{"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":"2026-06-22T13:40:41","modified_gmt":"2026-06-22T17:40:41","slug":"vin101","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/vintage-computing\/item\/vin101\/","title":{"rendered":"Modular Micros Zorba GC-200"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<section class=\"w-screen px-6 cu-section cu-section--white ml-offset-center md:px-8 lg:px-14\">\n    <div class=\"space-y-6 cu-max-w-child-5xl  md:space-y-10 cu-prose-first-last\">\n\n            <div class=\"cu-textmedia flex flex-col lg:flex-row mx-auto gap-6 md:gap-10 my-6 md:my-12 first:mt-0 max-w-5xl\">\n        <div class=\"justify-start cu-textmedia-content cu-prose-first-last\" style=\"flex: 0 0 100%;\">\n            <header class=\"font-light prose-xl cu-pageheader md:prose-2xl cu-component-updated cu-prose-first-last\">\n                                    <h1 class=\"cu-prose-first-last font-semibold !mt-2 mb-4 md:mb-6 relative after:absolute after:h-px after:bottom-0 after:bg-cu-red after:left-px text-3xl md:text-4xl lg:text-5xl lg:leading-[3.5rem] pb-5 after:w-10 text-cu-black-700 not-prose\">\n                        Modular Micros Zorba GC-200\n                    <\/h1>\n                \n                                \n                            <\/header>\n\n                    <\/div>\n\n            <\/div>\n\n    <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button is-style-fill\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/vintage-computing\/item\">Vintage Computing Collection<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"modular-micros-zorba-gc-200\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Modular Micros Zorba GC-200<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>[Vin101]<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/260\/PXL_20250618_175454923-scaled.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"400\" height=\"300\" src=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/260\/PXL_20250618_175454923-400x300.jpg\" alt=\"Modular Micros Zorba GC-200\" class=\"wp-image-21900\" srcset=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/260\/PXL_20250618_175454923-400x300.jpg 400w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/260\/PXL_20250618_175454923-160x120.jpg 160w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/260\/PXL_20250618_175454923-240x180.jpg 240w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/260\/PXL_20250618_175454923-768x577.jpg 768w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/260\/PXL_20250618_175454923-1536x1153.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/260\/PXL_20250618_175454923-2048x1538.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/260\/PXL_20250618_175454923-800x600.jpg 800w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/260\/PXL_20250618_175454923-360x270.jpg 360w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Manufacturer<\/strong>: Modular Micros<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Type<\/strong>: Luggable (portable) computer<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Release Date<\/strong>: 1983<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Cost at release<\/strong>: $1,595 (~$5,500 adjusted for inflation)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>MIPS<\/strong>: 0.1 (100 KIPS)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"hardware-specifications\" class=\"wp-block-heading\"><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\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>CPU<\/strong>: Zilog Z80A microprocessor running at 4MHz<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>RAM<\/strong>: 64K bytes<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>ROM<\/strong>: 4K bytes (expandable to 16K)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Screen<\/strong>: 7-inch green CRT monitor<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Resolution<\/strong>: 80 characters \u00d7 25 lines text-only display<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Graphics<\/strong>: 64 graphics characters available<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Floppy drives<\/strong>: Two internal 5.25-inch floppy disk drives with a capacity 410K bytes per drive<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Serial ports<\/strong>: 2 full asynchronous RS-232 ports<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Parallel port<\/strong>: 1 Centronics-compatible parallel port<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>IEEE-488 port<\/strong>: 1 IEEE-488 interface port<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Detachable 95-key keyboard<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"operating-system-programming-languages\" class=\"wp-block-heading\"><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}\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list marker:text-textOff list-disc\">\n<li><p class=\"my-0\"><strong>Operating System<\/strong>: CP\/M 2.2<\/p><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><p class=\"my-0\"><strong>Supported Languages<\/strong>:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>BASIC: Multiple BASIC interpreters and compilers were available for CP\/M<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Pascal: CP\/M Pascal implementations<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>COBOL: Business-oriented programming language<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>FORTRAN: Scientific and engineering applications<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>C: C compilers were available for CP\/M systems<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Assembly Language: Z80 assembly language programming<\/li>\n\n\n\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\n\n\n<h3 id=\"notables\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Notables<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\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\n\n\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\n\n\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\n\n\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\n\n\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\n\n\n<li><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Donated by<\/strong>: Arlen Michaels<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button is-style-fill\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/vintage-computing\/item\">Vintage Computing Collection<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\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":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":19704,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_cu_dining_location_slug":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"cu_page_type":[125,90,123],"class_list":["post-21896","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","cu_page_type-luggable","cu_page_type-vintage-computing","cu_page_type-vintage-inventory"],"acf":{"cu_post_thumbnail":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/21896","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21896"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/21896\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25061,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/21896\/revisions\/25061"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/19704"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21896"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"cu_page_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_page_type?post=21896"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}