Sinclair ZX81
Sinclair ZX81
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| Developer | Sinclair Research |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Timex Corporation |
| Type | Home computer |
| Release date | 5 March 1981 |
| Introductory price | £49.95 kit, £69.95 assembled (£173–£242; $264–$370 at 2017 prices) |
| Discontinued | 1984 |
| Units sold | More than 1.5 million |
| Operating system | Sinclair BASIC |
| CPU | Z80 at 3.25 MHz |
| Memory | 1 KB (64 KB max. 56 KB usable) |
| Storage | External cassette tape recorder at 250 bauds |
| Display | Monochrome display on UHF television |
| Graphics | 24 lines × 32 characters or 64 × 48 pixels graphics mode |
| Power | 9V DC |
| Dimensions | 167 millimetres (6.6 in) deep by 40 millimetres (1.6 in) high |
| Weight | 350 grams (12 oz) |
| Predecessor | ZX80 |
| Successor | ZX Spectrum |
| Related articles |
Timex Sinclair 1000, Timex Sinclair 1500 |
The ZX81 is a home computer produced by Sinclair Research and manufactured in Scotland by Timex Corporation. It was launched in the United Kingdom in March 1981 as the successor to Sinclair's ZX80 and was designed to be a low-cost introduction to home computing for the general public. It was hugely successful, and more than 1.5 million units were sold before it was discontinued. The ZX81 found commercial success in many other countries, notably the United States, where it was initially sold as the ZX-81. Timex manufactured and distributed it under licence and enjoyed a substantial but brief boom in sales. Timex later produced its own versions of the ZX81 for the US market – the Timex Sinclair 1000 and Timex Sinclair 1500. Unauthorised clones of the ZX81 were produced in several countries.
The ZX81 was designed to be small, simple, and above all cheap, using as few components as possible to keep the cost down. Video output was to a television set rather than a dedicated monitor. Programs and data were loaded and saved onto audio tape cassettes. It had only four silicon chips on board and a mere 1 KB of memory. The machine had no power switch or any moving parts (with the exception of a VHF TV channel selector switch present on early "ZX81 USA" models and the Timex-Sinclair 1000) and used a pressure-sensitive membrane keyboard for manual input. The ZX81's limitations prompted the emergence of a flourishing market in third-party peripherals to improve its capabilities. Such limitations, however, achieved Sinclair's objective of keeping the cost of the machine as low as possible. Its distinctive design brought its designer, Rick Dickinson, a Design Council award.
The ZX81 could be bought by mail order in kit form or pre-assembled. In what was then a major innovation, it was the first cheap mass-market home computer that could be bought from high street stores, led by W. H. Smith and soon many other retailers. The ZX81 marked the first time that computing in Britain became an activity for the general public, rather than the preserve of businesspeople and electronics hobbyists. It inspired the creation of a huge community of enthusiasts, some of whom founded their own businesses producing software and hardware for the ZX81. Many went on to play a major role in the British computer industry in later years. The ZX81's commercial success made Sinclair Research one of Britain's leading computer manufacturers and earned a fortune and an eventual knighthood for the company's founder, Sir Clive Sinclair.
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