The CBM 256-80 truely represents the top of the CBM-II line.
The stylishly curved
plastic case with detachable keyboard and built in monitor are a contrast to the
rest of the CBM-II models, giving it the "High Profile"
distinction.The CBM 256-80 HP is the big brother to the CBM 128-80 HP and was known as the CBM 720 in Europe. Like the other CBM-II models, the 256-80 has a full-sized qwerty keyboard, 80 column display, Commodore BASIC 4.0, RS232-C and IEEE-488 ports, and the ability to attach an optional 8088 or Z-80 coprocessor board. The CBM 256-80 HP has an ample 256K of banked memory, and the particular model in this collection was also lucky enough to include the 8088 coprocessor board for running MS-DOS programs. MS-DOS compatility was considered an important feature at the time, as IBM was just beginning to envelope the business computing world.
The CBM-II High profile machines, which include the CBM 128-80, 256-80, 710, and 720, could all be purchased with built-in disk drives. These drives are said to be 8050 compatible mechanisms.
CPU: MOS 6509
ROM: 24 Kilobytes
Ports: CSG 6551/6525x2/6526
Personal Note:I was astonished to finally get
my hands on this beauty from eBay
auctions. The seller of the 256-80 told me that it was non-functional. He was
wrong. Moreoever, this particular unit contains the EXTREMELY
rare 8088 daughterboard (pictured above).
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