The Intertec SuperBrain was an all-in-one commercial microcomputer that was first sold by Intertec Data Systems Corporation of Columbia, South Carolina, USA in 1979. The machine ran the operating system CP/M and was somewhat unusual in that it used dual Z80 CPUs, the second being used as a disk controller. In 1983, the basic machine sold for about US$2,000 (equivalent to $5,880 in 2022).
There were several variants, including the SuperBrain II (released in 1982), SuperBrain II Jr., "QD" (quad density disk drives) and "SD" (super density) models.
Intertec also released a similar looking dumb terminal, the Intertube, and smart terminal, the Emulator.
The SuperBrain is notable for being at the user end of the first Kermit connection in 1981.
The machine was practical and useful in the office environment, but somewhat limited until the arrival of the first 5 MB hard drive in one of the floppy drive bays. This was soon replaced by the 10 MB hard drive.
Up to 255 CompuStar workstations could be daisy-chained together via DC-37 "Chaining Adaptor" parallel ports to share the "central disk system" (one of the three hard drive peripheral options below). Each computer, or VPU (Video Processing Unit), was assigned a unique number from 1 to 255 by setting an eight-position DIP switch.[1]
The Superbrain can be seen in two episodes of Knight Rider: one in Season 1, Episode 10, "The Final Verdict" (1982), and the second in Season 1, Episode 18, "White Bird" (1983).[2]
In John Carpenter’s The Thing, Dr. Blair uses a Superbrain to analyse samples from The Thing from which he estimates that it will take over the world in about three years.[2]
Referencesedit
^"PRELIMINARY USERS MANUAL FOR INTERTEC'S COMPUSTAR VIDEO PROCESSING SYSTEM" (PDF). Bitsavers. May 1981.
^ ab"Starring the Computer - Intertec Superbrain".
External linksedit
Intertec SuperBrain 2008-04-17 at the Wayback Machine DAVES OLD COMPUTERS
intertec, superbrain, superbrain, redirects, here, chinese, talent, show, brain, game, show, fictional, character, superbrain, boys, intertec, superbrain, commercial, microcomputer, that, first, sold, intertec, data, systems, corporation, columbia, south, caro. Superbrain redirects here For the Chinese talent show see The Brain game show For the fictional character see Superbrain The Boys The Intertec SuperBrain was an all in one commercial microcomputer that was first sold by Intertec Data Systems Corporation of Columbia South Carolina USA in 1979 The machine ran the operating system CP M and was somewhat unusual in that it used dual Z80 CPUs the second being used as a disk controller In 1983 the basic machine sold for about US 2 000 equivalent to 5 880 in 2022 Intertec SuperBrainThe twin Z80 Intertec SuperBrainManufacturerIntertec Data SystemsTypemicrocomputerRelease date1979 44 years ago 1979 Operating systemCP MCPU 2x Z80 4 MHzMemory64 KB2 KB ROMDisplay12 monochromeConnectivityTwo RS 232 serial portsDimensionsH 14 5 8 W 21 3 8 D 23 1 8 Mass45 lb 20 kg There were several variants including the SuperBrain II released in 1982 SuperBrain II Jr QD quad density disk drives and SD super density models Intertec also released a similar looking dumb terminal the Intertube and smart terminal the Emulator The SuperBrain is notable for being at the user end of the first Kermit connection in 1981 The machine was practical and useful in the office environment but somewhat limited until the arrival of the first 5 MB hard drive in one of the floppy drive bays This was soon replaced by the 10 MB hard drive Up to 255 CompuStar workstations could be daisy chained together via DC 37 Chaining Adaptor parallel ports to share the central disk system one of the three hard drive peripheral options below Each computer or VPU Video Processing Unit was assigned a unique number from 1 to 255 by setting an eight position DIP switch 1 Contents 1 Specifications 2 Peripherals 3 Applications 4 In pop culture 5 References 6 External linksSpecifications editModel Number Processor Disk Drives Clock Speed RAMCompuStar 10 Z80 No drives network device 4 MHz 64 KBJr CompuStar 20 Z80 170 KB 4 MHz 64 KBQD Quad Density CompuStar 30 Z80 340 KB 4 MHz 64 KBSD Super Density CompuStar 40 Z80 780 KB 4 MHz 64 KBPeripherals editCompuStar DSS 10 10 MB Hard Drive CompuStar Disk Storage System CDC 96 MB Hard Drive 80 MB fixed disk with 16 MB removable platter Priam 14 144 MB Hard DriveApplications editMicrosoft BASIC 8080 Assembler Microsoft COBOL 74 APLIn pop culture editThe Superbrain can be seen in two episodes of Knight Rider one in Season 1 Episode 10 The Final Verdict 1982 and the second in Season 1 Episode 18 White Bird 1983 2 In John Carpenter s The Thing Dr Blair uses a Superbrain to analyse samples from The Thing from which he estimates that it will take over the world in about three years 2 References edit PRELIMINARY USERS MANUAL FOR INTERTEC S COMPUSTAR VIDEO PROCESSING SYSTEM PDF Bitsavers May 1981 a b Starring the Computer Intertec Superbrain External links editIntertec SuperBrain Archived 2008 04 17 at the Wayback Machine DAVES OLD COMPUTERS Superbrain at Old Computer Museum Marcus Bennett s Superbrain documentation Video walkthrough of restored unit on YouTube nbsp This microcomputer or microprocessor related article is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Intertec Superbrain amp oldid 1177441593, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
