NEC PC-8300, “It’s dead Birt!”. A dead power supply and NEC PC-8201A comparison

In this video we take a look at an NEC PC-8300 and compare it to its older brother the PC-8201A. These two NEC ‘slabtop’ computers are part of the line made by Kyocera that began with the TRS-80 Model 100. We’ll see how the two siblings compare to their granddaddy the Model 100 and what was changed over the years.

Then we’ll investigate the dead power supply of the PC-8300 and see if we can coax it back to life. To complicate matters there is no schematic or service manual available for the PC-8300. The closest one is the manual for the PC-8201A which is quite different in some areas. Can we breathe new life into this 30-year-old portable computer? Join us and find out.

Timeline:
01:29 – Exterior Comparison
04:51 – Disassembly
11:06 – PCB Comparison
12:36 – PC-8300 Repair
24:57 – Testing
30:35 – Wrap up

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Credits
Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported— CC BY 3.0

[garyweber]

Great video, Birt. I'm glad you're out there supporting folks that end up with non-working Kyocera laptops! :)
---Gary Weber (Web8201)

[minombredepila]

Very nice video Birt!. Hope to have the opportunity to get one of these (a bit jealous here). Waiting for the next one :-)

[breadbaker]

I really like the port covers. All unused ports on any of my devices should have those.

[wimwiddershins]

These are nice little machines. Great stuff Sir!

[Fezzler]

It has memory cartridges and a video cartridge/CRT adapter. I have both. The memory cartridges act as additional Banks and have memory protect switches just like Bank #2 on the unit.

[cliffroesli]

Finding the obvious is not always obvious .. good job

[DavidPlass]

I thought for sure you'd ditch the RF shield like Adrian likes to do! Great debugging here.

[alerey]

Aha! I noticed your ruler at the bottom of the desktop it's a dual (bothe metric and imperial) one; nice subtle message to the folks that were complaining in the other video lol

[kai]

what are those gatorade chips used for?

[transistorbaluba]

is Birt dead? ;-) comma is your friend..