The K 1840 minicomputer is a clone of
VAX-11/780 from
Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC). The export of western
32-bit minicomputers to
Comecon countries was forbidden by the
CoCom technology embargo. Therefore one was developed locally, using
computer aided design (CAD) technology based on a 32-bit
computer architecture. The K 1840 is the first 32-bit computer of the M 32 VAX-compatible minicomputer line. Copies of VAX-11/7xx computers are known also from Czechoslovakia (CM 5152), Hungary (TPA-11/540, 560 and 580), Romania (CORAL 8730) and the Soviet Union (CM 1700). K 1840 has a maximum computing speed of 1.1
MIPS; it can access up to 16
MiB of main memory and up to 4 GiB of virtual memory. The first prototype with the essential core components was introduced in April 1987, and five more were built from then until September 1987. The new computer was presented to the public in October 1987. In 1988 it was awarded the
National Prize of the GDR, 1st class, and a gold medal at the
Leipzig spring fair. Production started in June 1988 and 217 machines were delivered at a price of 1.9 million
Mark up to 1990. While the K 1840 was under development, its successor (the K 1845, based on the
VAX-11/785) had already been conceived. The K 1845 was presented to the public at the Leipzig spring fair in 1990. It has a larger main storage capacity (up to 64 MiB) and can handle more bus adaptors and controllers than its predecessor. Twenty prototypes were built. A further successor was contemplated: the K 1850, with a performance of 6 MIPS, using
emitter-coupled logic (ECL) gate arrays. Robotron developed a copy of the
MicroVAX II called the
K 1820, which reaches approximately 90% of the performance of the K 1840. The K 1820 is fully compatible with the software of the K 1840, so that already-developed system and application software can be used. In mid-1990, production of the K 1840 and K 1845 and all development work stopped, because economical production was not feasible under free-market conditions resulting from the currency, economic and social union of East and West Germany on 1 July 1990, causing the collapse of Robotron's traditional markets in the
Soviet Union and
East Europe. There are K 1840s in the
Technische Sammlungen Museum in Dresden, in the
Konrad-Zuse-Computermuseum in
Hoyerswerda and in the
Computer History Museum in
Mountain View, California, US. == Notes ==