Antique Computer Works (NEC PC8401A Starlet)

I'm digging around in an old storage shed and I come across a computer that I haven't used in years. It's an old laptop from 1984 (eventhough I didn't buy it until about 1992).



So there it is all set up and working. I have the main laptop and the small-suitcase-sized floppy disk drive. I won't go into detail on it because you can follow the links I will provide shortly to get all the information you could ever want about this handy little piece of history. I really like the keyboard and that it will run off of four C-cell batteries. I'm not sure what to do with it. I really don't want to use it. I don't have a place, or a desire, to display it as a geeky knick-knack. I could sell it or send it to a computer museum. I really don't know. I also have a printer cable and 1200 baud modem (the internal 300 baud modem doesn't work any more). I looked around for a BBS that I could try to log into and I could find nothing. Before the internet TJ and I were active in FidoNet but it has just all dried up. I could get a shell dial-up account and actually hook this computer to the internet but that would cost about $20 per month. I'm just not that interested in testing those capabilities. So there you have it, computer history. I also have a Commodore 64 in a box and an Epson Equity 1 (old PC clone at 4.77 MHz) on a shelf.

Links for information on the Starlet: PC-8401A at Old-Computers.com; NEC Starlet at Uncle Roger's Computers; and finally a review of the PC-8401 from the December 1985 Compute! magazine.