website/content/museum/lobo-drives-international-max-80.md

title, categories, types, origins, years, cpus, params

title	categories	types	origins	years	cpus	params
Lobo Drives International MAX-80	Computers	Professional Computer	U.S.A.	1982	Z80-B	name image company company_name specs tabs forum_thread photos adverts oc_id source MAX-80 /media/museum/photos/lobo_max80_system_1.jpg /companies/lobo-drives-international Lobo Drives International label value NAME MAX-80 label value MANUFACTURER Lobo Drives International label value TYPE Professional Computer label value ORIGIN U.S.A. label value YEAR 1982 label value BUILT IN LANGUAGE None label value KEYBOARD Full-stroke 76 keys with numeric keypad label value CPU Z80-B label value SPEED 5 Mhz. label value RAM 64 KB expandable to 128 KB label value ROM Unknown label value TEXT MODES 64 columns x 16 or 32 lines for TRS-80 mode\ 80 columns x 25 lines for CP/M mode (or a special LDOS mode) label value GRAPHIC MODES None label value COLORS Monochrome label value SOUND Beeper label value SIZE / WEIGHT Unknown label value I/O PORTS F.D.D. interface (3.5'', 5.25'' and 8''), H.D.D. interface (ST-406/512), Parallel Centronics, 2 x Serial RS-232C label value OS LDOS 5.3.1, CP/M-80 version 2.2 (60K) and 3 (CP/M Plus) label value POWER SUPPLY Built-in power supply label value PRICE $820 photos adverts 612 title subtitle text image LOBO PRICE LIST December 1982 price list /media/museum/photos/lobo_max80_pricelist_1.jpg title subtitle text image US AD. MAY 1983 Advert said: Before you start hunting from store to store for the ideal microcomputer, consider this: You won't find it.\ That's because the world's most versatile micro is available only from the manufacturer. It's Lobo MAX-80 And, dollar for dollar, feature for feature, there isn't another system that even comes close.... /media/museum/pubs/lobo_max80_pub_1.jpg 625 url date https://web.archive.org/web/20230604041049/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=625 2023-06-04

Max-80 has been, along with the LNW-80, one of the two major Tandy TRS-80 Mod. III compatible computers.

It could run LDOS TRS-80 software three times faster. Nevertheless numerous internal differences made it incompatible as far as hardware was concerned: serial and parallel ports, disk interface and no tape connector.

The system also ran CP/M operating system. the early versions were shipped with 2.2 version, next ones with version 3. It could accept any 5" or 8" disk units of any capacity, including the new and rare (at that time) Sony 3.5" units.

---

More information by Clarence Perry:
I purchased a Max 80 in 83 with LDOS. The Max 80 did not have a boot rom like the TRS80. It was basically a CPM machine which didn't require much in ROM and loaded everything from disk.
LDOS for the MAX 80 had a version of the model 1 basic rom as a disk file which had to be loaded into low memory during boot. My hat is off to the guys who wrote & documented LDOS because it still stands as one of the finest pieces of computer documentation I have seen.
I did some assembler work on the Max80. I posted a task switcher on Compuserve that switched between different LDOS sessions running different applications with a key combination. The source was there also. It was pretty easy to do due to the memory arrangement. That was also enough of a taste to decide I never again wanted to do assembler.