Digital VAX Mouses

d i g i t a l

In better light you can see that the middle button on the left mouse had an indentation to distinguish it by feel. The right mouse has ridges on its left and right buttons. It's middle button is smooth. These nearly true hockey-puck sized mouses pre-date the round iMac mouse by a dozen years.

two round DEC computer mice
Left is Model No. VSXXX-AA and right is Model No. VSXXX-AA.CO3

The bottoms of the digital mouses >

the round plugs have seven pins Both have a plug that is not a PS/2 although it looks similar. This round mini-DIN has seven pins and a plastic block in the middle. Three pins are in one row, a pin on either side of the block, and two pins on the side with the indentations in the metal ring.

This Digital (DEC) VSXXX-AA three-button mouse was taken in working order from a DECstation 5000. Lettering on back is inscribed into the plastic (S/N) B021001127 fcc ID AO994Q VSXXX-AA.

Hawley DEC Mouse

The VSXXX-AA.CO3 three Button Mouse is labeled FCC ID AO994QVSXXX-AA.
Note that is says HAWLEY TM
and look on the back to see that it has two rollers instead of a ball.>

I found out about VAX on the Digital website, which has been preempted by the Compaq site. Digital was bought by Compaq. When I got the Apollo Computer, Inc. keyboard I learned that Hewlett-Packard had bought out Apollo in 1989. Now they say Compaq is merging with HP. Got that?

But I digress. VAX (Virtual Address eXtension) was introduced in 1977 by Digital. VAX computers range from 32-bit desktop personal computers to mainframes. Cross platform use of their VMS operating system accounts for their success during the 80s. They also make use of prior systems with PDP emulation.

The bottoms of Digital mouses >