Did personal computers ever support 8" floppies?

Clash Royale CLAN TAG#URR8PPP

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When I look at the following picture, it seems a bit awkward to me that personal computers ever supported 8" floppies (unless the size of your computer case was as big as a fridge !):

Am I right or were there any personal computers that supported this size of floppies?

floppy-disk

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edited 7 hours ago

tofro

12k32570

asked 15 hours ago

Aybe

312111

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up vote
1
down vote

favorite

When I look at the following picture, it seems a bit awkward to me that personal computers ever supported 8" floppies (unless the size of your computer case was as big as a fridge !):

Am I right or were there any personal computers that supported this size of floppies?

floppy-disk

share|improve this question

edited 7 hours ago

tofro

12k32570

asked 15 hours ago

Aybe

312111

add a comment | 

up vote
1
down vote

favorite

up vote
1
down vote

favorite

When I look at the following picture, it seems a bit awkward to me that personal computers ever supported 8" floppies (unless the size of your computer case was as big as a fridge !):

Am I right or were there any personal computers that supported this size of floppies?

floppy-disk

share|improve this question

edited 7 hours ago

tofro

12k32570

asked 15 hours ago

Aybe

312111

When I look at the following picture, it seems a bit awkward to me that personal computers ever supported 8" floppies (unless the size of your computer case was as big as a fridge !):

Am I right or were there any personal computers that supported this size of floppies?

floppy-disk

floppy-disk

share|improve this question

edited 7 hours ago

tofro

12k32570

asked 15 hours ago

Aybe

312111

share|improve this question

edited 7 hours ago

tofro

12k32570

asked 15 hours ago

Aybe

312111

share|improve this question

share|improve this question

edited 7 hours ago

tofro

12k32570

edited 7 hours ago

tofro

12k32570

edited 7 hours ago

tofro

12k32570

12k32570

asked 15 hours ago

Aybe

312111

asked 15 hours ago

Aybe

312111

asked 15 hours ago

Aybe

312111

312111

add a comment | 

add a comment | 

10 Answers
10

active

oldest

votes

up vote
7
down vote



accepted

When I look at the following picture, it seems a bit awkward to me that personal computers ever supported 8" floppies

As so often it depends on your definition of 'personal computer'

• If it's about a personal computer, then many minis may fit, and they did often offer 8" floppies like the RX01/02 type DEC had.




• If it's about microprocessor based personal computers, like various S100 (Altair, Imsai, etc.) or Tandy Model II (or 10), then there was no other choice (if floppy based), as the 5.25 wasn't available prior to the SA400 in 1976 – and it didn't really become a thing until like two years later.




• Now, if your question is about the IBM PC, then no, they where not delivered with 8" drives by default, but DOS did support them (as well as CP/M-86) and they could be ordered as an add on – even as late as the mid 1990s. Given a PC with a floppy controller it still does – all that's needed is a cable adapter (and maybe a stronger PS).

(unless the size of your computer case was as big as a fridge!):

Maybe not fridge-sized. It worked well with desktop units. They weren't that big when put in a sleek case (ofc, using slim line drives did help a bit :)).

share|improve this answer

edited 8 hours ago

manassehkatz

1,091110

answered 14 hours ago

Raffzahn

34.4k476136

• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  I have used a refrigerator sized personal computer, but I don't recall it being equipped with a floppy drive. On the other hand, I have also used a much smaller personal computer that did have an 8" floppy.
  – besmirched
  9 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  2
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  Next time you (any "you") watch War Games, pay attention to the floppy disk format used on David Lightman's IMSAI. Large, yes, but hardly huge.
  – Michael Kjörling
  8 hours ago
  
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment | 

up vote
6
down vote

The Radio Shack Model II had a built-in singled-sided Shugart 500k 8" floppy drive.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TRS-80_Model_II

share|improve this answer

answered 9 hours ago

Bill Hileman

34618

• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  Never saw one of those outside of a Radio Shack store!
  – besmirched
  7 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  My father bought one. He started with a Model I and quickly realized it was not going to meet his business needs (Motorcyle/car dealer) He said he was told he bought the first Model I in Pennsylvania. He soon bought the Model II though. I got to see it and work with it briefly after I got out of the service. He bought extra external floppies at first, then spent $5000 on a Corvus 20MB hard drive, huge and heavy, used a VCR to back it up. Told me he'd NEVER need more space than that.
  – Bill Hileman
  7 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  The Model 12 and 16 both had dual slimline 8" floppies built in and the original Model II could be retrofitted with 2 of the half-height drives in place of the 1 full-height one, iirc.
  – mnem
  6 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  1
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  Thanks, @mnem that must be why I distinctly remember my father's Model II having two drives side-by-side.
  – Bill Hileman
  6 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  @BillHileman There might have even been later production versions of the Model II that shipped with the dual slimline drives, but I'm not really sure.
  – mnem
  6 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment | 

up vote
4
down vote

The Altair 8800 probably qualifies as a personal computer. It could certainly be used with 8-inch floppy drives.

Imagine the size of a bog-standard desktop computer today. That's roughly the size of an Altair 8800. The floppy drive is a similar-sized unit sitting directly beneath it on the picture on the Wikipedia page.

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answered 15 hours ago

Wilson

8,444437106

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up vote
4
down vote

Back in the day I used to use an Intel MDS-80 which had an 8 inch floppy beside the screen.

We often had a pair of expansion drives (also 8") in an expansion unit below the main system box.

One problem that reared its head with great regularity was that a full map file, required so that we could find the address of a function and set a debug break point in our code, was too big to fit on the floppy disc meaning that we had to spool it to the printer during the build resulting in a stack of fanfold paper about an inch thick.

