{"id":21896,"date":"2025-07-24T14:19:21","date_gmt":"2025-07-24T18:19:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/?page_id=21896"},"modified":"2025-07-24T14:40:10","modified_gmt":"2025-07-24T18:40:10","slug":"vin101","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/vintage-computing\/item\/vin101\/","title":{"rendered":"Modular Micros Zorba GC-200"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Modular Micros Zorba GC-200<\/h2>\n<p>[Vin101]<\/p>\n<p>Introduced by Modular Micros (a Modcomp subsidiary) as one of the last \u201cluggable\u201d CP\/M portables, the 22 lb Zorba GC-200 featured a Z80A CPU, a detachable full-stroke keyboard, twin 5.25-inch floppy drives and terminal-emulation firmware that let it read a remarkable range of rival disk formats: Kaypro, Osborne, Xerox 820 and more. Its claim to fame was arriving at the very end of the CP\/M era with unusually broad compatibility, positioning itself as a universal bridge machine just as MS-DOS portables (e.g., Compaq Portable) were taking over; consequently only about 6,000 units were ever built and sales were short-lived before surplus stock was liquidated.<a href=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-content\/uploads\/PXL_20250618_175454923-scaled.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignright size-large wp-image-21900\" src=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-content\/uploads\/PXL_20250618_175454923-400x300.jpg\" alt=\"Modular Micros Zorba GC-200\" width=\"400\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-content\/uploads\/PXL_20250618_175454923-400x300.jpg 400w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-content\/uploads\/PXL_20250618_175454923-240x180.jpg 240w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-content\/uploads\/PXL_20250618_175454923-160x120.jpg 160w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-content\/uploads\/PXL_20250618_175454923-768x577.jpg 768w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-content\/uploads\/PXL_20250618_175454923-1536x1153.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-content\/uploads\/PXL_20250618_175454923-2048x1538.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-content\/uploads\/PXL_20250618_175454923-800x600.jpg 800w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-content\/uploads\/PXL_20250618_175454923-360x270.jpg 360w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Manufacturer<\/strong>: Modular Micros<\/li>\n<li><strong>Type<\/strong>: Luggable (portable) computer<\/li>\n<li><strong>Release Date<\/strong>: 1983<\/li>\n<li><strong>Cost at release<\/strong>: $1,595 (~$5,500 adjusted for inflation)<\/li>\n<li><strong>MIPS<\/strong>: 0.1 (100 KIPS)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><span class=\"TextRun SCXW36078203 BCX0\" lang=\"EN-US\" xml:lang=\"EN-US\" data-contrast=\"auto\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW36078203 BCX0\">Hardware Specifications<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>CPU<\/strong>: Zilog Z80A microprocessor running at 4MHz<\/li>\n<li><strong>RAM<\/strong>: 64K bytes<\/li>\n<li><strong>ROM<\/strong>: 4K bytes (expandable to 16K)<\/li>\n<li><strong>Screen<\/strong>: 7-inch green CRT monitor<\/li>\n<li><strong>Resolution<\/strong>: 80 characters \u00d7 25 lines text-only display<\/li>\n<li><strong>Graphics<\/strong>: 64 graphics characters available<\/li>\n<li><strong>Floppy drives<\/strong>: Two internal 5.25-inch floppy disk drives with a capacity 410K bytes per drive<\/li>\n<li><strong>Serial ports<\/strong>: 2 full asynchronous RS-232 ports<\/li>\n<li><strong>Parallel port<\/strong>: 1 Centronics-compatible parallel port<\/li>\n<li><strong>IEEE-488 port<\/strong>: 1 IEEE-488 interface port<\/li>\n<li>Detachable 95-key keyboard<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><span class=\"TextRun SCXW136206418 BCX0\" lang=\"EN-US\" xml:lang=\"EN-US\" data-contrast=\"auto\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW136206418 BCX0\">Operating System &amp; Programming Languages<\/span><\/span><span class=\"EOP SCXW136206418 BCX0\" data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335559685&quot;:0}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n<ul class=\"marker:text-textOff list-disc\">\n<li>\n<p class=\"my-0\"><strong>Operating System<\/strong>: CP\/M 2.2<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"my-0\"><strong>Supported Languages<\/strong>:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>BASIC: Multiple BASIC interpreters and compilers were available for CP\/M<\/li>\n<li>Pascal: CP\/M Pascal implementations<\/li>\n<li>COBOL: Business-oriented programming language<\/li>\n<li>FORTRAN: Scientific and engineering applications<\/li>\n<li>C: C compilers were available for CP\/M systems<\/li>\n<li>Assembly Language: Z80 assembly language programming<\/li>\n<li>PL\/M: Intel&#8217;s programming language (CP\/M itself was originally written in PL\/M)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Notables<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>The Zorba was one of the very last CP\/M portable computers ever manufactured, arriving at the market just as MS-DOS and the IBM PC compatible era was beginning. It represented the end of an era for 8-bit portable computing, making it historically significant as a &#8220;last of its kind&#8221; machine.<\/li>\n<li>The Zorba&#8217;s most remarkable feature was its ability to read and write an unusually wide variety of CP\/M disk formats, including Osborne 1, Kaypro II, Xerox 820, Cromemco 520, DEC VT 180, IBM PC, Compaq, and TeleVideo 802 formats. This made it a universal &#8220;bridge machine&#8221; between different CP\/M systems &#8211; an extremely rare capability for the time.<\/li>\n<li>The computer had a turbulent ownership history: originally manufactured by Telcon Industries, then sold to MODCOMP for $5 million, and finally liquidated through surplus dealer Gemini Electronics for just $799 (down from the original $1,595 price). This represents one of the most dramatic price drops in vintage computing history.<\/li>\n<li>Only approximately 6,000 total units were ever manufactured across all variants, making it one of the rarest commercially produced portable computers of the 1980s<\/li>\n<li>The Zorba arrived &#8220;too late to the party&#8221; &#8211; by the time it launched in late 1982\/early 1983, the Compaq Portable running MS-DOS was already dominating the portable market, sealing the fate of CP\/M portables. This timing makes it a perfect example of how quickly the personal computer market was evolving in the early 1980s.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><strong>Donated by<\/strong>: Arlen Michaels<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Modular Micros Zorba GC-200 [Vin101] Introduced by Modular Micros (a Modcomp subsidiary) as one of the last \u201cluggable\u201d CP\/M portables, the 22 lb Zorba GC-200 featured a Z80A CPU, a detachable full-stroke keyboard, twin 5.25-inch floppy drives and terminal-emulation firmware that let it read a remarkable range of rival disk formats: Kaypro, Osborne, Xerox 820 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"parent":19704,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.2 - 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