The Sinclair ZX80 was a home computer brought to market in 1980 by Sinclair Research of Cambridge, England. It was notable for being the first computer available in the UK for under £100 (a price tag of £99.95 for the ready-built model). It was available in kit form, where purchasers had to assemble and solder it together, and as a ready-built version at a slightly higher cost for those without the skill or inclination to build their own unit. The ZX80 was very popular straight away, and for some time there was a waiting list of several months for either version of the machine.

The ZX80's name comes from the computer's Z80 microprocessor which runs at 3.25MHz. The computer featured 1K of RAM and 4K of ROM. The computer was housed in a small plastic case and at the rear had a 44-pin edge connector and four sockets - mic, ear and power, and phono socket for a coaxial lead to connect your computer to a TV.

The ZX80 was the first computer from Sinclair to use Sinclair Basic, a version of the Basic programming language. Sinclair Basic was developed for the ZX80 by John Grant and Steve Vickers from Nine Tiles and was used in the Sinclair ZX80, ZX81 and ZX Spectrum. The Basic commands were not entered by typing them out but instead by pressing one of the keyboard keys, each which had a command associated with them.

This Sinclair ZX80 computer has been upgraded to the ZX81 keyboard but the original ROM is still in place.

With original power supply and "fitting instructions" sheet.

Manufacturer: Sinclair
Date: 1980

This exhibit has a reference ID of CH34978. Please quote this reference ID in any communication with the Centre for Computing History.