{"id":4917,"date":"2022-09-19T15:17:39","date_gmt":"2022-09-19T13:17:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/retrofixer.it\/?page_id=4917"},"modified":"2026-10-29T10:33:58","modified_gmt":"2026-10-29T09:33:58","slug":"zx80","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/retrofixer.it\/en\/zx80\/","title":{"rendered":"ZX80"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"zx80\"zx80<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Production: 1980<\/h4>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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OS: Sinclair Basic<\/h6>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\tZX <\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t80<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Sinclair's first computer! The ZX80 came out on 29 January 1980 and stayed in production until 1981: little more than a year, but enough to change the history of computing in Britain.<\/p>\r\n

The first computer under 100 pounds<\/h3>\r\n

It was sold by Clive Sinclair's Science of Cambridge, which shortly afterwards became Sinclair Research. The hardware was designed by Jim Westwood. You could buy it by mail order as a kit to build yourself for 79.95 pounds or ready-built for 99.95 pounds: note the pricing policy already making it look like less than 100 pounds. For the time it was a very low price, and the ZX80 is considered the first computer sold in Britain for under 100 pounds.<\/p>\r\n

The name comes from the Z80 processor, while the X was, as the advertising put it, \"the mystery ingredient\". About 50,000 were sold, and its success paved the way for the ZX81 and the ZX Spectrum, which gave Britain more home computers than any other country in the 1980s.<\/p>\r\n

Inside the machine<\/h3>\r\n

It was built to save money, and indeed there is very little inside. Everything is controlled by the Z80 processor, which handles practically everything: video, RAM, keyboard and the outside world, with the help of a handful of logic chips. The case is white plastic and does not even have screws: it is held shut by plastic clips similar to rivets. The black stripes on the lid look like air vents, but they are only decorative.<\/p>\r\n