The NEC PC-8201 is manufactured by Kyoto Ceramics, or Kyocera. The PC-8201 is a lightweight battery powered computer based on the CMOS 80C85 CPU from Intel.

There are variations of this machine under other brand names like the Tandy 100. The computer included an LCD screen with 40x8 characters, 16KByte of RAM that was expandable to 2 banks of 32K each, giving the machine a capacity of 64KByte RAM.

The machine also had an internal 300 baud modem, a redefinable screen character set and was capable of taking memory cartridges up to 128KByte in a special expansion slot. This enabled the machine to run software on ROM in addition to Tape and Disk.

There were 8 variants produced under different brand names. All but the Olivetti are built by Kyocera. Since Tandy had a better distribution network, these machines are more often found than the NEC or the Olivetti variants. All these machines shared the same architecture and design:

• NEC PC-8201
• NEC PC-8201A
• NEC PC-8300
• Tandy M100
• Tandy M102
• Tandy M200
• Kyocera KC85
• Olivetti M10

The Intel 8085 microprocessor is produced by Intel in 1976. It is software-binary compatible with the Intel 8080, with two instructions added to support the newly added interrupt and serial I/O features.

The CPU requires less support circuitry, allowing foa a simpler and less expensive production process. The "5" in the 8085 signifies the single +5 volt power supply that is needed to power the CPU. In comparison the 8080 needed +5V, -5V and +12V in order to run.

The 8085 uses a multiplexed address/data bus (AD0 through AD7). Intel introduced several support chips with this address latch built in, such as the 8155 RAM chip, and I/O chips. This architecture reduced the number of traces between the 8085 and supporting memory and I/O chips.

The Zilog Z80 eclipsed both the 8080 and the 8085 in capabilities and added instructions. But thanks to the built-in serial I/O and five prioritized interrupts, the Intel 8085 played a large role as a controller in many products.