Hewlett-Packard 9100A

The Hewlett-Packard 9100A an early computer, first appearing in 1968. HP called it a desktop calculator because, as Bill Hewlett said, "If we had called it a computer, it would have been rejected by our customers' computer gurus because it didn't look like an IBM. We therefore decided to call it a calculator, and all such nonsense disappeared."

The 9100A was the first scientific calculator by the modern definition (i.e. trig, log/ln, and exponential functions), and was the beginning of Hewlett-Packard's long history of using reverse Polish notation entry on their calculators.

Programma 101

Programma 101 was the first commercial "desktop computer". It was produced by Italian manufacturer Olivetti and invented by the Italian engineer Pier Giorgio Perotto. It was launched at the 1964 New York World's Fair, volume production started in 1965. About 44,000 units were sold, primarily in the US. It is equipped with a 240 byte memory.

It is usually considered a printing programmable calculator or desktop calculator because three years later the Hewlett-Packard 9100A, a model that took inspiration from the P101, was advertised by HP as a "portable calculator", in order to be able to overcome the fears of computers and be able to sell it to corporations without passing through the corporate computer department.

HP 9830A

HP 9830A is a sophisticated programmable calculator, it's actually an early desktop computer with printer. It was introduced in 1972, was the top of the 9800 line; having BASIC interpreter in read-only memory (ROM). The model was discontinued late in the 1970s.

Run by operating system ROM BASIC, expandable with ROM cartridges. Powered by processor based on HP 2100 with stack. The system is also equipped with 16 kB ~ 64 kB memory.

All 98x0 and 9821 systems used the same I/O interfaces. A 400 line per minute 80-column thermal line printer was designed to fit on top of the 9820 and 9830.