website/content/museum/vector-graphics-vector-3-vip.md

---
title: Vector Graphics Vector 3 (VIP)
categories:
- Computers
types:
- Professional Computer
origins:
- U.S.A.
years:
- '1976'
cpus:
- Intel 8080 then Zilog Z80A
params:
  name: Vector 3 (VIP)
  image: /media/museum/photos/vectorgraphics_vector3_system_1b.jpg
  company: /companies/vector-graphics
  company_name: Vector Graphics
  specs:
  - label: NAME
    value: Vector 3 (VIP)
  - label: MANUFACTURER
    value: Vector Graphics
  - label: TYPE
    value: Professional Computer
  - label: ORIGIN
    value: U.S.A.
  - label: YEAR
    value: 1976 or 1977
  - label: BUILT IN LANGUAGE
    value: None
  - label: KEYBOARD
    value: Full stroke 72 keys with numeric keypad
  - label: CPU
    value: Intel 8080 then Zilog Z80A
  - label: SPEED
    value: 1 MHz (8080) up to 6 MHz (Z80)
  - label: RAM
    value: 56 KB
  - label: ROM
    value: Unknown
  - label: TEXT MODES
    value: 80 chars. x 25 lines
  - label: GRAPHIC MODES
    value: None
  - label: COLORS
    value: Monochrome
  - label: SOUND
    value: beeper
  - label: I/O PORTS
    value: 1 x Serial RS-232, 3 x Parallel ports
  - label: BUILT IN MEDIA
    value: External 315 KB FDD unit
  - label: OS
    value: CP/M
  - label: POWER SUPPLY
    value: Built-in power supply unit
  - label: PRICE
    value: From $3850
  tabs:
  - photos
  - links
  photos:
  - title: SYSTEM
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/photos/vectorgraphics_vector3_system_2.jpg
  - title: FLOPPY DRIVES UNIT
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/photos/vectorgraphics_vector3_fdunit_1.jpg
  - title: 'INSIDE #1'
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/photos/vectorgraphics_vector3_inside_2.jpg
  - title: 'INSIDE #2'
    subtitle: ''
    text: Notice the S-100 boards mounted vertically.
    image: /media/museum/photos/vectorgraphics_vector3_inside_1.jpg
  - title: VECTOR DUST COVER
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/photos/vectorgraphics_vector3_dustcover_1.jpg
  links:
  - title: Vector Graphics 1976 - 1984
    url: http://www.vectorgraphics.org.uk
    text: Web site dedicated to Vector Graphics systems
  - title: VECTOR-GRAPHIC List
    url: http://h-net.msu.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A0=VECTOR-GRAPHIC
    text: mailing list for Vector Graphic computers
  comments:
  - author: Samuel Lilly (USA)
    date: Tuesday 6th October 2020
    text: I have one of these machines. The keyboard need new pads. It has 64k but needs a cpm or basic boot disk. How do I make or get one?
  - author: Jerri Kohl (NEK, Vermont, US)
    date: Saturday 8th September 2018
    text: I have read conflicting information about whether this model had any graphics modes (or even a redefinable character set). Can anyone clear this up? I''m sure Dennis Wingo could.
  - author: jon (usa )
    date: Monday 12th March 2018
    text: i have one and all i get is a screen that says vector graphic screen version 4.0 i dont know how to make the floppy drive spin when i hit the b key i get boot floppy but nothing at all anyone know how to operate one of them
  - author: Ken Williamson (Thailand)
    date: Sunday 11th September 2016
    text: I bought a Vector 3 with two floppy drives and a Spinwriter printer that was hard wired to the I/O board with a 1" diameter cable. If you moved the system, everything had to be carried together. I bought to do spreadsheets. Execuplan was a little buggy$ you had to do column and row operations in a certain order or you started over. But, the most fun I had was adding a 32K memory board in order to run an early medical billing software application. You had to cut a trace from the new board to the BUS then solder a jumper between the two boards, which yielded a total of 56K of memory, I think. Latter I became a CompuPro Dealer, which was an awesome machine.
  - author: Barry Coopersmith (Florida)
    date: Thursday 18th June 2015
    text: I have a vector 3 computer with dual 400k floppy drives and cords. I also have software, Memorite word processor, Payroll, spread sheet and general ledger. If anyone is interested, give me a holler at above e-mail. .... Barry
  - author: Barry Coopersmith (Florida)
    date: Thursday 18th June 2015
    text: I have a vector 3 computer with dual 400k floppy drives and cords. I also have software, Memorite word processor, Payroll, spread sheet and general ledger. If anyone is interested, give me a holler at above e-mail. .... Barry
  - author: Andrew Lynch (Ohio)
    date: Sunday 18th November 2007
    text: |-
      The is a mailing list for Vector Graphic computers if you are interested in them. All VG related topics welcome.

      Please join us at:

      http://h-net.msu.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A0=VECTOR-GRAPHIC

      Thanks!

