Peripheral Expansion System
& Expansion Cards

In January of 1982 Texas Instruments announces the release of the Peripheral Expansion Box (PEB). This was to replace the sidecar peripherals which were quite unwieldy, and could take up a LOT of desk space.

When first released the PEB was in short supply, and rather expensive. To get a PEB with a disk controller, SSSD disk drive, RS232 card, and 32K of memory cost almost $1500. Later through clubs and such the above system could be purchased in the $400 to $500 range.

There were 8 slots which you could plug in expansion cards, but one slot was needed for the flex cable interface which is the card that used a large cable, known as the "Fire Hose" to connect the PEB to the console.

These are heavy duty systems, built to last, and there are many expansion cards available for them, including cards still being developed today!

There were two PEB's produced, but they just had subtle differences. As can be seen in the above picture the PEB on the left is an older model and has a square push-button type switch. The model on the right, which is the later model, has a rocker type switch. Also some of the text on the boxes are different.

The pictures below show the PEB's from the back. As can be seen the older PEB (top) has much taller card holders. Also notice that the older PEB has an external fuse which is easy to replace. To see where they hid the fuse on the newer models go here.

Though there were a few small differences both the PEB's can be used interchangeably.