1983 adverts

Microcomputers? Let Rank Xerox point you in the right direction

Hugely influential in the early computer industry with its Palo Alto Research Center (Xerox PARC) spawning computer fundamentals like Ethernet, Laser printers and the graphical use...

The Commodore 64. Under $600

It's another Commodore advert, from August 1983, playing to Jack Tramiel's famous adage "Computers for the masses, not the classes". The origin of this famous quote dates back to...

The Remarkable SV-318 Personal Computer

The Spectravideo SV-318 was a Zilog Z80A-based computer with 32K RAM and Microsoft BASIC, which had been the de-facto standard on pretty much every computer since the MITS Altair ...

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...

Qume - A New Range of Video Terminals

Whilst the world of small-business and home computers was in a raging turmoil with hundreds of random machines coming and going, one thing remained a constant - the world of the t...

New: The IT Andromeda Zita-E

This is another mystery entry, in this case for the Andromeda Zita-E - for Executive - from ITCS, or IT Computer Services Limited of Ashford, near Staines, in Middlesex. The And...

Join the jet set

Acorn wasn't particularly well know for its own-branded peripherals, so this advert is fairly unusual not only for that, but also because the printing technology in use - spark-er...

New TRS-80 Model 4 - from Tandy

Proving that sometimes the same model can live on seemingly for ever, at least in name, is this advert for the TRS-80 Model 4. The original TRS-80, one of the "1977 Trinity", had...

With Aquarius you won't get left behind

Very much an also-ran in the home/personal computer race comes this advert for a Mattel Aquarius - a Z80-based unit with a chiclet keyboard built for Mattel by Far East-based Rado...

Oric-1 16K and 48K Micros

The Oric was aimed at the Sinclair Spectrum market - the models and prices were similar, and even the graphics in the advert alluded to the Spectrum's product design. It's nearly...

Samurai - your powerful ally

Despite fears of an imminent Japanese invasion going right back to almost the start of the Personal Computer revolution, not much really happened until Microsoft-sponsored Japanes...

Kenneth Kendall: Now in chip form

This advert is for a speech synthesis chip for the BBC Micro which used the voice of one of the greats of 1970s television news broadcasting - Kenneth Kendall. It's a nice bit o...

As your company goes places, will your computer grow with it?

It's another advert for the Alpha Micro, not to be confused with the Alphatronic Micro produced by Triumph-Adler. It's an upgrade to the original Alpha - which was around in 198...

Intertec offers the warranty your first computer should have offered

Intertec - based in Columbia, South Carolina, US - had been founded as a terminal manufacturer in 1973. It then launched its Z80-based SuperBrain micro in 1979, which seemed to be...

Pluto: run rings around the competition!

The Pluto graphics card from IO Research, first launched in 1982, could perhaps lay claim to being one of the first "high end" graphics cards aimed at consumers. Re-sold by Nasco...