RetroFair 1984 IBM PCjr Brief Overview and Tour Vintage Computer

Here is a brief overview and tour of the 1984 IBM PCjr. Special thanks to Michael Brutman for his great website full of details on this machine
https://www.brutman.com/PCjr/pcjr.html

Here is what the robot voice is saying:

greetings retro fair and retro computer enthusiast.

this is the 1984 IBM PC jr

It is a computer

It often gets a bad wrap for being a piece of crap

But it is an awesome little machine ...

It was IBM's attempt to make a low cost, entry level PC which could be
used by youth and educators. It was in production for approximately one year.

Its specifications are as follows:
Intel 8088 CPU at 4.77MHz
64 kilobytes of RAM, later 128 kilobytes and expandable
1 5.25" floppy disk

Its unique features are
berg style IO connections
16 colors with multiple graphics modes
A TI 76489 four channel audio chip with 3 voices of polyphony and white noise.
composite video out
RCA audio output
two cartridge ports
two joystick ports
serial and parallel IO
dedicated internal slots for the floppy disk controller and 300 baud modem
sidecars for horizontal expansion
and 3rd party vertical expandability

Lets talk about its design

first, the wireless chiclet keyboard. It was designed to be used with
application specific over lays. However, touch typists and quibblers complained. IBM then offered a traditional keyboard as a free replacement.

Several software titles were produced as cartridges which included a dual
cartridge LOTUS 1 2 3 and IBM PCjr color paint which could use the new
microsoft serial mouse.

Sierra Online debut King's Quest, Epyx Jumpman and many other games took advantage of the IBM PCjr advanced color and sound features.

the PCjr had both standard IBM PC microsoft basic in ROM as well as its
own version of Microsoft Advanced BASIC on cartridge. Catridge basic
made use of the unique graphics and sound of the PCjr.

while only 500 thousand PC jrs were manufacturered, they have
developed a very loyal following. Expansion support was provided by 3rd
parties such as Rapport, Quadram, Legacy Technologies, Microsoft and
PC enterprises well into the 1990s.

For more information about the IBM PC jr please check out Michael Brutman's awesome PCjr world wide web internet home page at brutman.com