[ Retro Scan of the Week ] The Epson QX-10

Monday, October 6th, 2014

Epson QX-10 Personal Computer Boss Secretary Pulling Tie CPM advertisement - 1983There’s a madman at the computer!

A fellow donated an Epson QX-10 to my collection some years ago, but I have never run it because I lack the proper monitor cable. This fascinating machine ran the CP/M operating system and came with a full suite of office-centric software tools, called VALDOCS, wrapped in a semi-graphical user interface layer that ran on top of its host OS.

As far as I’ve noticed from my QX-10, one of the coolest things about it is that it has specially engineered low-profile 5.25″ floppy drives. That was a unique thing to have in 1983, and it made the QX-10’s case very dense and compact.

[ From Interface Age – May 1983, p.34]

Discussion Topic of the Week: What do you think the world world be like if CP/M, rather than MS DOS (PC DOS), shipped on the IBM PC in 1981?