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Xerox 820
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==820== Xerox introduced the 820 in June 1981 for $2,995 with two {{frac|5|1|4}}-inch single-density disk drives with 81K of capacity per diskette, or $3,795 with two 8-inch drives with 241K capacity. To beat the [[IBM PC]] to market, Xerox created little of the computer's design; it is based on the [[Ferguson Big Board]] computer kit and other [[Commercial off-the-shelf|off-the-shelf]] components,{{r|meyer19820614}}<ref name="zientara19850401">{{Cite magazine |last=Zientara |first=Marguerite |date=1 April 1985 |title=Xerox Stops Making Its Micros |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0C4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA19 |magazine=InfoWorld |pages=19β20 |access-date=2019-03-30 |volume=7 |issue=13}}</ref> including a [[Zilog]] [[Z80]] processor clocked at 2.5 MHz, and 64 KB of [[RAM]].<ref name="meyer19820614">{{Cite magazine |last=Meyer |first=Edwin W. |date=14 June 1982 |title=The Xerox 820, a CP/M-operated system from Xerox |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YDAEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA101 |magazine=InfoWorld |pages=101β104 |access-date=2019-03-30 |volume=4 |issue=23}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Xerox 820 |url=http://www.oldcomputermuseum.com/xerox_820.html |access-date=2022-11-25 |website=www.oldcomputermuseum.com}}</ref> Xerox chose [[CP/M]] as its operating system because of the large software library<ref name="wise19820510">{{cite magazine | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bDAEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA21 | title=Mainframe makers court third-party vendors for micro software | magazine=InfoWorld | date=10 May 1982 | access-date=25 January 2015 | last=Wise |first=Deborah | pages=21β22 |volume=4 |issue=18}}</ref>βThe 820 is compatible with all Big Board software<ref name="mc198310">{{Cite magazine |last=Thompson |first=David |date=October 1983 |title=Another BG Bargain |url=http://planemo.org/retro/downloads/z100/publications/Micro_Cornucopia/Micro_Cornucopia_%2314_Oct83.pdf |magazine=Micro Cornucopia |issue=14 |pages=1,43 |access-date=2019-04-16}}</ref>βand sold a customized version of [[WordStar]] for $495, although by 1982 the company offered the standard version for the same price.{{r|meyer19820614}} By 1984, surplus 820 mainboards were available from Xerox for about $50 each, and one of these could be combined with other surplus components to build a working system for a few hundred dollars.
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