Chris Pringle wrote:
>
> Wow, I never knew any of that.
> So, can you still buy 8088s?

Sure. Jameco, for one, has them for $2.95/5 Mhz and
$5.95/8 Mhz if you need a screamer  :)

> And, if so, what can they do?  Do you need
> EPROMS for memory?

Yes, you need external memory RAM/PROM/whatever.

> Can they be used in the same way as a PIC can?

Sort of - A PIC is a stand-alone computer on a chip.
8088 is a processor only - You need external memory, clock,
i/o, ...  All included on board microcontrollers like Pix.

I notice they also have from the same era, 8085 & 80C85 -
The processor used in the original laptops of yore, the
Tandy/NEC/Kyocera/Olivetti/...
8085s are fun to play with, and believe it or not still
have some serious uses because it's relatively "rad-hard".
The Mars Rover used one as a controller, for instance.
I use a NEC laptop for debugging - It's got a nice async
serial port and a big display, runs 20+ hours on a set of
batteries - One of these days I'm going to get ambitious
and set it up as a PIC pgmr. (Tracy Allen has probably
already done it :)

regards, Jack

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