David Mosier reports to us :
The name of the computer was Decision Mate V, not Decision V. It was referred to as the DMV (pronounced D M Five). It was designed and manufactured in the NCR plant in Augsburg, Germany, as were the three micro computers produced later (PC4, PC6 & PC8). It was NCR's first attempt at the micro-computer market and did not enjoy much success. Mostly it was used within NCR offices and sold to NCR employees for home use. I was told it's sales did better in Europe than in the US.
NCR was a cofounder, with Shugart Associates, of the SCSI standard. It was originally called SASI, Shugart Associates System Interface. NCR and Shugart changed the name to SCSI (Small Computer System Interface) and proposed it as a standard. The division of NCR that focused on SCSI has since been spun off to create Symbios.
After IBM introduced the PS/2, NCR switched their design and manufacturing from Augsburg, Germany to Clemson and Columbia, South Carolina. There they made both ISA and MicroChannel clones. NCR and IBM entered into a cross license agreement where NCR got access to all MicroChannel technology and IBM got all their SCSI from NCR.
Zachary Miller memories :
This is a computer with very fond memories for me. Early in my life (Roughly age 7) I was given one of these antiques because of my interest in electronics. This was my first computer, and the one I learned computers on and used for 5 years. It came with 128K of RAM standard, a 256K memory upgrade card (my version), and for the truly daring, a 512K expansion card. I had MS-DOS 2.0, CP/M-80, and CP/M-86, which appear to have been special versions, as I could not replace them when my MS-DOS and CP/M-86 diskettes were damaged (the time I stopped using it).
Unknown version, by Charles Rutledge :
There was an unknown (to the public) version of the Decision Mate V known as the Model "B" in use at the Repair Development Division at the World-Wide Service Parts Center in Peachtree City GA. Although the Decision Mate V was a shipping NCR product, we were not allowed to purchase any for use in our division. Yet just upstairs in the warehouse were all the spare parts to build one except for the cases. Since we in the Repair Development Division could "borrow" anything out of stock to aid us in developing test programs, it didn't take long for the engineers and supervisors to gather the necessary components to assemble their own Decision Mate V. Except for the case, since this was not a spare for the computer.
This, however, didn't stop anyone and the Model "B" born when the components were mounted inside a cardboard shipping box. On the outside of every Model "B", using a Sharpie marker, was Decision Mate V, Model - "B" -- where "B" stood for Box. These were in use in our division for about seven months before someone higher up noticed that it just might be a fire hazzard and allowed us to purchase the real unit, including the plastic case. But I will never forget the old Model "B" units.
About expansion slots, by David Paine :
It's interesting to note that you could simply insert upgrades into slots in the back of the computer. No need to take the case apart. Very easy to upgrade. As a Field Engineer for NCR, I had a customer who received an early unit without a hard drive, and I upgraded it to include the hard drive, adding the needed parts as well as some "duct tape and bubble-gum" here and there.
Also, its interesting to note that in probably the only TV and magazine advertising done at NCR, Dom Delouise was the spokesperson.
Rick Lugg reports:
The DecisionNet that is mentioned was a derivative of Corvus Omninet using NCR cards. I think it was a 2M bit link on twisted pair (I seem to remember making connections with phone wire). NCR also introduce a "server" called Modus that was a file server that provided shared files and folders for the DecisionNet users.
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