The hardware features of the QDP-300 were very close to those of the QDP-100 model. Apart from the shape of the case, the major differences were:
- An integrated help system,
- A cache memory to speed up the disk drives operations,
- A new motherboard design allowing the 6 Mhz. Z80-C microprocessor to be used.
The QDP-300 was backed by one-year on-site warranty performed by the General Electric Company.
_______________________
Mark Penacho adds:
The Quasar Data Products QDP-300 was rebranded the TDS-300 (by QDP) and was used as the development system for the now defunct handheld computer company Telxon in the early 80's for their handheld devices.
The rebranding was a darker metal case (I think dark blue), and a blue front panel. Cosmetically, the TDS version looked nicer.
Roger Chalonec remembers:
I used these on US Navy ships. We ultimately had a 10meg hard drive in these I belive. We ran a pretty impressive database called MDBS (Micro Database Systems) out of Cleveland, OH.
We need more info about this computer ! If you designed, used, or have more info about this system,
please send us pictures or anything you might find useful.
Please consider donating your old computer / videogame system to Old-Computers.com or one of our partners from anywhere in the world (Europe, America, Asia, etc.).
I picked one of these up for a song earlier this year. I''m disassembling the rom, and it''s heavy going. are there any docs anywhere on this amazing double high board?
I became a dealer for QDP right about the time the 300 was introduced. The first 300 I received was September 1984 for $6795 List less 34$ so $4485 net. It was 1 floppy, 15Mb HD 4 user MPM with 256K Memory. The next one was a month later and the first of the high end version with 32Mb HD and a 512K Cache board. It was $9795 List. The first one ran an Automotive Parts Importer for many years as we had to upgrade the software for Y2K compatability in 1999.
Monday 2nd July 2018
Greg Bradley (Southern California, USA)
NAME
QDP-300
MANUFACTURER
Quasar Data Products
TYPE
Professional Computer
ORIGIN
U.S.A.
YEAR
November 1982
BUILT IN LANGUAGE
None
KEYBOARD
Serial video terminal
CPU
Z80-C
SPEED
6 Mhz.
RAM
64 KB
ROM
Unknown
TEXT MODES
80 columns x 25 lines
COLORS
Monochrome
SOUND
Beeper
I/O PORTS
Serial interface
BUILT IN MEDIA
Dual 8'' 1.2 MB F.D. drives Optional 10 or 15 MB internal hard disk, or 30 MB external
