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| Make | Model | CPU | Speed | RAM | Screen | Storage | Price | Magazine(s) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Science of Cambridge | MK14 | SC/MP | 4MHz | 256B | 8 digit LED | Room for more RAM, but no storage | £39.95 | PCW • Feb 1978 pg. 8, PCW • May 1978 pg. 10, PCW • Mar 1979 pg. 25, PCW • May 1979 pg. 23, PCW • Aug 1979 pg. 35, PCW • Sep 1979 pg. 52, PCW • Mar 1980 pg. 94, PCW • Apr 1980 pg. 63 | Self assembly kit with hex keypad. |
| Newbear | 77-68 | 6800 | 1Mhz | 256B | Front panel with switches and LEDs | Cassette deck | ~£50 | PCW • Feb 1978 pg. 16, PCW • Jan 1979 pg. 19, PCW • Nov 1979 pg. 82 | A kit of parts. |
| Lynx Electronics | NASCOM I | Z80 | 4MHz | 2KB | TV | Cassette deck | £226.90 | PCW • Feb 1978 pg. 20, PCW • Feb 1978 pg. 24, PCW • Apr 1979 pg. 26, PCW • May 1979 pg. 59, PCW • Jun 1979 pg. 51, PCW • Jun 1979 pg. 55, PCW • Jul 1979 pg. 74, PCW • Aug 1979 pg. 67, PCW • Dec 1979 pg. 61, PCW • May 1980 pg. 88, PCW • Jun 1980 pg. 60 | Kit computer. Lynx is a subsidiary of North American Semiconductor (US-based). |
| CASU Limited | SUPER C System | Z80 | 4Mhz | 32KB | VDU terminal | 500KB 8" floppy disk | £6950 | PCW • Feb 1978 pg. 29 | VDU (Visual Display Unit) terminal not included in the price. |
| SWTP | 6800 | 6800 | 24KB | VDU terminal | 2 x 600KB 8" floppy disks | £4900 | PCW • May 1978 pg. 36, PCW • May 1978 pg. 42, PCW • Feb 1979 pg. 34, PCW • Aug 1979 pg. 39 | Flex DOS. Price is approximate depending on configuration. | |
| EXTEL | Microfile | IMP-16 | 32KB | VDU terminal | 2 x 312KB 8" PerSci floppy disks | £6500 | PCW • May 1978 pg. 38 | Commercial 16KB BASIC. | |
| Commodore | PET 2001 | 6502 | 1Mhz | 4KB | Monochrome monitor 40x25 | Cassette deck | £600 | PCW • May 1978 pg. 44, PCW • Aug 1979 pg. 57, PCW • Oct 1979 pg. 48, PCW • Oct 1979 pg. 52, PCW • Mar 1980 pg. 59, PCW • May 1980 pg. 91, PCW • May 1980 pg. 132, PCW • Jun 1980 pg. 98 | 8KB Microsoft BASIC 1.0 in ROM. |
| Research Machines | RML 380Z | Z80 | 4Mhz | 32KB | TV or VDU | One or two cassette decks | £1400 | PCW • May 1978 pg. 47, PCW • Apr 1979 pg. 37, PCW • May 1979 pg. 67, PCW • May 1979 pg. 72 | 8KB BASIC. |
| Processor Technology | Sol Terminal Computer SOL-20 | 8080A | 2Mhz | 8KB | 64 x 16 | Cassette deck | PCW • Jul 1978 pg. 38, PCW • Sep 1978 pg. 5, PCW • Jun 1979 pg. 71 | BASIC/5; S100 bus. | |
| MOS Technology Inc. | KIM-1 | 6502 | 1Mhz | 1KB | 6 x 7 segment LEDs; also supports VDU output 32 x 16 uppercase | Cassette deck | PCW • Aug 1978 pg. 24, PCW • Apr 1979 pg. 21 | Tiny BASIC supported with 4KB RAM expansion; 15 minute load time. | |
