Hardware Overview

The NEC Advanced Personal Computer (APC) consists of a Main Unit and a Keyboard. The Main Unit houses the Central Processing Unit (CPU), memory, visual display, sound output, and peripheral controllers. It is available in models with Monochrome or Color CRT Displays and one or two 8-inch Flexible Disk Drives (FDDs). Options and accessories enhance performance or adapt the APC for special applications.

The Main Unit contains two main PCBs: a Processor PCB and a Controller PCB, which plug into a mother board interface bus. The Processor PCB includes the microprocessor, memory, DMA controller, interrupt controller, and keyboard/printer interfaces. The Controller PCB includes CRT display control, FDD control, sound programming, and serial communications adapters.