_rearcon_1.jpg - title: REMOVABLE ROM SOFTWARE subtitle: '' text: 'Apart from the Microsoft Basic ROM **(1)** (adapted to the specific characteristics of the PX-8), several CP/M applications were available : wordprocessor **(2)**, spreadsheet **(3)**, electronic diary, communication software,etc.' image: /media/museum/photos/epson_px8_eproms_1.jpg - title: MOTHERBOARD subtitle: '' text: |- The compact board, the size of an A4 paper sheet, includes CP/M operating system, a smart mini-tape recorder, software stored on interchangeable ROMs and multiple extension possibilities. **(1)** Bios ROM holding basic I/O routines (keyboard, display, etc)\ **(2)** Z-80 microprocessor. Low power C-MOS version, running at 2.45 MHz.\ **(3)** Custom Epson chip managing Z80 address and data buses\ **(4)** Cassette recorder unit\ **(5)** Main battery\ **(6)** C-MOS RAM battery backup. Saves memory content when the computer is switched off.\ **(7)** Chipsets handling external communications (printer, disk-drive, tape recorder, internal loudspeaker)\ **(8)** Removable ROM chips hold the CP/M operating system and a vast library of professional and utility software\ **(9)** Custom Epson chips managing ROM and RAM memory\ **(10)** RAM memory C-MOS chips (4 x 4265)\ **(11)** Keyboard flat cable\ **(12)** 7508 chipset, used to convert the analogue signal (received from analogue jack) into digital information\ **(13)** 8251 UART chip. Manages Barcode reader information image: /media/museum/photos/epson_px8_mainboard_1.jpg - title: MANUALS subtitle: '' text: Set of PX-8, peripherals and ROM software manuals. image: /media/museum/photos/epson_px8_manuals_1.jpg adverts: - title: GENEVA AD, OCT. 1985 subtitle: '' text: '' image: /media/museum/pubs/epson_px8_pub_s1.jpg - title: GENEVA AD, NOV. 1985 subtitle: '' text: '' image: /media/museum/pubs/epson_px8_pub_s2.jpg - title: UK ADVERT (JULY 1984) subtitle: '' text: '' image: /media/museum/pubs/epson_pc8_uk-pub_july-1984.jpg hardware: - title: CX-21 ACOUSTIC COUPLER subtitle: '' text: The CX-21 could emit/receive data through a telephone handset at up to 300 baud. image: /media/museum/hardware/epson_px8_acmodem_1.jpg - title: BARCODE READER subtitle: '' text: '' image: /media/museum/hardware/epson_px8_barcode-reader_1.jpg - title: PF-10 FDD UNIT subtitle: '' text: |- 3.5", 360 KB, double side floppy disc drive unit. Can be operated with either internal Ni-Cd battery (90 mn life) or AC adaptor. Note the dual serial mini-din plug allowing either a second floppy drive unit or a serial printer to be connected using the serial daisy chain.\ Speed transfer rate is of 38.4 KB per second. image: /media/museum/hardware/epson_px8_fddunit_1.jpg - title: TF-15 FDD UNIT subtitle: Dual 5.25'' floppy-disk unit text: Each drive had 640 KB capacity (80 tracks x 16 sectors x 256 bytes). Information was transferred through a high speed serial interface, at 38,4 Kbits per second. image: /media/museum/hardware/epson_px8_tf15dualfdunit_s1.jpg - title: P-80X PRINTER subtitle: Thermal printer text: This thermal printer featured a 24-pin head. The resolution was of 7 x 8 in draft mode, or 16 x 24 in LQ mode. Speed was of 22.5 to 45 CPS. It was powered by a Nicad battery and an AC adapter-charger. image: /media/museum/hardware/epson_px8_p80xprinter_s1.jpg - title: P-40 THERMAL PRINTER subtitle: '' text: The P-40 was a 40-80 column thermal printer which used 11 cm wide thermal paper rolls. It was powered by rechargeable batteries. image: /media/museum/hardware/epson_px8_p40printer_s1.jpg - title: P-40 BOX subtitle: '' text: P-40 box with two boxes of five paper rolls. image: /media/museum/hardware/epson_px8_p40printerbox_s1.jpg screenshots: - title: ROM AND MICROCASSETTE SOFTWARE subtitle: '' text: |- ROM software:\ \- **Portable WordStar** (word processor)\ \- **Portable calc** (Spreadsheet)\ \- **Portable Cardbox** - 2 versions (Data management) Epson microcassettes hold various sample programs. image: /media/museum/software/epson_px8_romtapes_1.jpg - title: 'ROM SOFTWARE #2' subtitle: '' text: '' image: /media/museum/software/epson_px8_rommodules_s1.jpg emulators: - title: Takeda Toshiya's homepage url: http://homepage3.nifty.com/takeda-toshiya/ platform: Windows text: one of the many emulators writtent by this awesome japanese guy links: - title: Demo "Buried By Sands Of Time" by "bEnd oF crUsH" url: http://pouet.net/prod.php?which=50186 text: -running demo running on a Epson HX-20 - scored 2nd on BreakPoint 2008 in category "Wild console" - title: Yet another computer museum url: http://www.xs4all.nl/~fjkraan/comp/px8/ text: Lots of CP/M software and documentation links videos: - title: Epson HX-20 commercial url: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUueKeoKPc0 text: 'Length: 32s' - title: Epson HX-20 demos url: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atklmnxwTNU text: 'Length: 4:04' - title: Epson HX-20 presentation url: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OeMp7Cu-hGk text: 'Length: 7:08' - title: Printing on an Epson HX-20 url: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeLYWXZ6pE8 text: 'Length: 55s' related: - /museum/epson-hc-hx-20 oc_id: 198 source: url: https://web.archive.org/web/20230604034013/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=198 date: '2023-06-04' --- The PX-8 was the successor of the [PX-4](/museum/epson-px-4-hc-40/) and [HX-20](/museum/epson-hc-hx-20/). The main improvement was a twice bigger flip-up LCD screen. It was sold with four cartridges which could be added to the base of the unit: a **BASIC** Programming Language, **CardBox Plus**, a diary for 400 names and addresss, **Calc**, a spreadsheet and **WordStar** the well known word processor. A double 5.25" floppy drive was available, and an Epson developed stand alone 3.5" floppy drive. The PX-8 was designed to be compatible with CP/M programs but these may need some modifications due to the display system. Actually, 8 lines of 80 characters were shown at any one time, but the display could be scrolled through up to 48 lines.\ It may also act as a terminal for other computers. The PX-8 was sold as HC-88 in Japan and Geneva in the USA.