website/content/museum/olivetti-p6060.md

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

title	categories	types	origins	years	cpus	params
Olivetti P6060	Computers	Professional Computer	Italy	1977	two card Olivetti processor	name image company company_name specs tabs forum_thread photos links docs oc_id source P6060 /media/museum/photos/olivetti_p6060_system_1.jpg /companies/olivetti Olivetti label value NAME P6060 label value MANUFACTURER Olivetti label value TYPE Professional Computer label value ORIGIN Italy label value YEAR 1977 label value BUILT IN LANGUAGE Special version of BASIC label value KEYBOARD 97 keys with numeric keypad, arrow and function keys label value CPU two card Olivetti processor label value SPEED Unknown label value RAM 40 KB up to 80 KB (32 KB reserved for the O.S. loaded from the FDD) label value VRAM 80 characters buffer label value ROM O.S. loader. Size unknown label value TEXT MODES Plasma display. 1 line of 32 characters label value GRAPHIC MODES None label value COLORS Monochrome label value SOUND No sound label value SIZE / WEIGHT 60 (W) x 65 (D) x 21.5(H) cm. / 40 Kg. label value I/O PORTS Serial IO ports (2) - RS232 - DMA interface label value BUILT IN MEDIA One or two 8'' 250 KB floppy disc drives label value OS Olivetti O.S. label value POWER SUPPLY Built-in power supply unit label value PERIPHERALS Optional 9 MB hard disk unit label value PRICE From $7950 photos links docs 405 title subtitle text image P6060 Taken from the official Olivetti brochure Thanks to **Martin Willemsen** /media/museum/photos/olivetti_p6060_1.jpg title subtitle text image FDD UNIT The single or dual 8" floppy drive unit had to be poped up to let the user insert disks. Courtesy of **Gerard Touitou** /media/museum/photos/olivetti_p6060_fddunit_1.jpg title subtitle text image THERMAL PRINTER Printing the source listing of a BASIC program. Courtesy of **Gerard Touitou** /media/museum/photos/olivetti_p6060_printer_1.jpg title subtitle text image KEYBOARD A very complete keyboard for the time. The keyboard buffer could store up to 80 typed characters. Courtesy of **Gerard Touitou** /media/museum/photos/olivetti_p6060_keyboard_1.jpg title url text Olivetti P6060 http://www.z80ne.com/p6060/ A small site with photos of a P6060 restoration and downloadable manuals title url text Olivetti P6060 e P6066 http://www.robertocipriani.it/P6060 Small dedicated site with documentation and pictures title url cover text P6066 - MANUALE GENERALE (ITALIAN) http://www.robertocipriani.it/P6060/P6066/Manuali%20di%20sistema.html /media/museum/docs/couvs/olivetti_p6066_manuale-generale.jpg [**P6066 - MANUALE GENERALE (ITALIAN)**](http://www.robertocipriani.it/P6060/P6066/Manuali%20di%20sistema.html)written by Olivetti  compiled/archived by Roberto Cipriani\  type of document : PDF\  size : 22,7 MB\  source : [Roberto Cipriani's personal page](http://www.robertocipriani.it) title url cover text P6060 - I/O CON PERIFERICHE ESTERNE (ITALIAN) http://www.robertocipriani.it/P6060/P6066/Manuali%20di%20sistema.html /media/museum/docs/couvs/olivetti_p6060_io-con-periferiche-esterne.jpg [**P6060 - I/O CON PERIFERICHE ESTERNE (ITALIAN)**](http://www.robertocipriani.it/P6060/P6066/Manuali%20di%20sistema.html)written by Olivetti  compiled/archived by Roberto Cipriani\  type of document : PDF\  size : 12 MB\  source : [Roberto Cipriani's personal page](http://www.robertocipriani.it) title url cover text P6060 - PRESTAZIONI GRAFICHE (ITALIAN) http://www.robertocipriani.it/P6060/P6066/Manuali%20di%20sistema.html /media/museum/docs/couvs/olivetti_p6060_prestazioni-grafiche.jpg [**P6060 - PRESTAZIONI GRAFICHE (ITALIAN)**](http://www.robertocipriani.it/P6060/P6066/Manuali%20di%20sistema.html)written by Olivetti  compiled/archived by Roberto Cipriani\  type of document : PDF\  size : 2,18 MB\  source : [Roberto Cipriani's personal page](http://www.robertocipriani.it) title url cover text OLIVETTI P6060 OFFICIAL BROCHURE http://www.1000bit.net/ad/bro/olivetti/p6060/p6060_bro.asp /media/museum/docs/couvs/doc_olivetti_p6060_brochure.jpg [**OLIVETTI P6060 OFFICIAL BROCHURE**](http://www.1000bit.net/ad/bro/olivetti/p6060/p6060_bro.asp)written by Olivetti  compiled/archived by Giorgio Morocutti.\  type of document : Unknown\  size : Unknown\  source : [www.1000bit.net](http://www.1000bit.ne) 407 url date https://web.archive.org/web/20230608075036/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=407 2023-06-08

The P6060 was a computer which looked like a typewriter. It had a built-in thermal printer (80 column, 80 character per second). This printer featured graphics supported by system software for scaling, framing, offsetting, axis drawing and alphanumeric labeling.

The P6060 could be programmed with a special extended version of the BASIC language which featured random and sequential file handling and matrix operations.

There were two models: the basic configuration with 8KB user RAM and a single FDD was priced at $7950 and the enhanced configuration with 16 KB user RAM and dual floppy disk cost $10,000 (and you think your computer was expensive!).

---

Chris Marshall adds:
I worked for Olivetti for many years and can confirm that the processor for this machine was a two card Olivetti designed processor. The cards were called PUCE1 and PUCE2. The same cards were used in the TC800 data terminal machine widely used by the UK banks during the late 1970's and early 1980's

Phil Williams's memories:
At the age of 10 I cut my computer teeth on a P6060. My father paid over 6,000 uk pounds for one ($10,000) - and this was 1977.
Programs were stored on the 8-inch floppies and compiled when the "Run" button was pressed - you can see the 7 push buttons above the keypad. Display was a dot-matrix. Printer was 80 chars - and thermal, which meant costly to run. There was a driving game that involved printing out a track on the printer and you pressing the left or right button to keep your X on the road. Wasted oodles of paper!
Olivetti did offer a VDU display card, which I think cost more than the 6000 pounds for the machine!
I still have the P6060 - and 30 years on it still works!

We need more info about this computer ! If you designed, used, or have more info about this system, please send us pictures or anything you might find useful.