The System 2800 is a family of 8 bit multi user microcomputers released by Systems Groups in 1980.
The systems are housed in a single desk top or rack mounting cabinet which contains an eight slot S100 bus motherboard, the central processing system and either one disk drive and a tape cartridge backup ot two disk drives.
The various models in the family are differientated by the combination and number of disk drives and tape backing stores whith which they are supplied.
The basic model includes one 5.25" floppy disk drive and a single Winchester hard drive, whilst the most expensive model is supplied with a pair of floppy disk drives, two Winchester hard disks and a tape cartridge backup unit.
In single suser mode, the machines run under CP/M 2.2 and for multi user operation M/PM and OASIS are available. These systems can support up to 20 users.
The System 2800 uses and 8 bit Z80A processor running at 4 MHz. The basic system is supplied with 128 Kb of paged RAM, which may be expanded in multi-user applications to a total of 512 Kb. The processor supports eight vectored prioritised interrupts and a real time clock.
The basic system is supplied with four RS232C compatible ports, operating a up to 38,4 K baud. A synchonous option is available with a maximum transmission rate of 614.4 K baud, the baud rates being software selectable. The machines also include a 16 bit bidirectionnal parallel port whih, with the addition of the appropriate "personality" board, may support Centronics compatible printers. The use of eight slot S100 bus means that a number of slots are available for expansion.
PERIPHERALS
The models in the range are available with a choice of floppy and hard disk units. The floppy disk drives are either single or double density giving formatted storage capacities of either 600 Kb or 1.02 Mb. The 5.25 inches Winchester hard disks give formatted capacities of between 10 and 31.5 Mb, whilst the 8 inches hard disks are available with storage capacities of 20 Mb.
The basic model (2860) incorporates one floppy disk drive and one 10 Mb Winchester hard disk. The most advanced model (2866/2) is supplied with two floppy disk drives, a pair of 16.5 Mb Winchester hard disks and an 11 Mb taped drive.
These systems support standard RS232C / Centronices compatible printers.
SOFTWARE
In single user applications the System 2800 computers rune under CP/M 2.2. For multi-user application MP/M and OASIS are available. OASIS will support up to 12 consoles and printer spooling.
A wide range of language were available for use with these systems, including Fortran, Cobol, Basic and Pascal. A number of packages were available to run under OASIS, including a relational database and Master Plan, a financial modeling suite.
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NAME
System 2800
MANUFACTURER
Systems Group
TYPE
Professional Computer
ORIGIN
U.S.A.
YEAR
1980
CPU
Zilog Z80A
SPEED
4 MHz
RAM
128 Kb (up to 512 Kb)
I/O PORTS
8 x S100 internal slots, 4 x RS232C connectors, parallel port,
BUILT IN MEDIA
1 or 2 x 5.25 floppy disk drives (SS 600 Kb/DS 1.02 Mb), hard disk (from 10 to 30 Mb), tape drive (11 Mb)
