website/content/museum/olivetti-p6040.md at 7edf5ff4a974a1a256c16dc6d3fc3366c284d7e9

Files

T

yann64andClaude Opus 5.5 b274874139 All machines linked to their forum thread (full comment import)

1,289 discussions, 9,527 archived comments; pages no longer carry the comments themselves.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01YDRjtmAiNpo5mK5N3d7QwZ

2026-10-13 17:26:43 +02:00

3.0 KiB

Raw Blame History

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

title

categories

types

origins

years

cpus

params

Olivetti P6040

Computers

Transportable

Italy

1977

Intel 8080

name

image

company

company_name

specs

tabs

forum_thread

photos

oc_id

source

P6040

/media/museum/photos/olivetti_p6040_system_1.jpg

/companies/olivetti

Olivetti

label	value
NAME	P6040

label	value
MANUFACTURER	Olivetti

label	value
TYPE	Transportable

label	value
ORIGIN	Italy

label	value
YEAR	1977

label	value
BUILT IN LANGUAGE	Tiny BASIC interpreter

label	value
KEYBOARD	Alphanumeric 72 keys with calculator keypad

label	value
CPU	Intel 8080

label	value
SPEED	Unknown

label	value
RAM	2 KB expandable to 4 KB (1 to 3 KB of user RAM)

label	value
ROM	16 KB

label	value
TEXT MODES	16 chars x 1 line diode display

label	value
SIZE / WEIGHT	36 (W) x 40.6 (D) x 11.6 (H) cm. / 7.8 kg.

label	value
BUILT IN MEDIA	2.5

label	value
POWER SUPPLY	Built-in power supply unit

label	value
PERIPHERALS	RS232 adapter and specific Olivetti interface called IPSO

label	value
PRICE	$4,500 (USA)\ About $60,000 including specific software developement according to custommers needs

photos

817

title	subtitle	text	image
KEYBOARD		A complete keyboard, but it was probably not easy to type text as the letter keyboard layout was alphabetical order	/media/museum/photos/olivetti_p6040_keyboard_1.jpg

title	subtitle	text	image
DISPLAY & PRINTER		Red diode 16 character display and alphanumeric printer	/media/museum/photos/olivetti_p6040_dispprinter_1.jpg

title	subtitle	text	image
DISK DRIVE		Olivetti disk drive with a 2.5" mylar minidisc	/media/museum/photos/olivetti_p6040_minidisc_1.jpg

836

url	date
https://web.archive.org/web/20230608073134/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=836	2023-06-08

Although the P6040 was very like a calculator, it was a real computer featuring 16 KB ROM, 2 KB RAM and a tiny BASIC programming language.

A three position selector allowed to enter a BASIC program (LOAD position), execute (EXECUTE) or debug by running one instruction at a time (STEP). Sadly, out of the 2 KB of available RAM, only one was available for BASIC program and variables. Hopefully, an optional 2 KB RAM extension was available.

Programs could be listed or executed using the red diode display or the built-in alphanumeric printer. They was saved on Olivetti specific 2.5" 3 KB mylar minidiscs through the built in disc drive.

Three versions of the P-6040 were sold. The first allowed programs to be created, edited and executed; the second only allowed programs to be read from the minidisc and executed; the third, stangely, allowed programs to be created and saved but not executed.

Thanks to Steven Williams for the donation of his P6040!
Thanks to Gérard Touitou for information and pictures

3.0 KiB Raw Blame History

3.0 KiB

Raw Blame History