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answered 10 hours ago

ʎəʞo uɐɪ

20913

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up vote
3
down vote

The old NEC APC was equipped with two 8" floppies, with about
1.2 megabyte of storage on each. Museum system here. In the early 1980s, it was
considered a fine performer, but Macintosh and Windows graphics
and inexpensive hard disk drives were just around the corner.

share|improve this answer

answered 13 hours ago

Whit3rd

84317

• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  Some of the early NEC PC8801s (the PC8801mkII at least) could also be optioned with a single 8" disk drive, though I've never seen a picture of one.
  – ravuya
  9 hours ago
  
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment | 

up vote
3
down vote

As previously discussed in the comments to this answer, the BBC Micro was designed to support use with 8" disks -- it was part of the design specification from the BBC, because a lot of their archives at the time used such disks. It required a simple modification to do so (changing a solder link on the main board), so it wasn't common to use them, but it was certainly part of the original design process.

share|improve this answer

answered 13 hours ago

Jules

7,13112037

add a comment | 

up vote
2
down vote

The Olivetti P6060 had 8" floppy drives (two of them).

About the size of a typewriter, and ran BASIC, so IMHO it qualifies as "Personal Computer". The Wikipedia page even describes it as "portable", but that's pushing it a bit - while one person is able to carry it around, unlikely, say, a DEC PDP-11 or PDP-8, it wasn't exactly lightweight.

share|improve this answer

answered 11 hours ago

dirkt

7,1031738

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up vote
2
down vote

The Terak corporation sold personal computers. In the early 1980's I used one with UCSD Pascal to run experiments for my undergraduate research project. The 8-inch floppy was the only disk I had available.

share|improve this answer

answered 10 hours ago

Jon Custer

1213

New contributor

Jon Custer is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

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up vote
1
down vote

Even the TRS-80 Model 1 could use 8-inch floppy drives. All floppy drives for that system were external, connected by ribbon cables. Configuring a DOS to control an 8-inch drive wasn't much different from configuring it to handle a double-density, double-sided or double-track-density 5 1/4-inch drive, as I recall. (I never had an 8-inch drive myself, though.)

share|improve this answer

answered 7 hours ago

jeffB

33616

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up vote
0
down vote

This is the stone age we're talking about! Back when I was a kid and dinosaurs still roamed the Earth, I:

• bought a small colour TV, a keyboard, 64K of RAM, a Z80, an 6MHz crystal, a wax pen, a copper board and a second-hand 180KB single-sided 5 1/4" floppy drive


• had a friend that already had a computer download a motherboard schematic over a fast 1200 BAUD modem ¹
  


• drew the lines on the copper board with the wax pen, asked the chemistry teacher of some sulphuric acid, etched the excess copper away


• soldered everything together

And that was it!

An actual case was out of the question because that inhibited natural airflow! (this was a fanless design without heat sinks)

The motherboard just sat straight onto the desk² with a flat cable attached to the 5 1/4" floppy drive also straight on the desk and when I could lay my hands on a whopping 1.2 MByte 8" floppy drive 6 months later, that one now sat on the desk with the 5 1/4" stacked on top! ³

The colour TV sat on 2 nicely polished wooden blocks cut to exactly eye height! :-)

_{Note ¹: That's 1.2 Kbps
Note ²: OK, it had 6 rubber feet glued to the bottom
Note ³: OK, with a rectangular piece of wood in-between them
Note ⁴: I'll ask my dad if he has any pictures of this contraption, but as pictures were a luxury item at the time, I don't think he has any...}

share|improve this answer

edited 4 mins ago

answered 16 mins ago

Fabby

1013

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Fabby is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

add a comment | 

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10 Answers
10

active

oldest

votes

10 Answers
10

active

oldest

votes

active

oldest

votes

active

oldest

votes

up vote
7
down vote



accepted

When I look at the following picture, it seems a bit awkward to me that personal computers ever supported 8" floppies

As so often it depends on your definition of 'personal computer'

• If it's about a personal computer, then many minis may fit, and they did often offer 8" floppies like the RX01/02 type DEC had.




• If it's about microprocessor based personal computers, like various S100 (Altair, Imsai, etc.) or Tandy Model II (or 10), then there was no other choice (if floppy based), as the 5.25 wasn't available prior to the SA400 in 1976 – and it didn't really become a thing until like two years later.




• Now, if your question is about the IBM PC, then no, they where not delivered with 8" drives by default, but DOS did support them (as well as CP/M-86) and they could be ordered as an add on – even as late as the mid 1990s. Given a PC with a floppy controller it still does – all that's needed is a cable adapter (and maybe a stronger PS).

(unless the size of your computer case was as big as a fridge!):

Maybe not fridge-sized. It worked well with desktop units. They weren't that big when put in a sleek case (ofc, using slim line drives did help a bit :)).

share|improve this answer

edited 8 hours ago

manassehkatz

1,091110

answered 14 hours ago

Raffzahn

34.4k476136

• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  I have used a refrigerator sized personal computer, but I don't recall it being equipped with a floppy drive. On the other hand, I have also used a much smaller personal computer that did have an 8" floppy.
  – besmirched
  9 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  2
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  Next time you (any "you") watch War Games, pay attention to the floppy disk format used on David Lightman's IMSAI. Large, yes, but hardly huge.
  – Michael Kjörling
  8 hours ago
  
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment | 

up vote
7
down vote



accepted

When I look at the following picture, it seems a bit awkward to me that personal computers ever supported 8" floppies

As so often it depends on your definition of 'personal computer'

• If it's about a personal computer, then many minis may fit, and they did often offer 8" floppies like the RX01/02 type DEC had.