| Tandy Corporation | TRS-80 Model I | Z80 | 1.774Mhz | 4KB-48KB | 64 x 16 monochrome | Cassette deck; 5¼" 85KB (later 180KB) floppy disk drives | $599 4KB; $899 16KB; $2385 16KB + disk drive + Level 2 BASIC; $3874 32KB + 2 disk drives + line printer | PCW • Aug 1978 pg. 44, PCW • Sep 1978 pg. 7, PCW • Sep 1978 pg. 26, PCW • Oct 1978 pg. 24, PCW • Jan 1979 pg. 33, PCW • Feb 1979 pg. 44, PCW • May 1979 pg. 54, PCW • Aug 1979 pg. 55, PCW • May 1980 pg. 4 | 4KB ROM Level I BASIC (based on Tiny BASIC); from mid-1978, 12KB ROM Level II BASIC (Microsoft)—this needed disk drive and expansion bus. |
| Apple | Apple II | 6502 | 1Mhz | 16KB | TV or VDU 40 x 24; 280 x 192 x 6 colors; 40 x 48 x 16 colors | Cassette deck; 5¼" 113KB (later 140KB) floppy disk drives | £1250 (£1520 including TV and cassette deck) | PCW • Aug 1978 pg. 50, PCW • Sep 1978 pg. 9, PCW • Jan 1979 pg. 67, PCW • Jun 1979 pg. 67, PCW • Jul 1979 pg. 65, PCW • Sep 1979 pg. 36, PCW • Mar 1980 pg. 51 | ROM Integer BASIC; Applesoft Extended BASIC (Microsoft) |
| North Star Computers | Horizon | Z80A | 4Mhz | 16KB | VDU 80 x 24 | 5¼" 90KB floppy disk drives | 1 disk drive (Horizon I) £1275; 2 disk drives (Horizon II) £1550 | PCW • Sep 1978 pg. 6, PCW • Aug 1979 pg. 23, PCW • Aug 1979 pg. 57 | S100 bus; North Star DOS with Extended BASIC; Optional CP/M which includes CBASIC, Microsoft Extended BASIC, MAC macro assember, Microsoft COBOL-80 and Fortran-80. |
| Exidy | Sorcerer | Z80 | 2Mhz | 32KB | TV or VDU 64 x 30; 512 x 240 | Cassette deck and cartridge slots | £950 | PCW • Nov 1978 pg. 71, PCW • May 1979 pg. 31, PCW • Jun 1979 pg. 58, PCW • Jul 1979 pg. 23, PCW • Oct 1979 pg. 52 | 12KB ROM BASIC; S100 expansion unit; ROM cartridges for “Standard” (Altair) 8KB BASIC, Assember/editor, other languages, DOS, applications. |
| Cromemco | Z-2D | Z80 | 4Mhz | 32KB | 2 x 5¼" 90KB disk drives | £2,450 | PCW • Dec 1978 pg. 40 | Cromemco 16KB Extended BASIC; Cromemco FORTRAN IV; Cromemco Z80 macro assembler; S100 bus. | |
| Pertec | Attache | 8080A | 2Mhz | 16KB | 64 x 16 | 2 x 8" 310KB floppy disks | £4,728 excl. monitor | PCW • Feb 1979 pg. 29 | S100 bus; BASIC (8KB RAM); Extended BASIC (16KB RAM); MITS300-5A (Microsoft MBASIC) BASIC (24KB RAM) |
| Acorn | System 1 | 6502 | 1Mhz | 1KB | LED | Cassette deck | £65 for kit; £75 assembled | PCW • Mar 1979 pg. 8 | Designed by Sophie Wilson (and Steve Furber for the cassette interface) |
| Synertek Systems | SYM-1 (or VIM-1) | 6502 | 1Mhz | 1KB | 6 digit LED | Cassette deck | PCW • Mar 1979 pg. 17 | 28 key keypad. | |
