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Info for zx80


====== Sinclair ZX 80 (1980) ======




===== Features =====

* CPU: NEC 780C-1 (Z80 compatible) 3.25 MHz
* RAM: 1 KB, 901 bytes available (upgradeable to 64 KB)
* ROM: 4 KB. Can be expended to 8 KB, thereby making it almost a ZX81
* Text Modes: 32 chars. x 22 lines
* Graphic Modes: 64 x 44 dots
* Colors: Monochrome
* Sound: None
* I/O Ports: Z80 Bus, tape, TV/RF video
* Keyboard: Membrane keyboard, 40 keys, 1 SHIFT key
* Peripherals: 16 KB RAM extension
* Built In Language: Sinclair Basic



===== History and Trivia =====

A home computer built in the United Kingdom.

The Sinclair ZX 80 is the ancestor of the Sinclair ZX 81. It had a short life (less than one year)

After the modest but encouraging success of the MK-14 (initiation board with hexadecimal keyboard), Sinclair (at the time Sciences of Cambridge) decided to develop a slightly more advanced computer.

The ZX-80 is regarded as a pioneer system in micro-computing as at the time the only available computers were kits for hobbyists like the MK-14 or more expensive systems intended for education or research such as the Tandy TRS-80 or the Commodore PET.

The ZX-80 inaugurated the transition between the hobbyist world and the consumer electronics by proposing a true computer in its case for less than �100.

Technically, the ZX-80 is not a revolutionary system but is rather the result of a search for economy through the choice of the components, starting with the membrane keyboard, or the RAM memory limited to 1kb. The operating system, the editor and the Basic interpreter fit into the 4kb of the ROM !

The ZX-80 met some success with nearly 70.000 machines sold in less than one year, announcing the future success of the ZX-81 and at the same time the birth of a new major actor in the micro-computers world : Sinclair Computers Ltd. It was replaced in 1981 with the ZX 81, which was more integrated and cheaper.

//(info from old-computers.com)//



===== Links =====

* Planet Sinclair -- http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/sinclair/computers/zx80/zx80.htm
* ZX80 World -- http://freespace.virgin.net/christopher.cox/zx80/index.htm
* ZX80 at old-computers.com -- http://old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=262



===== Other Emulators =====

* VB81 -- http://freestuff.grok.co.uk/vb81/
* XTender -- http://www.delhez.demon.nl/
* No$ZX81 -- http://www.work.de/nocash/zx8.htm
* EightyOne -- http://www.chuntey.com/eightyone/




Generated on Sun Jul 19 10:17:28 2009