North Star Horizon 8-bit S-100 bus personal computer manufactured by North Star Computers of Berkeley, California, and released in October 1977. The manufacturing label to the back is marked as “10-05814.” Purchased either in kit form or pre-assembled, the Horizon was one of the first computers to have built-in floppy drives, as well as being one of the first personal computers to have a hard disk drive. Housed in its walnut-stained plywood case, 20˝ x 7.5˝ x 17.5˝, the Horizon was suited for business, education, and software development applications, and ran on a Z-80 microprocessor that ran at 4 MHz. It contained 16 KB of RAM, which could be expanded to 64 KB and 1 KB of ROM. The machine had its own operating system, the North Star Disc Operating System, but it could also run CP/M, an early mass-market operating system. The consignor notes that the North Star Horizon has been tested to be in working order; RR Auction has not confirmed the functionality of the computer, which is in fine cosmetic condition, with some scuffs, marks, and toning to the wooden case.
Includes an early Xerox 1740 teleprinter (23˝ x 10˝ x 22˝) and a collection of over 100 5.25-inch floppy disks, with myriad annotated titles, such as “North Star to PC,” “CPM Development,” “Data Star,” “Write-Hand-Man,” and many more. Other accompaniments include reference guides for WordStar, Microsoft BASIC-80, and Zenith Data Systems, a SuperCalc reference card, an August 1979 North Star Computers product catalog, and a vintage North Star Computers advertisement.
North Star (later Northstar) developed from a computer store called ‘Kentucky Fried Computer,’ which was ultimately forced to change its name due to impending litigation by Kentucky Fried Chicken. The company's first product, a Floating Point Math Board for S-100 computers, was followed by the development of an inexpensive floppy drive system. This led the way to the Horizon, one of the first computers to offer built-in floppy drives, with customers being given the option to order one or two 90 KB 5 ¼" drives. Northstar was also one of the first machines to offer a hard disk drive, which was called an HD-18, and had 18 megabytes on an 18˝ platter. With one floppy drive, the kit cost $1,599, while an assembled system cost $1,899; with two drives, the kit cost $1,999, while an assembled system cost $2,349.