| Vector Graphics | MZ | Z80 | 4Mhz | 32KB | Combined Vector Graphics badged VDU/Keyboard | 2 x 5¼" 315KB floppy disk drives | £2,300 | PCW • Apr 1979 pg. 31, PCW • Aug 1979 pg. 57 | S100; Micropolis DOS (MDOS) including Assembler; Micropolis BASIC; CP/M (including FORTRAN, COBOL, CBASIC) available. |
| S.E.E.D. | MSI 6800 System One | 6800 | 2Mhz | 32KB | Combined VDU/Keyboard | 2 x 5¼" 80KB floppy disk drives | £1,790 | PCW • Jun 1979 pg. 35 | DOS68; SMARTBUG monitor in ROM; SE/A-1 Super Editor/Assembler (£36); RANDOM BASIC (£65); SD-BASIC (£185) |
| Compucolor Corporation | Compucolor II | 8080A | 2Mhz | 8-32KB | 8 colors; 16 or 32 lines of 64 characters or 128 x 128 graphics | up to 2 x 5¼" floppy disk drives | £1,750 for 32KB version | PCW • Sep 1979 pg. 36 | 16KB Disc BASIC 8001 in ROM; 8080 assembler. |
| Cromemco | System 3 | Z80A | 4Mhz | 16KB-16MB | up to 4 x 8" 230KB floppy disk drives | £3,005 with 2 floppy disk drives and 32KB RAM | PCW • Oct 1979 pg. 38 | OS is Cromemco RDOS/CDOS or CP/M; Cromemco 16KB Extended BASIC; Fortran; COBOL; Z80 macro assembler; S100 bus; 10MB hard disc available. | |
| Sharp | MZ-80K | Z80 | 2Mhz | 20KB-48MB | 10" monochrome 25 lines x 40 characters or 80 x 50 pixels | 1200bps tape drive | £640 with 22KB RAM | PCW • Oct 1979 pg. 71 | BASIC (loaded from tape ~2 mins) |
| Challenger | C3-S1 | 6502A; 65B00; Z80 | 2Mhz; 2Mhz; 4Mhz | 32KB-56MB | Hazeltine 1410 terminal | 2 x 8" floppy disc drives | £2998 32KB RAM and dual floppy | PCW • Nov 1979 pg. 48 | Ohio BASIC; CP/M BASIC; COBOL; Fortran. |
| Micromation | Z-Plus | Z80A | 4Mhz | 64KB | Elbig DS 1920 terminal | 2 x 8" floppy disc drives | £3750 | PCW • Dec 1979 pg. 42 | CP/M; S100 bus; CBASIC; BASIC 80; CIS COBOL; Pascal/Z; 8080 Assembler; 10MB and 20MB hard discs available. |
| Luxor | ABC-80 | Z80A | 3.5Mhz | 16-40KB | 12" 24 lines x 40 characters viewdata format | 2 x 5¼" 80KB floppy disc drives | £790 system; £1190 dual floppy disc drives | PCW • Jan 1980 pg. 43 | 4KB DOS in ROM; 2KB Monitor in ROM; 16KB BASIC in ROM; Fortran £1053; Extended BASIC £448; Pascal £527. |
| EACA | Video Genie | Z80 | 1.76Mhz | 16-48KB | monochrome 16 or 32 lines x 64 characters or 128 x 128 pixels | built-in cassette deck | £425 | PCW • Feb 1980 pg. 13 | 12KB ROM including Microsoft Level II BASIC. |
| ACT | System 800 | 6502 | 2Mhz | 48KB | 12" monochrome 30 lines x 64 characters or 240 x 512 pixels | up to 2 x 5¼" 800KB or 8" 1.6MB disk drives | £3950 with 5¼" drives; £4950 with 8" drives | PCW • Feb 1980 pg. 39 | MDOS and Monitor and 8KB Microsoft BASIC in ROM; PL/M; FIFTH; Assembler. |
