Victor 9000 Hardware Reference Manual

Hardware Revie.,
Victor Victorious
The Victor 9000 ,Computer
Microcomputers are proliferating
because they can do so many tasks so
well. Each time microcomputers take
over another task, they threaten some
old technology. As word processors,
for example, microcomputers
threaten the typewriter. As number
crunchers, microcomputers threaten
the calculator. Each company whose
main product is threatened faces a
hard choice: perish or become a com-
puter company. What's more, such a
company must make the right com-
puter on the first try because the
fierce competition in the microcom-
puter market gives few entrants a sec-
ond chance. The rules permit only
one roll of the dice in the game called
"You bet your company."
Victor Business Products has been
making calculators for 60 years. Vic-
tor saw the need to make a computer,
and the Victor 9000 is Victor's roll of
the dice. I've been lucky enough to
have the use of a Victor 9000 for a
few months, and I think the machine
is an excellent microcomputer with an
outstanding array of standard
features .
216 November 1982
©
BYTE Publications Inc
Phil
Lemmons
West Coast Editor
Of course, the microcomputer
business is not really a game of
chance like dice, but a competition re-
quiring judgment, expertise, and a
variety of resources. Victor comes to
the competition much better prepared
than most new entrants. First of all,
Victor is a subsidiary of Kidde Inc., a
three-billion dollar conglomerate.
Second, Victor has experience in
designing and manufacturing micro-
processor-based electronic products.
Third, Victor has a great deal of ex-
perience in dealing with business peo-
ple and the needs of the contem-
porary office. Fourth, Victor is start-
ing out with a network of 50 branch
offices in the United States to
distribute and support the machine.
Fifth, and perhaps most important,
the chief designer of Victor's machine
is not a novice but Chuck Peddle, a
founder of the microcomputer in-
dustry who understands as well as
anyone where the technology is going
and how to bring maximum perfor-
mance to the market at an affordable
price. (In an interview starting on
page 256 of this issue, Chuck Peddle
discusses his goals in designing the
Victor 9000 and makes some observa-
tions on trends
in the microcomputer
industry.)
Getting Started
with the Victor 9000
Victor's experience has shown them
that business people want a machine
they can set on a desk, turn on, and
use. As photo 1 shows, the Victor
9000 consists of a system unit, a
detached keyboard with a coiled
cable, and a monochrome monitor
that can rest atop or alongside the
system unit. The system unit and key-
board fit comfortably on a standard
typing table, or on a cluttered desk
designed before microcomputers
came out. While the Apple III oc-
cupies 361 square inches and the IBM
Personal Computer 420 square
inches, the Victor 9000 takes up only
310. If you buy the machine directly
from your local Victor branch office,
Victor will deliver the machine, set it
up, connect the cables, and make sure
everything is working. The Opera-
tors' Reference Manual takes it from