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For just $199.95, you can get a complete, powerful, full-function computer, matching or surpassing
other personal computers costing several times more.
The Sinclair ZX80 is an extraordinary personal computer, compact and briefcase sized, it weighs just 12oz, yet in performance it matches and surpasses systems many times its size and price.
The ZX80 is an advanced example of microelectronics design. Inside, it has one-tenth the number of parts of existing comparable machines.
In 1980, British company Sinclair released their ZX80 computer for £99.95 (British pounds). Also available in the United States, it is considered to be the world's first computer for under US$200, at least that's what Sinclair Research Ltd stated in all of their ads.
At the bottom of the magazine advertisements was an order form: "Please send me __ ZX80 personal computer(s) for $199.95 each ..."
The ZX-80 was designed with only the base necessities, using off the shelf components - there are no custom
or proprietary chips involved.
An external cassette drive, typical of the era, is the only method of loading and saving programs.
Even cheaper at £75.95 in a kit form, the inexpensive price of the Sinclair ZX-80 introduced many people to the computer world who might otherwise have not ventured forth due to the perceived high prices of other albeit more capable computer systems.
The ZX80 was an amazing product - a real useable computer for only $200.00. But it did have it's drawbacks:
Sinclair sold 50,000 ZX80s before they came out with the improved ZX-81 one year later. The ZX-81 was much cheaper, at only $99.95, the first computer for under $100. The ZX-81 had only 5 IC chips, compared to the ZX80's 21 chips.
In 1982, American company Timex started selling the ZX-81 in America, calling it the Timex Sinclair 1000.
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This page last updated on 05/08/2016 01:06:09
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