Technical Desktops


9100A

Early Calc and Computers Selection:

Name: 9100
Product Number: 9100
Introduced: 1968
Division: Loveland
Ad: Click to see, Click to see, Click to see, Click to see
Original Price: $4900
Catalog Reference: 1969, P. 130
Donated by: John Geremin, Megatronics Australia.

Description:

The 9100A was the first technical desktop computer introduced by Hewlett Packard. The 9100 could also be considered a calculator. It did not have an alphanumeric keyboard, and most functions were effectively "programmed under" individual keys on the keyboard, similar to a modern-day non-programmable trigonometric calculator.

The 9100A used a keystroke sequence known as Reverse Polish Notation (RPN). The 9100 had a three-line CRT display and built in mass storage (magnetic card drive). Optional peripherals included the 9120A thermal printer and 9125A single-pen plotter. The 9101A provided additional external storage for the 9100. The 9100B was introduced in 1969. It had 3840 bits of core memory, compared to 2208 bits in the 9100A.

Click here for a detailed look at the origins of the 9100.

Click here to see a video of Steve Leibson interviewing Tom Osbourne, inventor of the 9100 (from Cody, Wyoming).

For more information on the 9100, please visit Jürgen Keller's site: HP 9100.

The 9100B was also a movie star. It made an appearance in the 1971 movie The Andromeda Strain.

Collector's Notes:

As of 2013, probably less than a third of these calculators will show output on the display when powered up.

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