LGR - Epson Apex 100 PC from 1989 (Patreon)

Greetings folks! Got a lovely retro computer to share with you today. I know, I know, uncharacteristic coming from me but I figured I'd shake things up...

All right so, sure, the Apex 100 is "just" a Turbo XT clone from thirty years ago, but I genuinely do enjoy this one. The Epson Apex line was sold right alongside the Epson Equity in the late 80s, but it were intentionally designed to be worse than the Equity series. The idea was to offer a low cost PC to sell in the wider retail marketplace, but not compete with their own higher-specced Equity machines. And that kind of business model amuses me.

Also amusing are all the thoughtful design touches here, like front-mounted DIP switches, a hideaway keyboard connection, rubber standing feet on one side, a combination CGA/Hercules/joystick card, and the optional RGB monitor that also emulates green phosphor monochrome. Among several other things too, this is just a nifty little setup despite its designed-by-committee mediocrity.

Thanks once again to Nick for donating this a while back! You all might remember seeing this in the October 2018 unboxing video and yep, took longer than anticipated but I've finally gotten around to covering it. 2019 has absolutely flown by and it is unsettling.

Enjoy the video!