This computer arrived in the collection almost by chance. While having a chat at the hairdresser's, one of the customers had an "old computer" to sell. The asking price was very high, while the value of this computer is very low, so I decided to negotiate the price decisively and the seller accepted. The Frael King computer is in excellent condition, equipped with a Mitsumi KPQ-E84YC keyboard and Philips BM7502/00G green phosphor monitor.
Frael King
The Frael King is an entry-level desktop, but really entry! It seems it was delivered to the students of the computer course of the 2F School, so it was not sold directly by the manufacturer. Although Frael is an Italian company, the Frael King computer was produced by Frael Asia in Taiwan.
The example in my possession is from 1989. For a computer from those years... it has rather simple characteristics, when compared to the computers available at that time. Consider that the Frael King is equipped with an NEC V20 processor (μPD70108), compatible with the Intel 8088. In that same year, Intel began producing the 486!
I had compared the performance of vintage CPUs with each other and with modern ones in this video/article.
Startup screen
The computer starts with the following texts:
FRAEL KING BIOS ver 3.40
Copyright 1989 FRAEL CO., LTD.
IMAGE POSITIVE
Runs diagnostic tests and counts all 512 KB of RAM. Then load the software on the 720 KB diskette.
Technical characteristics of the Frael King vintage computer
CPU: NEC V20 (μPD70108), 16 bit, 8 MHz
RAM: 512 KB
ROM: 128 KB (contiene il POST = Power On Self Test e il BIOS = Basic Input-Output System)
Graphics: Integrated CGA graphics card, with 8-pin round connector (composite video) and RF connector for TV
Text mode: 80 columns x 20 rows
Graphics mode: 640 x 200 pixels
Audio: beep
Keyboard: external 5-pole DIN
Accompanying software: computer course of the 2F School, containing the MS DOS version 3.30 operating system
Storage media: n. 1 internal floppy disk drive, 3.5″, 720 KB
Expansion ports, internal:
- N. 2 ISA 8 bit expansion ports on riser card
- There are some empty sockets, probably you can expand the RAM and add more features, but I haven't found any documentation about it.
Expansion ports, external:
- 5-pole DIN keypad
- Other 5-pole DIN connector with unknown functionality
- Parallela DB 25 poli (Centronics)
- 9-pole DB connector for TTL monitors
- 8-pole round composite video connector
- RF connector
There is also a switch that allows you to select the type of monitor: TTL or PAL TV.
Dimensions: 28.5 x 36 x 8.5 cm. Weight to measure.
Emulation
The Frael King boots with MS DOS operating system. It is possible to emulate the MS-DOS environment with DOSBox (although DOSBox is an emulator for x86 systems).
Power supply
The Frael King personal computer power supply is inside the computer. On the back of the computer, there is the IEC C14 power connector, where you can connect the mains power cable. My example is powered by 230 V alternating current 50 Hz.
The voltages generated, in direct current, are:
- 5V
- 12V
The power switch is on the back of the computer, just below the power connector.
Date of entry into the collection: 09/16/2023