• If it's about microprocessor based personal computers, like various S100 (Altair, Imsai, etc.) or Tandy Model II (or 10), then there was no other choice (if floppy based), as the 5.25 wasn't available prior to the SA400 in 1976 – and it didn't really become a thing until like two years later.




• Now, if your question is about the IBM PC, then no, they where not delivered with 8" drives by default, but DOS did support them (as well as CP/M-86) and they could be ordered as an add on – even as late as the mid 1990s. Given a PC with a floppy controller it still does – all that's needed is a cable adapter (and maybe a stronger PS).

(unless the size of your computer case was as big as a fridge!):

Maybe not fridge-sized. It worked well with desktop units. They weren't that big when put in a sleek case (ofc, using slim line drives did help a bit :)).

share|improve this answer

edited 8 hours ago

manassehkatz

1,091110

answered 14 hours ago

Raffzahn

34.4k476136

• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  I have used a refrigerator sized personal computer, but I don't recall it being equipped with a floppy drive. On the other hand, I have also used a much smaller personal computer that did have an 8" floppy.
  – besmirched
  9 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  2
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  Next time you (any "you") watch War Games, pay attention to the floppy disk format used on David Lightman's IMSAI. Large, yes, but hardly huge.
  – Michael Kjörling
  8 hours ago
  
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment | 

up vote
7
down vote



accepted

up vote
7
down vote



accepted

When I look at the following picture, it seems a bit awkward to me that personal computers ever supported 8" floppies

As so often it depends on your definition of 'personal computer'

• If it's about a personal computer, then many minis may fit, and they did often offer 8" floppies like the RX01/02 type DEC had.




• If it's about microprocessor based personal computers, like various S100 (Altair, Imsai, etc.) or Tandy Model II (or 10), then there was no other choice (if floppy based), as the 5.25 wasn't available prior to the SA400 in 1976 – and it didn't really become a thing until like two years later.




• Now, if your question is about the IBM PC, then no, they where not delivered with 8" drives by default, but DOS did support them (as well as CP/M-86) and they could be ordered as an add on – even as late as the mid 1990s. Given a PC with a floppy controller it still does – all that's needed is a cable adapter (and maybe a stronger PS).

(unless the size of your computer case was as big as a fridge!):

Maybe not fridge-sized. It worked well with desktop units. They weren't that big when put in a sleek case (ofc, using slim line drives did help a bit :)).

share|improve this answer

edited 8 hours ago

manassehkatz

1,091110

answered 14 hours ago

Raffzahn

34.4k476136

When I look at the following picture, it seems a bit awkward to me that personal computers ever supported 8" floppies

As so often it depends on your definition of 'personal computer'

• If it's about a personal computer, then many minis may fit, and they did often offer 8" floppies like the RX01/02 type DEC had.




• If it's about microprocessor based personal computers, like various S100 (Altair, Imsai, etc.) or Tandy Model II (or 10), then there was no other choice (if floppy based), as the 5.25 wasn't available prior to the SA400 in 1976 – and it didn't really become a thing until like two years later.




• Now, if your question is about the IBM PC, then no, they where not delivered with 8" drives by default, but DOS did support them (as well as CP/M-86) and they could be ordered as an add on – even as late as the mid 1990s. Given a PC with a floppy controller it still does – all that's needed is a cable adapter (and maybe a stronger PS).

(unless the size of your computer case was as big as a fridge!):

Maybe not fridge-sized. It worked well with desktop units. They weren't that big when put in a sleek case (ofc, using slim line drives did help a bit :)).

share|improve this answer

edited 8 hours ago

manassehkatz

1,091110

answered 14 hours ago

Raffzahn

34.4k476136

share|improve this answer

share|improve this answer

edited 8 hours ago

manassehkatz

1,091110

edited 8 hours ago

manassehkatz

1,091110

edited 8 hours ago

manassehkatz

1,091110

1,091110

answered 14 hours ago

Raffzahn

34.4k476136

answered 14 hours ago

Raffzahn

34.4k476136

answered 14 hours ago

Raffzahn

34.4k476136

34.4k476136

• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  I have used a refrigerator sized personal computer, but I don't recall it being equipped with a floppy drive. On the other hand, I have also used a much smaller personal computer that did have an 8" floppy.
  – besmirched
  9 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  2
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  Next time you (any "you") watch War Games, pay attention to the floppy disk format used on David Lightman's IMSAI. Large, yes, but hardly huge.
  – Michael Kjörling
  8 hours ago
  
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment | 

• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  I have used a refrigerator sized personal computer, but I don't recall it being equipped with a floppy drive. On the other hand, I have also used a much smaller personal computer that did have an 8" floppy.
  – besmirched
  9 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  2
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  Next time you (any "you") watch War Games, pay attention to the floppy disk format used on David Lightman's IMSAI. Large, yes, but hardly huge.
  – Michael Kjörling
  8 hours ago
  
  

  
  
  
  

I have used a refrigerator sized personal computer, but I don't recall it being equipped with a floppy drive. On the other hand, I have also used a much smaller personal computer that did have an 8" floppy.
– besmirched
9 hours ago

I have used a refrigerator sized personal computer, but I don't recall it being equipped with a floppy drive. On the other hand, I have also used a much smaller personal computer that did have an 8" floppy.
– besmirched
9 hours ago

