"Pleban's talk, "Hacking the last Z80 computer ever made," was more than just a dive into retro computing. It also explored some of the many strange decisions involved in launching a new range of hardware based on the eight-bit Zilog Z80 chip in 1999 - when the 16-bit computer era was largely over, and just a couple of years before 32-bit x86 chips would be replaced by x86-64."
"Its specifications are good for an eight-bit machine. It's a self-contained unit, with a 320 x 128 mono LCD, a 12 MHz Z80 with 128 KB of RAM, and a bit over a megabyte of flash. Aside from its dial-up modem, the only way to get anything in or out of it was over a Laplink cable attached to its bidirectional parallel printer port."
"The CIDCO MailStation, also sold in the US as Earthlink's Mivo 100, is a strong contender. Launched in 1999, Time Magazine reported on the final model, the cordless Mivo 350 - which is still listed on Amazon. While writing this, we found units for sale on eBay US for under $26 - or less than $12 if you don't mind an untested one."
The CIDCO MailStation, sold in the US as Earthlink's Mivo 100, launched in 1999 and is a strong contender for the last Z80-based computer. The device targeted email use, marketed as "Email made easy" and later "Email without the PC." Hardware includes a 320×128 monochrome LCD, a 12 MHz Z80 CPU, 128 KB RAM, and just over one megabyte of flash. Connectivity is via a dial-up modem and a Laplink cable through a bidirectional parallel printer port. Zilog discontinued standalone Z80 processors a few years earlier, prompting retro interest and low-priced units on resale sites.
Read at Theregister
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]