Released in 1980, the Sinclair was a British home computer, produced by a company known as ‘Science of Cambridge‘, which later became known as ‘Sinclair Research‘. The name ‘ZX80’ was given, due to the fact it was based around the Z80 CPU, with the ‘X‘ meaning “the mystery ingredient”. The Z80 CPU had a clock speed of 3.25 MHz and the machine came with 1 KB of RAM.
The ZX80 is notable for being the first home computer, to be available in the United Kingdom for under one hundred pounds, unless of course we were to count the first being the MK14, released in 1977, but the ZX80 was the first ‘realistic’ home computing concept, to then go forward and create a home computing market here in the UK and therefore set a new blueprint for others to follow.
On initial release, the machine proved very popular and there was a waiting list of several months at one point. Purchase options available were a fully assembled machine for £99.95 or in kit form for £79.99, where the machine would need to be soldered together.