2

2

Next time you (any "you") watch War Games, pay attention to the floppy disk format used on David Lightman's IMSAI. Large, yes, but hardly huge.
– Michael Kjörling
8 hours ago

Next time you (any "you") watch War Games, pay attention to the floppy disk format used on David Lightman's IMSAI. Large, yes, but hardly huge.
– Michael Kjörling
8 hours ago

add a comment | 

up vote
6
down vote

The Radio Shack Model II had a built-in singled-sided Shugart 500k 8" floppy drive.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TRS-80_Model_II

share|improve this answer

answered 9 hours ago

Bill Hileman

34618

• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  Never saw one of those outside of a Radio Shack store!
  – besmirched
  7 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  My father bought one. He started with a Model I and quickly realized it was not going to meet his business needs (Motorcyle/car dealer) He said he was told he bought the first Model I in Pennsylvania. He soon bought the Model II though. I got to see it and work with it briefly after I got out of the service. He bought extra external floppies at first, then spent $5000 on a Corvus 20MB hard drive, huge and heavy, used a VCR to back it up. Told me he'd NEVER need more space than that.
  – Bill Hileman
  7 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  The Model 12 and 16 both had dual slimline 8" floppies built in and the original Model II could be retrofitted with 2 of the half-height drives in place of the 1 full-height one, iirc.
  – mnem
  6 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  1
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  Thanks, @mnem that must be why I distinctly remember my father's Model II having two drives side-by-side.
  – Bill Hileman
  6 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  @BillHileman There might have even been later production versions of the Model II that shipped with the dual slimline drives, but I'm not really sure.
  – mnem
  6 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment | 

up vote
6
down vote

The Radio Shack Model II had a built-in singled-sided Shugart 500k 8" floppy drive.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TRS-80_Model_II

share|improve this answer

answered 9 hours ago

Bill Hileman

34618

• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  Never saw one of those outside of a Radio Shack store!
  – besmirched
  7 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  My father bought one. He started with a Model I and quickly realized it was not going to meet his business needs (Motorcyle/car dealer) He said he was told he bought the first Model I in Pennsylvania. He soon bought the Model II though. I got to see it and work with it briefly after I got out of the service. He bought extra external floppies at first, then spent $5000 on a Corvus 20MB hard drive, huge and heavy, used a VCR to back it up. Told me he'd NEVER need more space than that.
  – Bill Hileman
  7 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  The Model 12 and 16 both had dual slimline 8" floppies built in and the original Model II could be retrofitted with 2 of the half-height drives in place of the 1 full-height one, iirc.
  – mnem
  6 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  1
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  Thanks, @mnem that must be why I distinctly remember my father's Model II having two drives side-by-side.
  – Bill Hileman
  6 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  @BillHileman There might have even been later production versions of the Model II that shipped with the dual slimline drives, but I'm not really sure.
  – mnem
  6 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment | 

up vote
6
down vote

up vote
6
down vote

The Radio Shack Model II had a built-in singled-sided Shugart 500k 8" floppy drive.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TRS-80_Model_II

share|improve this answer

answered 9 hours ago

Bill Hileman

34618

The Radio Shack Model II had a built-in singled-sided Shugart 500k 8" floppy drive.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TRS-80_Model_II

share|improve this answer

answered 9 hours ago

Bill Hileman

34618

share|improve this answer

share|improve this answer

answered 9 hours ago

Bill Hileman

34618

answered 9 hours ago

Bill Hileman

34618

answered 9 hours ago

Bill Hileman

34618

34618

• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  Never saw one of those outside of a Radio Shack store!
  – besmirched
  7 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  My father bought one. He started with a Model I and quickly realized it was not going to meet his business needs (Motorcyle/car dealer) He said he was told he bought the first Model I in Pennsylvania. He soon bought the Model II though. I got to see it and work with it briefly after I got out of the service. He bought extra external floppies at first, then spent $5000 on a Corvus 20MB hard drive, huge and heavy, used a VCR to back it up. Told me he'd NEVER need more space than that.
  – Bill Hileman
  7 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  The Model 12 and 16 both had dual slimline 8" floppies built in and the original Model II could be retrofitted with 2 of the half-height drives in place of the 1 full-height one, iirc.
  – mnem
  6 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  1
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  Thanks, @mnem that must be why I distinctly remember my father's Model II having two drives side-by-side.
  – Bill Hileman
  6 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  @BillHileman There might have even been later production versions of the Model II that shipped with the dual slimline drives, but I'm not really sure.
  – mnem
  6 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment | 

• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  Never saw one of those outside of a Radio Shack store!
  – besmirched
  7 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  My father bought one. He started with a Model I and quickly realized it was not going to meet his business needs (Motorcyle/car dealer) He said he was told he bought the first Model I in Pennsylvania. He soon bought the Model II though. I got to see it and work with it briefly after I got out of the service. He bought extra external floppies at first, then spent $5000 on a Corvus 20MB hard drive, huge and heavy, used a VCR to back it up. Told me he'd NEVER need more space than that.
  – Bill Hileman
  7 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  The Model 12 and 16 both had dual slimline 8" floppies built in and the original Model II could be retrofitted with 2 of the half-height drives in place of the 1 full-height one, iirc.
  – mnem
  6 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  1
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  Thanks, @mnem that must be why I distinctly remember my father's Model II having two drives side-by-side.
  – Bill Hileman
  6 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  @BillHileman There might have even been later production versions of the Model II that shipped with the dual slimline drives, but I'm not really sure.
  – mnem
  6 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  

