This mini forum is intended to provide a simple means of discussion about the ADDS Mentor 2000 computer. If you want to share your own experience or memories, or add relevant information about this system: post a message!

EDP
I came out of the army after years service at 31 in 1974 with the word COMPUTER going through my head. I talked the Government into starting resettlement courses with CDI in Computer Engineering. After this course I went to work for ICL in Bracknell, but by 1980 ICL’s expansion dealings with Singer made me feel uncomfortable as the word redundancy was being spoken about. I approached an agency saying “I would like a job in the area or in South Yorkshire where I come from.”
The response was the offer of the Northern Regional Managers position with a company in Sheffield. I said “Hold on a minute, I am only a in house system maintenance engineer.” The Agency said “That is what we told the Managing Director and his response was does he want the job or not” I left ICL and joined Richard Jowitt in Sheffield. I was the only employee in the company with an engineering title.
The day I arrived Richard told me he was going round the world to look for a computer to ut into small businesses. He came back a week later and told me I was going to ADDS on Long Island, New York for a week to learn about the Mentor Computer.
Initially until I could recruit more engineers I was living with my parents in Doncaster Tuesday to Thursday handling work in the North and being with my wife and children Friday to Monday handling southern problems.
The Northern Regional Manager was more like the Northern Hemisphere Manager.
In 2002 I left the company which by then had ten repair centres.
I was talking to Richard in 2000 and I told him that I had eight years left before retirement but I could not see computer repair engineering lasting that long. The throwaway society was approaching.
I was elected as a DMBC Councillor in 1998, I took redundancy from EDP and carried on as a full time Councillor.
Monty

Great compute and great OS PICK I had been using in post-USSR ministry of Foreign Trade and the experience with MENTOR machine was quite bright and powerful in terms of massive level-up in programming with BASIC for the enormous database of spare parts, invoices, accounting records and entry data forms we used on ASCII RS232 terminals which allow pseudo-graphics to make nice windows and entry screeens. I will remember these magic times for the rest of my life as the most productive in my programmer career. Later I bacame the CFO of RUssia in a multinational company in Mining and I still cherish and respect the Great Effort which MENTOR designers and engineers made for us to be more than happy and successful users of this GEM. Cheers to all the super-team of ADDS guys - who will be forever remembered in our country. I realize that computers of today maybe are much top gear etc. While old stuff like MENTOR and PICK will never be beaten by new HI-Tech. We people of 90s will always trust in real gear. Cheers to all folks who like MENTOR and PICK!! Br Oleg

I worked at EDP in Sheffield and then Milton Keynes from about 1986 to 1989. I worked for Alan Lees who is mentioned in another post. I repaired all the various ADDS systems supplied and eventually supervised the repair center eventually...

I loved programming in PICK. Nothing else like it. Taught me about data structures and objects long before that was even a thing, it just made sense.

I was the Technical Director of the Spain reseller for ADDS Computers since 1985 to 1992. In summer of 1986 I meet with an Engineer from EDP U.K called Alan Lees at Lisboa (Portugal) for the M2500 training course.This M2500 system was an excellent computer, very noble and powerful. I can say that M2500 was the best system for Pick O.S. in 80´s decade at Spain. Around 1990 were substituted by NCR/AT$T Tower 200,400 y 600 series with the name Mentor 6000 series. Same hardware but different O.S. Unix for Tower an Pick for mentor.
M2500 brings back good memories, unfortunately disappeared, however I keep an old M6000 that I´m sure that will startup. Regards.

ADDS Mentor was a joy to work with $ Pick OS was revised and was fast. The late, great Eugene Nathan Johnson was a fan. Prime took the fun away too soon thereafter, but the Mentor was always the sweet one. Standing next to the "fridge" with terminal on top was a happy working height. I remember this was a good looking box in black matte. I''d love to have one to play with again.

In 1980, I was the principle software engineer at ADDS responsible for the porting project that became MENTOR - the prototypes were called Epsilon, I have 1 of 6 that were made with all the original engineering documents and source code (hasn''t seen power for about 20 years) - the Mentor was soon numbered the 4000 as smaller and larger configurations were offered (3000, 5000, 6000). I had left for Altos before they did the later Mentors. Sorry to hear Neil''s has died (and what a way to go).

I found lots of these computers in an abandoned house basment, it was really weired to see! I took one home plugged it in and the powersuppliy blow lol, still kept it though.

Just found this site again, forgot I had sent these pictures in a while ago!

Well the M2000 has finally gone to heaven. About a year ago there was a significant fire in the garage where it lived (it didnt cause it though!) and everything including the garage was gutted.

It had stopped working a while beforehand, but I couldnt permit myself to throw it out because it couldnt have been fixed.

Glad to see its still alive on here though.
Thanks, and keep up the good work!

Kind Regards,
Neil Boulton.