Restoring an extremely rare, Belgian DAI PC (Part 1) 

The more I see of your work and your projects (like the Agon), the more admiration and respect I have for what you do. Your aims are admirable and I think you are doing a great job. Loved the video, and am enjoying watching the preservation of this very rare machine

From 1979-1992 I worked for computer shop in North London, UK (Da Vinci computers) and the DAI was one of the machines I evaluated for our store to sell. The hardware was good, but VERY expensive. Apparently it was designed by some engineers who worked for Texas Instruments. As the design was 'rushed' the prototype machine was developed with the Intel 8080 , and the plan was to replace the 8080 with a more modern and slightly more powerful z80, but this did not happen. I evaluated the machine for a few weeks and then sent it back to the importer. It had a very powerful, semi-compiling BASIC and a math co-processor from AMD. The graphics were superb and fast. However it was FAR too expensive and there was no hardware expansion and pretty much ZERO software. Stephen Walters G7VFY.

Every once in a while I run across a machine I've never seen before. This is always a treat!

There is a nice "Mensch, ärgere Dich nicht!" game for the DAI.

Wow - just found this channel from the Hackaday Q1 page. I've got a DAI that's been in storage in the UK since 1990 when I went to University. Just rescued it - along with the disc drives! (Was all working when put into storage - not been switched on for 30+ years...) Will definitely watch this series for inspiration!

The case looks really fantastic, great work.

Oh, that case is beautiful. I like the idea of using the wax to preserve the 303. How often would the museum need to reapply this treatment?

Awesome!

9:40 for jobs like that, I like using a nylon spudger. That way you don't have to worry about gouging or scratching the plastic underneath the adhesive.

The DAI had in 1980 a JIT (just-in-time) BASIC to bytecode compiler in stead of a BASIC interpreter, a technique that was later popularized by Java (HotSpot) in 1999.

I should give mine some TLC too, going to get through your videos first ;)

That brings back some memories. One of the teachers at my school had one and I was allowed to play with it at lunch times, even though it was in the sixth form building and I was a lowly fifth year. It was the first computer I used with not only colour, but also graphics. It was far better than the three other computers at my school, an RML-380Z (the machine I used the most where I had to load basic from tape), a TRS-80 and a PET.

I had a few DAI mini cassettes at one point, but I can't find any picture/video of the way these tapes were used on the DAI. It has no built in drive like the P2000T. Is it in one of your other video's? Was it an automatic device as well, with computer controlled loading/searching/indexing?