Never saw one of those outside of a Radio Shack store!
– besmirched
7 hours ago

Never saw one of those outside of a Radio Shack store!
– besmirched
7 hours ago

My father bought one. He started with a Model I and quickly realized it was not going to meet his business needs (Motorcyle/car dealer) He said he was told he bought the first Model I in Pennsylvania. He soon bought the Model II though. I got to see it and work with it briefly after I got out of the service. He bought extra external floppies at first, then spent $5000 on a Corvus 20MB hard drive, huge and heavy, used a VCR to back it up. Told me he'd NEVER need more space than that.
– Bill Hileman
7 hours ago

My father bought one. He started with a Model I and quickly realized it was not going to meet his business needs (Motorcyle/car dealer) He said he was told he bought the first Model I in Pennsylvania. He soon bought the Model II though. I got to see it and work with it briefly after I got out of the service. He bought extra external floppies at first, then spent $5000 on a Corvus 20MB hard drive, huge and heavy, used a VCR to back it up. Told me he'd NEVER need more space than that.
– Bill Hileman
7 hours ago

The Model 12 and 16 both had dual slimline 8" floppies built in and the original Model II could be retrofitted with 2 of the half-height drives in place of the 1 full-height one, iirc.
– mnem
6 hours ago

The Model 12 and 16 both had dual slimline 8" floppies built in and the original Model II could be retrofitted with 2 of the half-height drives in place of the 1 full-height one, iirc.
– mnem
6 hours ago

1

1

Thanks, @mnem that must be why I distinctly remember my father's Model II having two drives side-by-side.
– Bill Hileman
6 hours ago

Thanks, @mnem that must be why I distinctly remember my father's Model II having two drives side-by-side.
– Bill Hileman
6 hours ago

@BillHileman There might have even been later production versions of the Model II that shipped with the dual slimline drives, but I'm not really sure.
– mnem
6 hours ago

@BillHileman There might have even been later production versions of the Model II that shipped with the dual slimline drives, but I'm not really sure.
– mnem
6 hours ago

add a comment | 

up vote
4
down vote

The Altair 8800 probably qualifies as a personal computer. It could certainly be used with 8-inch floppy drives.

Imagine the size of a bog-standard desktop computer today. That's roughly the size of an Altair 8800. The floppy drive is a similar-sized unit sitting directly beneath it on the picture on the Wikipedia page.

share|improve this answer

answered 15 hours ago

Wilson

8,444437106

add a comment | 

up vote
4
down vote

The Altair 8800 probably qualifies as a personal computer. It could certainly be used with 8-inch floppy drives.

Imagine the size of a bog-standard desktop computer today. That's roughly the size of an Altair 8800. The floppy drive is a similar-sized unit sitting directly beneath it on the picture on the Wikipedia page.

share|improve this answer

answered 15 hours ago

Wilson

8,444437106

add a comment | 

up vote
4
down vote

up vote
4
down vote

The Altair 8800 probably qualifies as a personal computer. It could certainly be used with 8-inch floppy drives.

Imagine the size of a bog-standard desktop computer today. That's roughly the size of an Altair 8800. The floppy drive is a similar-sized unit sitting directly beneath it on the picture on the Wikipedia page.

share|improve this answer

answered 15 hours ago

Wilson

8,444437106

The Altair 8800 probably qualifies as a personal computer. It could certainly be used with 8-inch floppy drives.

Imagine the size of a bog-standard desktop computer today. That's roughly the size of an Altair 8800. The floppy drive is a similar-sized unit sitting directly beneath it on the picture on the Wikipedia page.

share|improve this answer

answered 15 hours ago

Wilson

8,444437106

share|improve this answer

share|improve this answer

answered 15 hours ago

Wilson

8,444437106

answered 15 hours ago

Wilson

8,444437106

answered 15 hours ago

Wilson

8,444437106

8,444437106

add a comment | 

add a comment | 

up vote
4
down vote

Back in the day I used to use an Intel MDS-80 which had an 8 inch floppy beside the screen.

We often had a pair of expansion drives (also 8") in an expansion unit below the main system box.

One problem that reared its head with great regularity was that a full map file, required so that we could find the address of a function and set a debug break point in our code, was too big to fit on the floppy disc meaning that we had to spool it to the printer during the build resulting in a stack of fanfold paper about an inch thick.

share|improve this answer

answered 10 hours ago

ʎəʞo uɐɪ

20913

add a comment | 

up vote
4
down vote

Back in the day I used to use an Intel MDS-80 which had an 8 inch floppy beside the screen.

We often had a pair of expansion drives (also 8") in an expansion unit below the main system box.

One problem that reared its head with great regularity was that a full map file, required so that we could find the address of a function and set a debug break point in our code, was too big to fit on the floppy disc meaning that we had to spool it to the printer during the build resulting in a stack of fanfold paper about an inch thick.

share|improve this answer

answered 10 hours ago

ʎəʞo uɐɪ

20913

add a comment | 

up vote
4
down vote

up vote
4
down vote

Back in the day I used to use an Intel MDS-80 which had an 8 inch floppy beside the screen.

We often had a pair of expansion drives (also 8") in an expansion unit below the main system box.

One problem that reared its head with great regularity was that a full map file, required so that we could find the address of a function and set a debug break point in our code, was too big to fit on the floppy disc meaning that we had to spool it to the printer during the build resulting in a stack of fanfold paper about an inch thick.

share|improve this answer

answered 10 hours ago

ʎəʞo uɐɪ

20913

Back in the day I used to use an Intel MDS-80 which had an 8 inch floppy beside the screen.

We often had a pair of expansion drives (also 8") in an expansion unit below the main system box.