      Andrew Lynch
  - author: van Treek, Mike (Belgium)
    date: Monday 20th August 2007
    text: When I was 11 years old I follow my first computer formation, in Rancagua (Chile). The Vector 3 was the first PC that I use, in 1986. It's funny to see it after 21 years... in a museum. I getting older?
  - author: Thomas Hardy (USA)
    date: Friday 6th July 2007
    text: |-
      1982 - I was using this computer at a magazine publishers. We used DBASE2, Memorite III and were connected via Centronics interface, to a large, wide, noisy Mannesman Tally dot-matrix printer for printing subscription labels every month.

      If I can remember rightly, we either had an external 5 or a 10 megabyte hard drive. Backups were very, very slow every month with the boxes of 5 1/4" floppy disks.
  - author: Mike (Rock Hill, SC)
    date: Wednesday 4th October 2006
    text: '"Vector Graphics" was the name of the company, not the name of this particular computer.'
  - author: Stephen Knotts (USA)
    date: Monday 29th November 2004
    text: |-
      Why was it called "Vector Graphics" if it has no graphic modes?

      Can some expert answer my question?

      OK Bye
  - author: Glyn Cowan (Glasgow Scotland uk)
    date: Tuesday 11th March 2003
    text: I think I had one of these I still have the large folder with the operating instructions and imformation on how the various programms that came with it worked. The reason I am not sure is that although mine looked the same it had a duel 5 1/4 inch disc drives in a seperate unit
  related:
  - /museum/vector-graphics-mz
  - /museum/vector-graphics-vector-1
  - /museum/vector-graphics-vector-4
  oc_id: 797
  source:
    url: https://web.archive.org/web/20230312224042/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=797
    date: '2023-03-12'
---

The Vector Graphics VIP was also called **Vector 3** because it was based around the Vector 3 terminal which had an integral 72 key keyboard and 12" video screen.

The unit had a six slot S-100 bus board which came with a Z80A processor board fitted with 56 KB RAM. The board also had a serial interface and three 8-bit parallel I/O ports. The VIP configuration originally came out with a 340k Micropolis Floppy Disk drive. Later this was a 640k Tandon hard sectored floppy drive.\
Not shown configurations had a dual floppy drive or, for the 3005, a 5 megabyte Seagate ST506 drive.

The Vector 3 ran CP/M operating system and all its associated professionnal software. It came with **Memorite III** word processor, **Execuplan** (a form of planning program like Visicalc), and the Microsoft BASIC interpreter.\
**Peachtree** Accounting was available on Vector machines as well, probably the first implementation on a microcomputer.

Anecdotally, Vector Graphics Inc of California was started by two housewives in the late '70s. They were called **Lore Harp** and **Carole Ely**. The third founder, **Robert Harp**, was technical director. The Harp's were divorcing, which ultimately brought the company down.\
\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_

More information from **Dennis Wingo** who used to work at Vector Graphic:\
The CPU was housed in an 18 slot (the MZ box) S-100 Chassis designed by Vector. In late 1977 early 78 Vector went to the Z80A processor on a single board. The boot ROM (2k) resided on the Prom/RAM card. Later versions updated the PROM/RAM card to 8k using 4 kbyte PROMS and one 1k of Fast Static RAM for the processor Stack. The processor speed went from 1 MHz to 4 MHz during that period.

in early 1981 Vector engineer **Corey Selby** redesigned the Processor Card, PROM/RAM card and Parallel I/O card into the ZCB or Z80 Single Board Computer. It had a 4 MHz, later a 6 MHz Z80B CPU. The ZCB incorporated two serial ports via and 8251A serial I/O controller. It added an Intel 8020 24 bit parallel I/O port controller, 4k of PROM and 1k of Static RAM.

Later this design was integrated into the motherboard of the Vector 4 Single Board Computer along with an Intel 8088 that we built and released starting in 1982.

The VIP System shown above had a six slot S-100 card integrated behind the picture tube behind the Mindless Terminal (MT) CRT. In this six slot system there was a ZCB a Floppy Disk Controller Card or an FD/HD (Floppy Disk/Hard Disk) (Single floppy version shown above) controller. Also plugged into the S-100 motherboard was a 56k DRAM Card, and an 20 X 24 Memory mapped video card with 2k of Fast SRAM (Flashwriter II Card).

In very late versions of the Vector 3 series was an FD/HD card with a ten megabyte Seagate ST506 interface hard drive. This system was also connected to other computers via an 750 kilobit token passing Local Area Network (LinkNet). The LinkNet card allowed up to 256 different Vector Computers to be hooked together into a seamless net where you had shared disk and printer resources. This system was a pioneer in the computer industry as the first low cost microcomputer system to have this capability.

There were several interesting configurations of the vector system.

**Ullrich Moser** adds:\
I had pretty much this computer with a 5 MB hard disk built in.\
Execuplan was a fully functioning spreadsheet and if remember correctly, better than Visicalc.\
My machine had Magic Wand as word processor.\
One could buy a (terribly expensive) sheet feeder and write mass mailings just like with a Wang machine for a fraction of the price.