Dmme prime computer systems pt200 all in one any info on this?

[Drummer016]

Does anyone know anything about this computer?

Its a DMME Prime Systems computer Model PT200

It turns on and has a green screen. I do not have the keyboard so thats all the testing I could do.

Would like to know more about it and approx. value in todays market or a compariable market value.

Thanks

 

[Chuck(G)]

Forget the DMME--that's just an inventory tag. What you have is a Prime PT200 terminal. Late Prime gear, roughly equivalent to a VT320. Those modular jacks labeled T1 and T2 have no function on a bare terminal (they were intended for an add-on graphics option).

Without the keyboard, it's not going to be useful.

 

[Drummer016]

Thanks Chuck. I was able to find some VT320s on Ebay for comparison. I am looking to clean this one up and list for sale soon and needed to find a fair market value for it. I may have the keyboard in storage but not 100% sure.

Are those VT320s green screens as well? Built around the same years?

Thanks again

 

[Chuck(G)]

The VT320 is comparable only in the fact that the terminal protocol is similar. Electrically, they're different animals under the cover--the VT320 is 8051-based, while the Prime is Z80-based. The VT320 is somewhat later, made in the Far East, as was your pt200.

This was in the era of the cheap terminal, made possible by capable microprocessors.

Prime systems tended to be sui generis--that is, you had a Prime CPU with Prime terminals, and so on. I hope you can find a keyboard.

 

[Drummer016]

Yes I hope I can find the keyboard. I found a guy on ebay selling one for it for around $90.

Any idea of what year this might have been made? I tried googling it and found something saying mid 70s?

 

[Chuck(G)]

Yes I hope I can find the keyboard. I found a guy on ebay selling one for it for around $90.

Any idea of what year this might have been made? I tried googling it and found something saying mid 70s?

Well, the easiest way that I know to determine a manufacture date would be to pop the thing open and look at some of the larger ICs and read the date codes from them. They're generally in a manufacturer's code, such as 4379, which would mean the 43rd week of 1979. Since a product like a terminal can enjoy a long production life, the date of the introduction and the date of manufacture of a particular unit can be separated by several years.