This mini forum is intended to provide a simple means of discussion about the Computer Devices Incorporated  DOT computer. If you want to share your own experience or memories, or add relevant information about this system: post a message!

I actually have one of these! Friend found it - of all places - in the attic of a Quaker meeting house, and gave it to me as I''m into old computer systems. It still boots, and the printer still works even! Sadly, the disk drives seem to be dead, so I can''t do much with it...

I worked on the development of the Sony drive interface unfortunately it was totally analog with plenty of problems and even though there was a chip set available which worked the management insisted on using the analog interface and pestered Sony to get the bugs out since it was a recommended circuit by them this caused long delays in its release and never worked right. It was kind of a cool design though. one problem the thermal paper''s txt faded quite quickly. I worked with Dave Epstien a great guy. Miss you dave.

I attempted to use the DOT Computer as the principle input/output device, to a Department of Defense Network computer program I designed! The DOT Computer, for all of the great designed elements, Portability, Printer, Sony disc drive, key board, Screen, was the best device for my program, with Packet-networking, to a network of 60 Sequent Computers, operating 386 Duel Unix system! I would have bought 1 Dot Computer for each Army Detachment or Company, which would have been 25,000 units! But alas, at the time when I went to Billerica, Massachusetts to present my program, Computer Devices was in Bankruptcy and had stored the production units away in a garage and could not (would not?) release the units to the US Army!

If anyone is interested I still have my DOT computer with reams of company software and the back up parts they sold as an extra. I last used it in 1997 as an office computer to track business expenses at a small business I had. Email:taxmannh@hotmail.com. Hate to see it be trashed.

I was a developer on the Dot project.
The hardware was 100$ IBM PC-compatible.
To test it for compatibility they hired a typist to keyboard the BIOS source from the IBM PC Technical Reference.
We built it on an Intel MDS "Big Blue Box", burned EEPROMs and used it to qualify the hardware.

Our team wrote the BIOS with the help of some contractors.
Two of the contractors later took the code and founded Phoenix Associates.

It was the first computer to use the Sony 3.5 floppy.

This computer came out shortly after I left Computer Devices. They nicknamed it "DEC''s other terminal" as most of the top management came over when i left from DEC. It had real potential and the DOS was not cloned/copied from IBM (later a legal issue for Panasonic and others). CDI developed from scratch. The team later became Phoenix Bios developer, as i remember. BUT it was not 100$ IBM compatible BUT legal, BUT the world wanted 100$ (Flight Simulator test). So, it got little traction. It was also expensive but quality.

No, the DOT is not 100$ compatable. DOT DOS 1.something was the version that shipped with these systems. There was an unreleased port of DOS 2.0.

Besides some differences in video, as I understand it the BIOS was not 100$ compatible requiring software using (certain ?) BIOS calls to be ''ported''.

I would like to know if this Computer is 100% IBM PC Compatible?