| Heath | WH-89 | Z80 | 2Mhz | 48KB (DRAM) 3KB (SRAM) | 24 lines x 80 characters | cassette or 5¼" floppy disc drive | £1490 16KB RAM; extra RAM, cassette interface and drives all extra | PCW • Feb 1980 pg. 48 | HDOS; DBUG; ASM (8080); Extended Benton Harbor BASIC; Microsoft BASIC (MBASIC) |
| Sinclair | ZX80 | NEC μPD780C-1 (Z80 clone) | 3.25-3.55Mhz | 1-16KB | 24 lines x 32 characters or 64 x 48 pixels | Cassette deck | £99.95 assembled; £79.95 kit | PCW • Mar 1980 pg. 18, PCW • Apr 1980 pg. 55 | 4KB ROM containing Sinclair BASIC. |
| Tangerine Computer Systems Ltd | Microtan 65 | 6502 | 0.75Mhz | 1-48KB | 16 lines x 32 characters or 64 x 64 pixels | Cassette deck | £90.85 assembled; £79.35 kit (both 1KB RAM and 1KB ROM) | PCW • Mar 1980 pg. 30 | 1KB ROM containing a Monitor; expandable to 14KB ROM. |
| Panasonic | JD-700U | 8085A | 2Mhz | 32-56KB | 12" 24 lines x 80 characters | 2 x 5¼" 70KB floppy disc drives | £3985 32KB RAM | PCW • Mar 1980 pg. 43 | CP/M; Microsoft BASIC; 8080 Assembler. |
| Challenger | C2-4P | 6502 | 1 or 2Mhz | 8KB static | 32 lines of 30 or 63 characters | Cassette deck | £349 4KB RAM; £909 20KB RAM and floppy disc drive | PCW • Apr 1980 pg. 42 | 8KB Microsoft BASIC. |
| Tandy Corporation | TRS-80 Model II | Z80A | 4Mhz | 64KB | 12" 24 lines x 80 characters monochrome | 8" 497KB floppy disk drive | £2,586 excluding drive; £918 for one drive; £1,367 for two drives | PCW • May 1980 pg. 4, PCW • Jun 1980 pg. 50 | TSRDOS; Microsoft Model II BASIC (superset of TRS-80 Level 2 BASIC) |
| Texas Instruments | TI99/4 | 9900 (16-bit) | 3.58Mhz | 16KB | 32 lines of 24 characters (NSTC) | Cassette deck | £750 with monochrome monitor | PCW • May 1980 pg. 48 | 26KB TI BASIC. |
| Altos | ACS 8000-2 | Z80A | 4Mhz | 32-64KB | Adds Regent 25 terminal | 2 x 8" 1MB disc drives | £8900 48KB RAM 1 x 8" disc drive; £12,960 64KB RAM 1 x 8" disc drive 29MB hard disc | PCW • May 1980 pg. 52 | CP/M 1.4 and 2.0; UCSD Pascal; BASIC 80; CBASIC; Fortran 80; COBOL 80; 8080 Assembler. |
| Hewlett Packard | HP-85 | HP Capricorn | 0.625Mhz | 16-32KB | built-in 5" screen 20 lines of 32 characters | 195KB cartridge drive | £1,950 (+£237 for extra 16KB RAM) | PCW • May 1980 pg. 57 | 32KB HP BASIC. |
| Acorn | Atom | 6502 | 1Mhz | 2-12KB | 64 x 192 x 4 colours; 256 x 192 monochrome | Cassette deck; 5¼" 100KB floppy disc drive | £120 for kit; £170 assembled | PCW • May 1980 pg. 65 | 8KB Acorn System BASIC (developed by Sophie Wilson) |
| Sintrom | Periflex 630/48 | Z80A | 4Mhz | 48KB | standard terminal | 2 x 5¼" 315KB floppy disk drives | £2,500 | PCW • Jun 1980 pg. 56 | CP/M or Micropolis MDOS; Micropolis Extended BASIC. |
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