Notable home computers




The time line below describes many of the most popular or significant home computers of the late 1970s and of the 1980s.

The most popular home computers in the USA up to 1985 were: the TRS-80 (1977), various models of the Apple II family (first introduced in 1977), the Atari 400/800 (1979) along with its follow up models the 800XL and 130XE, and the Commodore VIC-20 (1980) and the Commodore 64 (1982). The VIC was the first computer of any type to sell over one million units, and the 64 is still the highest-selling single model of personal computer ever, with over 17 million produced before production stopped in 1994 – a 12-year run with only minor changes. At one point in 1983 Commodore was selling as many 64s as the rest of the industry's computers combined.

The British market was different, as relatively high prices and lower disposable incomes reduced the appeal of most American products. New Scientist stated in 1977 that "the price of an American kit in dollars rapidly translates into the same figure in pounds sterling by the time it has reached the shores of Britain". The Commodore 64 was also popular, but a BYTE columnist stated in 1985:

It's not easy for a U.K. citizen to write about home computers for an American magazine. We use the term to refer to an altogether different object on our side of the Atlantic.

In the U.S.A., an Apple II is a home computer; the IBM PC in its smaller configurations is a home computer; the Macintosh is a home computer. Home computers use floppy disks for mass storage and perform useful functions like word processing and income tax preparation as well as playing games.

In the U.K., those computers would be considered rather expensive as business computers, let alone for home use. Home computers typically cost less than £200 (about $250) and use cassette tape recorders for mass storage. We have various manufacturers of our own, some unheard of in the U.S.A. ... Even when we do have machines in common (the Commodore 64), I suspect that the vast majority of U.S. users buy the disk drive, while the majority of U.K. users have only the cassette deck.

Many of the British-made systems like Sinclair's ZX81 and Spectrum, and later the Amstrad/Schneider CPC were much more widely used in Europe than US systems. A few low-cost British Sinclair models were sold in the US by Timex Corporation as the Timex Sinclair 1000 and the ill-fated Timex Sinclair 2068, but neither established a strong following. The only transatlantic success was the Commodore 64, which competed favorably price-wise with the British systems, and was the most popular system in Europe as in the USA.

Until the introduction of the IBM PC in 1981, computers such as the Apple II and TRS 80 also found considerable use in office work. In 1983 IBM introduced the PCjr in an attempt to continue their business computer success in the home computer market, but incompatibilities between it and the standard PC kept users away. Assisted by a large public domain software library and promotional offers from Commodore, the PET had a sizable presence in the North American education market until that segment was largely ceded to the Apple II as Commodore focused on the C-64's success in the mass retail market.

1970sedit

Three microcomputers were the prototypes for what would later become the home computer market segment; but when introduced they sold as much to hobbyists and small businesses as to the home.

  • June 1977: Apple II (North America), color graphics, eight expansion slots; one of the first computers to use a typewriter-like plastic case design.
  • August 1977: Tandy Radio Shack TRS-80 (N. Am.), first home computer for less than US$600, used a dedicated monitor for US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rules compliance.
  • October 1977: Commodore PET (N. Am.), first all-in-one computer: keyboard/screen/tape storage built into stamped sheet metal enclosure.
  • In 1977 Compucolor II, although shipments did not start until the next year. The Compucolor II was smaller, less expensive than first model which was an upgrade kit for the company's color computer terminal, turning the Intercolor 8001 into the Compucolor 8001 and used the newly-introduced 5.25-inch floppy disks instead of the former 8-inch models.

The following computers also introduced significant advancements to the home computer segment:

  • 1979: TI-99/4, first home computer with a 16-bit processor and first to add sprite graphics
  • 1979: Atari 400/800 (N. Am.), first computer with custom chip set and programmable video chip and built-in audio output

