# Hackaday revisits 1975 Altair 8800 catalog that launched personal computing

> **Key takeaway:** A Hackaday writer reflects on the 1975 MITS 'Age of Altair' catalog, the machine that made personal computing conceivable for hobbyists.

**Published:** 2026-10-21T14:00:53+00:00 
**Source:** Hackaday Hardware 
**Category:** open-hardware 
**Canonical URL:** https://fosswire.org/news/hackaday-revisits-1975-altair-8800-catalog-that-launched-per.html 

## Summary
A Hackaday contributor recounts finding their original 1975 'The Age of Altair' catalog from MITS after more than 50 years. The article examines the Altair 8800's debut in the January 1975 Popular Electronics magazine, its Intel 8080 CPU running at 2 MHz with a misleading 500 kHz effective cycle time, the S-100 bus expansion system, and the steep pricing that put even basic configurations around $3,000—roughly $19,000 today. The piece also notes that Bitsavers has already scanned a better-preserved copy of the catalog.

## Altair 8800 hardware and pricing details
- **CPU**: Intel 8080 at 2 MHz, but effective throughput closer to 500 kHz due to multi-cycle instructions; a NOP took 2 microseconds
- **Bus**: S-100 bus in a card cage with four slots standard, expandable with additional backplanes
- **Memory options**: Fast static RAM (flip-flop based, expensive, lower capacity) or slower dynamic RAM (capacitor-based, required refresh cycles that stole CPU time)
- **Storage**: 256-byte static RAM board was $134 assembled; 4 kB dynamic RAM board was $338; cassette interface $174
- **Terminals**: Comter 256 with 32-character display and 256 bytes storage ($885); TeleType Model 33 ASR with paper tape at $1,500; cut-down 88-VLCT numeric keypad terminal at $169
- **Software**: 4K, 8K, and 12K Extended BASIC options; single-page 8080 instruction reference in binary