The Mattel Aquarius is classed as one of the shortest lived computers to go to market. According to Wikipedia the computer was released in June 1983 and discontinued in October 1983. Our unit is dated 1982, is labelled as “Workshop Test” and has serial number 130078 (no. 78), I suspect Read more…
The Jupiter ACE is a cheap home computer, designed to rival the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, and cost even less. In 1982 it cost £89.95, which is £340 in 2019 ($450). It is believes around 5,000 ACE computers were sold until Jupiter Cantab ceased trading. The ACE did not use BASIC Read more…
Grundy Business Systems built the NewBrain as a cheap and compact home computer.
The Video Genie EG3003 I version 1 was considered a clone of the Tandy TRS-80 Model I, though some hardware and software differences existed. They were built in Hong Kong by EACA. Most noticeably the Genie version 1 lacked a Clear and Tab key. These were later added in Genie Read more…
The Sinclair ZX81 was launched in March 1981. It had a Zilog 80 CPU running at 3.5MHz and a rather tiny 1k RAM with 901 Bytes available. This could be expanded up to 64k. The keyboard was touch-sensitive and was considered to be a big failing on userbility. Its one Read more…
The ZX Spectrum was prehaps the UK’s most successful 8-bit Microcomputers and was launched in April 1982. Much like the Commodore 64, it was small (very small), easy to use, your friends had one too, but most of all, it was the first home computer to cost under £100 (£99 Read more…
The Amstrad PCW9512 started life in 1987 as a Personal Computer aimed largely at word processing at home. It uses a Zilog 80 CPU running at 4MHz, 512k RAM. It was designed to run CP/M or CP/M+, booting from Amstrads standard 3″ 720k floppy drive. They sold for £499, which Read more…
The Osborne 1, built by the Osborne Computer Corporation, is considered to be the worlds first portable computer. It features a 5″ monitor, two 5 1/2″ floppy drives, Zilog 80 CPU and 64k RAM. It was designed to be rugged and compact. The first Osborne 1 was shipped in July Read more…
The Kaypro 2X is a portable computer from 1984. It uses a 4MHz Zilog 80 CPU and is was built to be reasonably rugged with its all-metal case. Its 9″ screen was a reasonable size for a portable machine, though all this made the computer suprisingly heavy, weighing 26lb (12kg). Read more…
The Sharp MZ-80K was one of the earliest attempts at combining the Computer, Monitor, Keyboard and Tape Cassette all into one unit. It uses a Zilog 80 CPU and has 48k RAM (~32k useable). It was popular in businesses but its high price kept it away from home users. The Read more…