1980sedit

  • January 1980: Sinclair ZX80, available in the United Kingdom for less than a hundred pounds
  • 1980: Commodore VIC-20 (N. Am.), under US$300; first computer of any kind to pass one million sold.
  • 1980: TRS-80 Color Computer (N. Am.), Motorola 6809, optional OS-9 multi-user multi-tasking.
  • July 1980: TRS-80 Model III (N. Am.), essentially a TRS-80 Model I repackaged in an all-in-one cabinet, to comply with FCC regulations for radiofrequency interference, to eliminate cable clutter, and use only one electrical outlet. Some enhancements like extended character set, repeating keys, and real time clock.
  • June 1981: Texas Instruments TI-99/4A, based on the less successful TI-99/4.
  • 1981: Sinclair ZX81 (Europe), £49.95 in kit form; £69.95 pre-built, released as Timex Sinclair 1000 in US in 1982.
  • 1981: BBC Micro (Europe), premier educational computer in the UK for a decade; advanced BBC BASIC with integrated 6502 machine code assembler, and a large number of I/O ports, ~ 1.5 million sold.
  • April 1982: Sinclair ZX Spectrum (Europe), best-selling British home computer; catalysed the UK software industry, widely cloned by the Soviet Union.
  • June 1982: MicroBee (Australia), initially as a kit, then as a finished unit.
  • August 1982: Dragon 32 (UK) became, for a short time, the best-selling home micro in the United Kingdom.
  • August 1982: Commodore 64 (N. Am.), custom graphic & synthesizer chipset, best-selling computer model of all time: ~ 17 million sold.
  • Jan. 1983: Apple IIe, Apple II enhanced. Reduced component count and production costs enabled high-volume production, until 1993.
  • April 1983: TRS-80 Model 4, major upgrade compatible with Model III. Ran industry-standard CP/M, updated TRSDOS 6, 4 MHz speed, 128KB RAM max, 80x24 screen, 640x240 high-res option. In September the transportable "luggable" Model 4P unveiled.
  • 1983: Acorn Electron A stripped down 'sibling' of the BBC microcomputer with limited functionality. The Electron recovered from a slow start to become one of the more popular home computers of that era in the UK.
  • 1983: Sanyo PHC-25, with 16k of RAM, one of a number of Sanyo models
  • 1983: Coleco Adam, one of the few home computers to be sold only as a complete system with storage device and printer; cousin to the ColecoVision game console.
  • 1983: MSX (Japan, Korea, the Arab League, Europe, N+S. Am., USSR), a computer 'reference design' by ASCII and Microsoft, produced by several companies: ~ 5 million sold.
  • 1983: VTech Laser 200, entry level computer aimed at being the cheapest on market, also sold as Salora Fellow, Texet TX8000 & Dick Smith VZ 200.
  • 1983: Oric 1 and Oric Atmos, a home computer equipped with a full travel keyboard and an extended version of Microsoft BASIC in ROM.
  • January 1984: The Apple Macintosh is introduced, providing many consumers their first look at a graphical user interface, which would eventually replace the home computer as it was known.
  • April 1984: Apple IIc, Apple II compact. No expansion slots, and built-in ports for pseudo-plug and play ease of use. The Apple II most geared to home use, to complement the Apple IIe's dominant education market share.
  • 1984: Tiki 100 (Norway), Zilog Z80-based home/educational computer made by Tiki Data.
  • 1984: Amstrad/Schneider, CPC, PCW ranges (Europe), British standard before IBM PC; German sales next to C64.
  • 1985: TRS-80 Model 4D: updated Model 4 with double-sided drives and Deskmate productivity suite.
  • 1985: Elektronika BK-0010, one of the first 16-bit home computers; made in USSR.
  • 1985: Robotron KC 85/1 (Europe), one of the few home computers produced by the East German VEB Robotron-Meßelektronik "Otto Schön" Dresden.
  • 1985: Atari ST (N. Am.), first with a graphical user interface (GEM) for less than US$1000; first with built-in MIDI interface; also 1 MB RAM and 16-bit Motorola 68000 processor for under US$1000.
  • June 1985: Commodore 128 (N. Am.) Final, most advanced 8-bit Commodore, retained full C64 compatibility while adding CP/M in a complex multi-mode architecture
  • July 1985: Commodore Amiga 1000 (N. Am.), custom chip set for graphics and digital audio; multitasking OS with both GUI and CLI interfaces; 16-bit Motorola 68000 processor. Initially designed as a game console but repositioned as a home computer.
  • 1986: Apple IIGS, Fifth and final model in the Apple II series, with greatly enhanced graphics and sound abilities. Used a 16-bit 65C816 CPU, the same as used in the Super Nintendo Entertainment System.
  • June 1987: Acorn Archimedes (Europe), launched with an 8 MHz 32-bit ARM2 microprocessor, with between 512 KB and 4 MB of RAM, and an optional 20 or 40 MB hard drive.
  • October 1987: Commodore Amiga 500 (N. Am.), Amiga 1000 repackaged into a C64-like housing with keyboard and motherboard in the same enclosure, along with a 3.5" floppy disk drive. Introduced at the same time as the more expandable Amiga 2000.
  • 1989: SAM Coupé (Europe), based on 6 MHz Z80 microprocessor; marketed as a logical upgrade from the Sinclair ZX Spectrum.

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