A history of the microcomputer industry in 300 adverts

Commodore PET: Choosing a Computer Made Simple

The PET had been around for nearly five years by the time this advert was published, and so it's less of a case of advertising the hardware - which hasn't really changed much, apa...

Pear II - we proudly announce the arrival of the computer you have been waiting for

This advert is a brazen attempt to sell an Apple II clone machine, but unlike Franklin's Ace 1200, had the extra "beyond the call of duty" feature of even naming the machine and c...

Versatility is the Key - The Video Genie System

The EG 3003 Video Genie System was a sort-of TRS-80 Model 1 clone, made by enigmatic Hong Kong electronics company EACA and distributed in the UK by Lowe Electronics. Lowe, an es...

Microtan 65 - Designed With Expansion in Mind

The basis for the Microtan 65 was a 6502-based single-board computer, which as advertised was sold for the bargain price of £80, only about £410 in 2024 money. However, that's sli...

Are you the QX-10 that undertakes financial modelling, stock control, book-keeping...?

This advert is for the somewhat-flawed Epson QX-10, a machine aimed at the IBM/Sirius market and which was launched less than two months after Epson's previous HX20 portable. The...

The Ultimate - Zenith Data Systems Z-100

One of a myriad of IBM-PC-like machines around during this era, although pitched more as an alternative than a compatible machine, the Z-100 was actually the pre-built version of ...

Atari: There's No Comparing It With Any Other Video Game

It's another advert for the legendary Atari 2600 "Woody" games console, launched four years before in 1977 and still doing well in 1981. The advert shows a nice stack of games cart...

The First Honest-to-Goodness Full Color Computer - William Shatner

The US counterpart to Ronnie Barker, who had been pressed in to service advertising Commodore PETs in the UK with his trademark punnery and word-play, was none other than William ...

Atari 800: Personal Computer Systems

Released in 1979, the Atari 800 was originally designed as the better of two models, the other being the Atari 400. The 400 and 800 model numbers originally denoted the expected...

Get to Know Cortex - the Really Very Friendly Computer

This is an interesting advert for a forgotten machine - The Cortex - built by C/WP (Computers/Word Processors) of the UK from a design bought from Ontel in the US. In the US thi...

You're Never Alone With A Commodore PET

In the year that the VIC 20 would be released comes an advert - very much a contemporary of the similar Primeval Swamp - for the Commodore PET, or rather not for any particular PE...

Mass Data Storage from less than £1,000

Keeping up with a tradition almost as old as advertising itself, the price shown isn't quite the price you pay as it doesn't include VAT or shipping, but it's still interesting th...

The BBC Microcomputer System: The Shape of Things to Come

From this attractive A3 sales brochure is the quote "Amongst the shifting sands of computer technology the BBC Microcomputer is here to stay". And it was, in its various guises, ...

The Epson HX-20: for Business on the Move

Considered to be the world's first mobile computer, the HX-20 came from a company better known for its printers (which Epson had been producing for 20 years). The HX-20 was first a...

The Atari Video Computer System from Ingersoll

This advert for the Granddaddy of the modern video game comes in the form of a gate-fold brochure containing a colourful list of 40 or so game cartridges, as well as the cartoon c...