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IMSAI 8080 Replica
AKA IMSAI8080ESP
This page is all about the IMSAI-8080-ESP (mine pictured above), a replica designed and manufactured to look exactly (at
least from the front) like an original IMSAI 8080 mid-70's personal computer. They are produced as a kit for a very reasonable
price. You can check it out HERE. They are of course not as deep (front to back) and for sure not nearly as heavy, but the front
panel is spot on! Viewing the photo above (click on it for a larger photo) one would be hard pressed to differentiate this replica
from the real thing I think.
Now a little bit about the actual IMSAI computers...
This particular computer model made a great movie 'star'... anyone who has seen the movie War Games remembers the super cool IMSAI 8080 computer system in Matthew Broderick's character David Lightman's bedroom, which had a voice synthesizer, disk drives, a phone modem, and nice monitor and keyboard setup. I'm betting many early computer enthusiasts pulled out their computer or electronics magazine copies and checked the ads to see how much these beautiful computers were and where they could get one (if they hadn't already oggled them in the magazine ads). Later in my life I came to really appreciate these old relics of the early 'personal computer' era and started hunting for one just to see what I could find. It wasn't long until I realized they had gone so far up in value as collector items they were still out of my reach price wise. There were other less known brands that more or less cloned the capabilities of the IMSAI or Altair computers (I believe the IMSAI was actually a clone of the Altair 8800). But nobody ever matched the cool looks if the IMSAI in my opinion.
There is way more info available about the IMSAI8080's but I really don't need to duplicate the fine efforts of others. You can find all you want to know about them using your choice of search engine.
Imagine my delight when I discovered more recently that someone was producing a replica of sorts of the IMSAI 8080, and for a very reasonable price! I immediately purchased one and patiently waited to receive it from the UK maker. I received it in a reasonable time and assembled it right away. The kit was amazing, a work of art in itself. It made assembly easier that if it had just been a box or bag of parts... VERY well done. You probably won't see a kit design like this anywhere else. Anyway, it worked right away once everything was together and set up.
Instead of actual hardware peripherals to plug into the back of the computer (like in the movie) there are a set of virtual peripherals all available via WIFI on a webpage at the IP address of the ESP module. It's a fun experience using this thing once you have it all assembled and working.
There are newer additions to the replica that allow actual hardware to be connected to it... just check out these website pages:
VT-132
S-132
Now a little bit about the actual IMSAI computers...
This particular computer model made a great movie 'star'... anyone who has seen the movie War Games remembers the super cool IMSAI 8080 computer system in Matthew Broderick's character David Lightman's bedroom, which had a voice synthesizer, disk drives, a phone modem, and nice monitor and keyboard setup. I'm betting many early computer enthusiasts pulled out their computer or electronics magazine copies and checked the ads to see how much these beautiful computers were and where they could get one (if they hadn't already oggled them in the magazine ads). Later in my life I came to really appreciate these old relics of the early 'personal computer' era and started hunting for one just to see what I could find. It wasn't long until I realized they had gone so far up in value as collector items they were still out of my reach price wise. There were other less known brands that more or less cloned the capabilities of the IMSAI or Altair computers (I believe the IMSAI was actually a clone of the Altair 8800). But nobody ever matched the cool looks if the IMSAI in my opinion.
There is way more info available about the IMSAI8080's but I really don't need to duplicate the fine efforts of others. You can find all you want to know about them using your choice of search engine.
Imagine my delight when I discovered more recently that someone was producing a replica of sorts of the IMSAI 8080, and for a very reasonable price! I immediately purchased one and patiently waited to receive it from the UK maker. I received it in a reasonable time and assembled it right away. The kit was amazing, a work of art in itself. It made assembly easier that if it had just been a box or bag of parts... VERY well done. You probably won't see a kit design like this anywhere else. Anyway, it worked right away once everything was together and set up.
Instead of actual hardware peripherals to plug into the back of the computer (like in the movie) there are a set of virtual peripherals all available via WIFI on a webpage at the IP address of the ESP module. It's a fun experience using this thing once you have it all assembled and working.
There are newer additions to the replica that allow actual hardware to be connected to it... just check out these website pages:
VT-132
S-132
This is a photo of the way the kit
looked - the larger parts had punched
'cutouts' that held each part in its
place and the smaller parts were in
the anti-static bag. the board was in
its space also and the shipping box
was just large enough for the case
(which everything fit within). It shipped
well with no damage to anything.
This photo of the rear of the completed unit
shows the microcontroller and ports as well
as the attachment to the cover. The switches
and LED's are soldered in on the other side of
the board. There was even a jig to get the
LED's in perfect alignment while soldering!
Here is a screen photo of the web
interface of the ESP32 microcontroller
board which communicates with your
network via WIFI. The icons shown are
the virtual peripherals, disks, disk drives,
manual and remote control panel. The
background is an exploded diagram of
the original IMSAI 8080 case.
Here's a shot of just the face of the 8080. Please
excuse the reflections (and fingerprints)... it's hard to
get a good shot of this with the really reflective
plexiglass face. But at any rate, you can see how well
this thing duplicates the look of the original!
If you would like to see some blinky lights you can click
here to see a demo a couple of tests of the 8080esp,
straight out of the original IMSAI manual, keyed in by the
designer of this computer.