A photograph of the computer is shown, obtained from various sources, mostly old magazine advertisements. |
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Manufacturer |
The maker or brand name. |
Model |
The model name. There were often variants such as '16K' and '48K'. |
Date Launched |
The approximate date this model went on sale. It may have been announced months earlier. |
Price |
UK price when first sold. The cost of components, especially memory, fell rapidly in the 1980s so the price may have been reduced later. |
Microprocessor type |
The microprocessor manufacturer, model number and speed in Megahertz. |
ROM size |
The ROM or Read Only Memory held information such as the built-in programming language and operating system. In general a larger ROM size meant the computer could do more. A limitation though was that in many designs a larger ROM resulted in a smaller maximum RAM. |
Standard RAM |
RAM or Random Access Memory stored the program the computer was currently running. The more RAM available the more sophisticated games could be. RAM was always quoted in units of kilobytes (1024 characters worth). Standard RAM is the amount of memory in the machine as sold. |
Maximum RAM |
Many computers came with a relatively small amount of RAM to keep the price down. It was usually possible to add more, either internally or via a pack which plugged into the back of the computer. Each design of machine imposed a limit on the total amount of RAM possible, normally less than 64 kilobytes. |
Keyboard type |
In the beginning of the 1980s good quality, typewriter style, keyboards were expensive and might add as much as £100 to the price of a computer. A much cheaper alternative was a flat sheet of flexible plastic with keys printed on the top and an electrically conductive coating on the back. When the 'keys' were pressed they bridged contacts on a printed circuit board underneath, acting as a switch. It was impossible to type quickly on such a keyboard. |
Supplied language |
Since at first there would be few or no commercially available programs for a new model of computer, the only way to use it was to write one's own. 1980s computers thus almost invariably came with a programming language built into the ROM (in fact taking up most of the ROM). By far the most common was BASIC, either bought from Microsoft or the manufacturer's own version. Although the core commands in BASIC tended to be common to all, each manufacturer would add extensions to enable use of the particular hardware features of their machine, to a greater or lesser extent. |
Text resolution |
This is the number of characters per line x the number of lines per screen. |
Graphics resolution |
The earliest home computers could only display text but it was a definite advantage to be able to also produce pictures on-screen. The higher the resolution (pixels horizontally x pixels vertically) the more detailed the pictures could be. |
Colours available |
The very earliest models were monochrome. If a screen was supplied with the computer it usually had green phosphor rather than white, intended to be easier to read. However most home computers were fitted with a UHF modulator to allow them to be connected to the owner's existing television set. |
Example Screenshot |
An example of the kind of screen output possible with the computer, to give an impression of the resolution and number of colours available. |
Sound |
The majority of early computers had some means of generating sounds, but they varied enormously. |
Cassette load speed |
In 1980 even a floppy disk drive cost a few hundred pounds, more than the price of most home computers, and a hard disk drive cost over £1000. A much cheaper alternative was to store programs and data on an audio tape cassette. Some computers needed a special cassette recorder only available from the manufacturer (at a special price), but most could use an ordinary domestic mono recorder. |
Dimensions (mm) |
Width x Depth x Height in millimetres |
Special features |
Each manufacturer added its own design features. These might include a particularly good version of BASIC, a wide range of interfaces to plug in extra equipment, advanced graphics or sound capability, a built-in joystick, etc. |
Good points |
Almost every model had some reason to choose it over its numerous competitors. |
Bad points |
Unfortunately most models also had some 'misfeatures' which made them difficult to use or limited their abilities. These might be a very poor keyboard, too little RAM, unreliable cassette loading... |
How successful? |
Each manufacturer always claimed its products were selling very well. This was important because a model with low sales volume was not likely to attract much third-party software development, and lack of software would harm sales. Only a general guide to the popularity of the model can be given here. |
Comments |
A place to expand on information in some of the other sections. |