One problem that reared its head with great regularity was that a full map file, required so that we could find the address of a function and set a debug break point in our code, was too big to fit on the floppy disc meaning that we had to spool it to the printer during the build resulting in a stack of fanfold paper about an inch thick.

share|improve this answer

answered 10 hours ago

ʎəʞo uɐɪ

20913

share|improve this answer

share|improve this answer

answered 10 hours ago

ʎəʞo uɐɪ

20913

answered 10 hours ago

ʎəʞo uɐɪ

20913

answered 10 hours ago

ʎəʞo uɐɪ

20913

20913

add a comment | 

add a comment | 

up vote
3
down vote

The old NEC APC was equipped with two 8" floppies, with about
1.2 megabyte of storage on each. Museum system here. In the early 1980s, it was
considered a fine performer, but Macintosh and Windows graphics
and inexpensive hard disk drives were just around the corner.

share|improve this answer

answered 13 hours ago

Whit3rd

84317

• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  Some of the early NEC PC8801s (the PC8801mkII at least) could also be optioned with a single 8" disk drive, though I've never seen a picture of one.
  – ravuya
  9 hours ago
  
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment | 

up vote
3
down vote

The old NEC APC was equipped with two 8" floppies, with about
1.2 megabyte of storage on each. Museum system here. In the early 1980s, it was
considered a fine performer, but Macintosh and Windows graphics
and inexpensive hard disk drives were just around the corner.

share|improve this answer

answered 13 hours ago

Whit3rd

84317

• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  Some of the early NEC PC8801s (the PC8801mkII at least) could also be optioned with a single 8" disk drive, though I've never seen a picture of one.
  – ravuya
  9 hours ago
  
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment | 

up vote
3
down vote

up vote
3
down vote

The old NEC APC was equipped with two 8" floppies, with about
1.2 megabyte of storage on each. Museum system here. In the early 1980s, it was
considered a fine performer, but Macintosh and Windows graphics
and inexpensive hard disk drives were just around the corner.

share|improve this answer

answered 13 hours ago

Whit3rd

84317

The old NEC APC was equipped with two 8" floppies, with about
1.2 megabyte of storage on each. Museum system here. In the early 1980s, it was
considered a fine performer, but Macintosh and Windows graphics
and inexpensive hard disk drives were just around the corner.

share|improve this answer

answered 13 hours ago

Whit3rd

84317

share|improve this answer

share|improve this answer

answered 13 hours ago

Whit3rd

84317

answered 13 hours ago

Whit3rd

84317

answered 13 hours ago

Whit3rd

84317

84317

• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  Some of the early NEC PC8801s (the PC8801mkII at least) could also be optioned with a single 8" disk drive, though I've never seen a picture of one.
  – ravuya
  9 hours ago
  
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment | 

• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  Some of the early NEC PC8801s (the PC8801mkII at least) could also be optioned with a single 8" disk drive, though I've never seen a picture of one.
  – ravuya
  9 hours ago
  
  

  
  
  
  

Some of the early NEC PC8801s (the PC8801mkII at least) could also be optioned with a single 8" disk drive, though I've never seen a picture of one.
– ravuya
9 hours ago

Some of the early NEC PC8801s (the PC8801mkII at least) could also be optioned with a single 8" disk drive, though I've never seen a picture of one.
– ravuya
9 hours ago

add a comment | 

up vote
3
down vote

As previously discussed in the comments to this answer, the BBC Micro was designed to support use with 8" disks -- it was part of the design specification from the BBC, because a lot of their archives at the time used such disks. It required a simple modification to do so (changing a solder link on the main board), so it wasn't common to use them, but it was certainly part of the original design process.

share|improve this answer

answered 13 hours ago

Jules

7,13112037

add a comment | 

up vote
3
down vote

As previously discussed in the comments to this answer, the BBC Micro was designed to support use with 8" disks -- it was part of the design specification from the BBC, because a lot of their archives at the time used such disks. It required a simple modification to do so (changing a solder link on the main board), so it wasn't common to use them, but it was certainly part of the original design process.

share|improve this answer

answered 13 hours ago

Jules

7,13112037

add a comment | 

up vote
3
down vote

up vote
3
down vote

As previously discussed in the comments to this answer, the BBC Micro was designed to support use with 8" disks -- it was part of the design specification from the BBC, because a lot of their archives at the time used such disks. It required a simple modification to do so (changing a solder link on the main board), so it wasn't common to use them, but it was certainly part of the original design process.

share|improve this answer

answered 13 hours ago

Jules

7,13112037

As previously discussed in the comments to this answer, the BBC Micro was designed to support use with 8" disks -- it was part of the design specification from the BBC, because a lot of their archives at the time used such disks. It required a simple modification to do so (changing a solder link on the main board), so it wasn't common to use them, but it was certainly part of the original design process.

share|improve this answer

answered 13 hours ago

Jules

7,13112037

share|improve this answer

share|improve this answer

answered 13 hours ago

Jules

7,13112037

answered 13 hours ago

Jules

7,13112037

answered 13 hours ago

Jules

7,13112037

7,13112037

add a comment | 

add a comment | 

up vote
2
down vote

The Olivetti P6060 had 8" floppy drives (two of them).

About the size of a typewriter, and ran BASIC, so IMHO it qualifies as "Personal Computer". The Wikipedia page even describes it as "portable", but that's pushing it a bit - while one person is able to carry it around, unlikely, say, a DEC PDP-11 or PDP-8, it wasn't exactly lightweight.

share|improve this answer

answered 11 hours ago

dirkt

7,1031738

add a comment | 

up vote
2
down vote

The Olivetti P6060 had 8" floppy drives (two of them).

