Epson Geneva PX-8 Portable Computer

The Epson Geneva in my collection is in excellent working condition with most of the original manuals and other items from the packaging (with the exception of the packaging itself and the main users manual.)

Cosmetically the machine is just about perfect with the possible exception of the keyboard cover which is slightly discolored, perhaps from manufacturing impurities.

The machine in the collection comes complete with the modem option which is a wedge shaped addition to the bottom rear of the case. Besides providing slow dial-up connectivity it has the added advantage of propping the keyboard up at a more comfortable angle.

The Geneva uses micro-cassettes for data storage and pre-programmed ROMs for most applications including BASIC and CP/M.

(Submitted December 6, 2007 18:00:12 by Ron Legro)

Bought one from DAK for about 300 bucks in the late '80s. Used it a lot on the road and acquired many cheap program modules including Wordstar and Dbase. Eventually the machine died; probably a bad battery. It's in my closet. I like the keyboard feel, the fact that you could also use the microcassette drive as a voice recorder and the accompanying printer. Sweet for its era.

(Submitted January 3, 2007 07:59:39 by Paolo V. De Vito)

I had in the Rome office two Epson Geneva PX-8 bought in the US since summer 1984 and I used them extensively to prepare documents. One of the two units was subsequently equipped with an additional RAM disk, which was attached to the bottom of the unit (like in the picture of the unit above a P - 80 thermal paper printer). I still keep them and the manuals. I should have also the thermal printer and the external 3.5' floppy drive somewhere in the cellar. Great machine for the time even if I thought its price was more than 1,800 USDlrs per unit. Good to know that there are people interested in these old computers which were the ancestors of our lap-top. I still keep all my PCs I had since 1984 because are part of my life.

(Submitted January 2, 2007 23:32:45 by Diana)

I have a PX8, bought new in 1985. Still works, even after virtually living in a truck for 5 years- it was a gas having mobile word processing capabilities while my employer was still stuck with typewriters in their office.

(Submitted October 16, 2006 08:25:53 by Derek Etnyre)

I have one of these that I purchased on ebay. I'm looking for one of the elusive disk drives. If anyone has a disk drive for the PX-8 they would like to sell, please let me know.

(Submitted October 9, 2006 16:51:38 by Rich F)

I've got one of these too. I bought it from DAK. I also have the Seikosha pin printer.

I'll have to dig it out one if these days.

(Submitted October 5, 2006 12:29:25 by Calvin Rey)

Although this Epson is a different model, I have an Epson Notebook 4SLC/33 with carry case that I'd like to get rid of. Is anybody interested? Email me at calvinrey@netzero.com

(Submitted July 23, 2006 08:51:25 by malac)

Just to know if u still have 't for sale. i wll like u to send the full picx to me. and i wll also want to know the last price r u going to sale 't. and were is 't now. i am interested in buying it , i wll like to hear from you as soon as possible. ,

Thank,

Malac

(Submitted May 22, 2006 14:33:43 by nick steffanoff)

Since you have a PX-8 (I had one) y9u might know of a source for batteries for the HX-20. I'd appreciate reference to any battery sources.

(Submitted August 1, 2005 13:00:44 by Lawrence Lowell)

I had one in 1987 . It was origanally sold on the Home Shopping Channel. I was working at a store that bought merchandise returned by customers. THe store received 3 of them and the owner of the store only wanted one of them. The person who checked them out kept one for himself and gave me one. Lasted a couple of years before moisture got into it and destroyed it. I had fun with it .

(Submitted March 23, 2005 09:40:58 by Joshua Hobbs)

Oh wow! What memories. In 8th grade my parents bought me one of these from a DAK catalog. It was my first computer.

(Submitted February 22, 2005 04:56:57 by james corral)

I bought one of these in 84' and used it to keep expenses and payroll on for my small electical contracting business. This little baby took all I could give with never a problem. I traveled all over the country with it and would keep every thing on the little cassettes then print out every thing when I returned. It was sold by mistake at a garage sale in the late 90's. Damn :-)

(Submitted September 27, 2004 06:24:00 by Jos van der Geest)

Hello

I need some information about type of diskdrive for the Epson PX-8

gr Jos

(Submitted August 5, 2004 19:07:05 by Jim Littlefield)

Ah...he machines I lusted after in my youth! I now own two, one with a full documentation set, modem, ROMS, soft shoulder case, external floppy drive, etc. Rarely used but always fun to take out and look! The things ran forever on a battery charge...regret that I have forgotten almost all of my Wordstar commands. Thanks for pictures!

Description
Manufacturer	Epson
Model	Geneva PX-8
Date Announced	1984
Date Canceled	Unknown
Number Produced	Unknown
Country of Origin	Japan
Price	$995.00
Current Value	$10-$100

Specifications
Processor	CMOS Z80
Speed	4 MHz
RAM	64K
ROM	32K
Storage	Built-in micro cassette, Optional external 3.5 floppy drive, optional "RAM disk"
Expansion	Add-ons for RAM disk, modem, printer, etc.
Bus	Proprietary "serial" bus
Video	480x64 pixel LCD screen (built-in)
I/O	RS-232, Serial (bus), Parallel
OS Options	CP/M

Notes	The Epson was a neat little portable with tons of features. The plug-in application ROMs were a good idea in theory, but somewhat cumbersome in practice. The CP/M operating system, modified for the Geneva architecture, was probably implemented a few years too late. Competition with Tandy and PC compatible "notebooks" eventually killed the machine.

Related Items in Collection	P-80 thermal printer, "Modem unit," most of the original manuals and paperwork except for the "Operations Manual" containing the CP/M, BASIC and system references. Four ROMs (BASIC, Wordstar, Calc/Scheduler, UTY (utility?)). The older Epson Lap top, the Epson HX-20.
Related Items Wanted	External disk drive(s), Operations manual, additional ROMs.