The Cortex computer was manufactured by the British company C/WP ("Computers and Word Processors"), who bought the design from the US company Ontel (they marketed it as the Amigo). Major modifications were made to the hardware, including easy service access, and software, all designed to make this micro more user friendly. CW/P was aiming to sell the system to the mainstream office word processor market.

The Cortex was in three main parts: the keyboard; 5.25" disk drive; and monochrome display, which also housed the main logic board. The plastic housing was available in six different colours. Only four screws needed to be removed to access change any part of the system.

The IBM-style keyboard was set up to generate various Wordstar control codes, and the version of WordStar shipped with it was modified to use them. It ran the CP/M operating system, modified to support a second processor for display management and graphics capabilities. It was also one of the first machines to support Digital Research's GSX graphics standard.

Keyboard

Full stroke 83 keys, PC style, 10 function keys and numeric keypad

CPUM

Z80A @ 4MHz

Coprocessor

6502 (Screen)

RAM

64KB

VRAM

40KB

Text modes

80 chars x 25 lines

Graphics modes

640 x 300 pixels

Size

34x31x30cm

I/O ports

Parallel Centronics, Serial RS-232

Media

2 x 200KB 5.25'' floppy disc drives in separate unit

Price

£1795 (UK, 1984)

Manufacturer: CW/P
Date: 1983

This exhibit has a reference ID of CH43408. Please quote this reference ID in any communication with the Centre for Computing History.

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