1-1.
General
In
this section,
we
will give
an
overview to the Canon A-200 Personal Computer.
Variety of the A-200
The A-200 is classified
in
four versions
in
accordance with the types
of
display adapter and
numbers
of
floppy disk drive. However, there are no single disk drive versions for 230V
AC.
• Model
M1
....... 1 disk drive with monochrome board
• Model M2....... 2 disk drives with monochrome board
• Model
Cl
...... 1 disk drive with color board
• Model C2....... 2 disk drives with color board
1-2.
Features
• 8086 Microprocessor
The A-200
is
equipped with the 8086 microprocessor as CPU (Central Processing Unit) which
has 16-bit data bus.
In
other words, the 8086 can access 16-bit data
at
a time, and
so,
it
can
perform more quick and versatile data processing in comparison with
an
ordinary 8-bit
microprocessor.
• Memories
The A-200 has 256K bytes
of
RAM (Random Access Memory) as the standard and
is
expanda-
ble up to 512K
bytes.
Also the A-200
is
equipped with 16K bytes of
system
ROM
(Read Only
Memory) including a diagnostic program
etc.
and 4K bytes (Model
M1
and Model M2) or 32K
bytes
(Model
C1
and Model
C2)
of
video
RAM
which
stores
the data
to
be displayed on the screen.
• Built-in Interfaces
In
order to input or output data to/from the A-200,
it
has useful devices such as
5-1/4"
floppy
disk drive (Model
M1
and
C1
has one disk drive and Model M2 and Model C2 has two drives),
RS-232C interface and printer interface.
• Expandability
In
addition to the standard features listed above, a customer can expand the functions of the
A-200 by adding the 8087 Numeric Data Coprocessor or inserting optional board into the inter-
nal five expansion
slots.
• Powerful Operating System
A
DOS
(Disk Operating
System)
is
now indispensable to the advanced personal computers like
the
A-200.
We
are adopted the MS-DOS developed for 8086/8088-based computers by Microsoft
Corp. Through
MS-DOS,
an
user can communicate with the computer, disk drive, and
printer,
managing these resources
to
his advantage.
• Standard Diagnostic Programs
The A-200 has two different diagnostic programs - one
is
the ROM-based built-in program and
the other is the disk-based programs. The ROM-based one
is
executed whenever the power
for the computer
is
turned on or the
RESET
button is pushed. The disk-based program is
an
accessory of the computer.
It
checks the computer itself and peripherals.
• Compatible with the
IBM®
Personal ComputerTM
Most of the application software, peripherals or options designed for the
IBM®
PCTM
can be
used with the
A-200.
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