About the size of a typewriter, and ran BASIC, so IMHO it qualifies as "Personal Computer". The Wikipedia page even describes it as "portable", but that's pushing it a bit - while one person is able to carry it around, unlikely, say, a DEC PDP-11 or PDP-8, it wasn't exactly lightweight.

share|improve this answer

answered 11 hours ago

dirkt

7,1031738

add a comment | 

up vote
2
down vote

up vote
2
down vote

The Olivetti P6060 had 8" floppy drives (two of them).

About the size of a typewriter, and ran BASIC, so IMHO it qualifies as "Personal Computer". The Wikipedia page even describes it as "portable", but that's pushing it a bit - while one person is able to carry it around, unlikely, say, a DEC PDP-11 or PDP-8, it wasn't exactly lightweight.

share|improve this answer

answered 11 hours ago

dirkt

7,1031738

The Olivetti P6060 had 8" floppy drives (two of them).

About the size of a typewriter, and ran BASIC, so IMHO it qualifies as "Personal Computer". The Wikipedia page even describes it as "portable", but that's pushing it a bit - while one person is able to carry it around, unlikely, say, a DEC PDP-11 or PDP-8, it wasn't exactly lightweight.

share|improve this answer

answered 11 hours ago

dirkt

7,1031738

share|improve this answer

share|improve this answer

answered 11 hours ago

dirkt

7,1031738

answered 11 hours ago

dirkt

7,1031738

answered 11 hours ago

dirkt

7,1031738

7,1031738

add a comment | 

add a comment | 

up vote
2
down vote

The Terak corporation sold personal computers. In the early 1980's I used one with UCSD Pascal to run experiments for my undergraduate research project. The 8-inch floppy was the only disk I had available.

share|improve this answer

answered 10 hours ago

Jon Custer

1213

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Jon Custer is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
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up vote
2
down vote

The Terak corporation sold personal computers. In the early 1980's I used one with UCSD Pascal to run experiments for my undergraduate research project. The 8-inch floppy was the only disk I had available.

share|improve this answer

answered 10 hours ago

Jon Custer

1213

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Jon Custer is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
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up vote
2
down vote

up vote
2
down vote

The Terak corporation sold personal computers. In the early 1980's I used one with UCSD Pascal to run experiments for my undergraduate research project. The 8-inch floppy was the only disk I had available.

share|improve this answer

answered 10 hours ago

Jon Custer

1213

New contributor

Jon Custer is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

The Terak corporation sold personal computers. In the early 1980's I used one with UCSD Pascal to run experiments for my undergraduate research project. The 8-inch floppy was the only disk I had available.

share|improve this answer

answered 10 hours ago

Jon Custer

1213

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Jon Custer is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
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share|improve this answer

share|improve this answer

answered 10 hours ago

Jon Custer

1213

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Jon Custer is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
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answered 10 hours ago

Jon Custer

1213

answered 10 hours ago

Jon Custer

1213

1213

New contributor

Jon Custer is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

New contributor

Jon Custer is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

Jon Custer is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

add a comment | 

add a comment | 

up vote
1
down vote

Even the TRS-80 Model 1 could use 8-inch floppy drives. All floppy drives for that system were external, connected by ribbon cables. Configuring a DOS to control an 8-inch drive wasn't much different from configuring it to handle a double-density, double-sided or double-track-density 5 1/4-inch drive, as I recall. (I never had an 8-inch drive myself, though.)

share|improve this answer

answered 7 hours ago

jeffB

33616

add a comment | 

up vote
1
down vote

Even the TRS-80 Model 1 could use 8-inch floppy drives. All floppy drives for that system were external, connected by ribbon cables. Configuring a DOS to control an 8-inch drive wasn't much different from configuring it to handle a double-density, double-sided or double-track-density 5 1/4-inch drive, as I recall. (I never had an 8-inch drive myself, though.)

share|improve this answer

answered 7 hours ago

jeffB

33616

add a comment | 

up vote
1
down vote

up vote
1
down vote

Even the TRS-80 Model 1 could use 8-inch floppy drives. All floppy drives for that system were external, connected by ribbon cables. Configuring a DOS to control an 8-inch drive wasn't much different from configuring it to handle a double-density, double-sided or double-track-density 5 1/4-inch drive, as I recall. (I never had an 8-inch drive myself, though.)

share|improve this answer

answered 7 hours ago

jeffB

33616

Even the TRS-80 Model 1 could use 8-inch floppy drives. All floppy drives for that system were external, connected by ribbon cables. Configuring a DOS to control an 8-inch drive wasn't much different from configuring it to handle a double-density, double-sided or double-track-density 5 1/4-inch drive, as I recall. (I never had an 8-inch drive myself, though.)

share|improve this answer

answered 7 hours ago

jeffB

33616

share|improve this answer

share|improve this answer

answered 7 hours ago

jeffB

33616

answered 7 hours ago

jeffB

33616

answered 7 hours ago

jeffB

33616

33616

add a comment | 

add a comment | 

up vote
0
down vote

This is the stone age we're talking about! Back when I was a kid and dinosaurs still roamed the Earth, I:

• bought a small colour TV, a keyboard, 64K of RAM, a Z80, an 6MHz crystal, a wax pen, a copper board and a second-hand 180KB single-sided 5 1/4" floppy drive


• had a friend that already had a computer download a motherboard schematic over a fast 1200 BAUD modem ¹
  


• drew the lines on the copper board with the wax pen, asked the chemistry teacher of some sulphuric acid, etched the excess copper away


• soldered everything together

And that was it!

An actual case was out of the question because that inhibited natural airflow! (this was a fanless design without heat sinks)

The motherboard just sat straight onto the desk² with a flat cable attached to the 5 1/4" floppy drive also straight on the desk and when I could lay my hands on a whopping 1.2 MByte 8" floppy drive 6 months later, that one now sat on the desk with the 5 1/4" stacked on top! ³

The colour TV sat on 2 nicely polished wooden blocks cut to exactly eye height! :-)

_{Note ¹: That's 1.2 Kbps
Note ²: OK, it had 6 rubber feet glued to the bottom
Note ³: OK, with a rectangular piece of wood in-between them
Note ⁴: I'll ask my dad if he has any pictures of this contraption, but as pictures were a luxury item at the time, I don't think he has any...}

share|improve this answer

edited 4 mins ago

answered 16 mins ago

Fabby

1013

New contributor

Fabby is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

add a comment | 

up vote
0
down vote

This is the stone age we're talking about! Back when I was a kid and dinosaurs still roamed the Earth, I:

• bought a small colour TV, a keyboard, 64K of RAM, a Z80, an 6MHz crystal, a wax pen, a copper board and a second-hand 180KB single-sided 5 1/4" floppy drive


• had a friend that already had a computer download a motherboard schematic over a fast 1200 BAUD modem ¹
  


• drew the lines on the copper board with the wax pen, asked the chemistry teacher of some sulphuric acid, etched the excess copper away


• soldered everything together

And that was it!

An actual case was out of the question because that inhibited natural airflow! (this was a fanless design without heat sinks)

The motherboard just sat straight onto the desk² with a flat cable attached to the 5 1/4" floppy drive also straight on the desk and when I could lay my hands on a whopping 1.2 MByte 8" floppy drive 6 months later, that one now sat on the desk with the 5 1/4" stacked on top! ³

The colour TV sat on 2 nicely polished wooden blocks cut to exactly eye height! :-)

_{Note ¹: That's 1.2 Kbps
Note ²: OK, it had 6 rubber feet glued to the bottom
Note ³: OK, with a rectangular piece of wood in-between them
Note ⁴: I'll ask my dad if he has any pictures of this contraption, but as pictures were a luxury item at the time, I don't think he has any...}

share|improve this answer

edited 4 mins ago

answered 16 mins ago

Fabby

1013

New contributor

Fabby is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

add a comment | 

up vote
0
down vote

up vote
0
down vote

This is the stone age we're talking about! Back when I was a kid and dinosaurs still roamed the Earth, I:

• bought a small colour TV, a keyboard, 64K of RAM, a Z80, an 6MHz crystal, a wax pen, a copper board and a second-hand 180KB single-sided 5 1/4" floppy drive


• had a friend that already had a computer download a motherboard schematic over a fast 1200 BAUD modem ¹
  


• drew the lines on the copper board with the wax pen, asked the chemistry teacher of some sulphuric acid, etched the excess copper away


• soldered everything together

And that was it!

An actual case was out of the question because that inhibited natural airflow! (this was a fanless design without heat sinks)

The motherboard just sat straight onto the desk² with a flat cable attached to the 5 1/4" floppy drive also straight on the desk and when I could lay my hands on a whopping 1.2 MByte 8" floppy drive 6 months later, that one now sat on the desk with the 5 1/4" stacked on top! ³

The colour TV sat on 2 nicely polished wooden blocks cut to exactly eye height! :-)

_{Note ¹: That's 1.2 Kbps
Note ²: OK, it had 6 rubber feet glued to the bottom
Note ³: OK, with a rectangular piece of wood in-between them
Note ⁴: I'll ask my dad if he has any pictures of this contraption, but as pictures were a luxury item at the time, I don't think he has any...}

share|improve this answer

edited 4 mins ago

answered 16 mins ago

Fabby

1013

New contributor

Fabby is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

This is the stone age we're talking about! Back when I was a kid and dinosaurs still roamed the Earth, I:

• bought a small colour TV, a keyboard, 64K of RAM, a Z80, an 6MHz crystal, a wax pen, a copper board and a second-hand 180KB single-sided 5 1/4" floppy drive


• had a friend that already had a computer download a motherboard schematic over a fast 1200 BAUD modem ¹
  


• drew the lines on the copper board with the wax pen, asked the chemistry teacher of some sulphuric acid, etched the excess copper away


• soldered everything together

And that was it!

An actual case was out of the question because that inhibited natural airflow! (this was a fanless design without heat sinks)

The motherboard just sat straight onto the desk² with a flat cable attached to the 5 1/4" floppy drive also straight on the desk and when I could lay my hands on a whopping 1.2 MByte 8" floppy drive 6 months later, that one now sat on the desk with the 5 1/4" stacked on top! ³

The colour TV sat on 2 nicely polished wooden blocks cut to exactly eye height! :-)

_{Note ¹: That's 1.2 Kbps
Note ²: OK, it had 6 rubber feet glued to the bottom
Note ³: OK, with a rectangular piece of wood in-between them
Note ⁴: I'll ask my dad if he has any pictures of this contraption, but as pictures were a luxury item at the time, I don't think he has any...}

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edited 4 mins ago

answered 16 mins ago

Fabby

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edited 4 mins ago

edited 4 mins ago

edited 4 mins ago

answered 16 mins ago

Fabby

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Fabby is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
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answered 16 mins ago

Fabby

1013

answered 16 mins ago

Fabby

1013

1013

New contributor

Fabby is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

New contributor

Fabby is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

Fabby is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

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