1979 adverts

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...

Introducing the personal computer you've been waiting for: The Exidy Sorcerer

Exidy Incorporated was the third-largest producer of video arcade games in the US when it was encouraged by Paul Terrell to enter the consumer electronics market towards the end o...

This is the famous ELF II computer

The apparently-famous ELF II from Netronics Research and Development Limited of New Milford, Connecticut, was one of relatively few micros around which used RCA's COSMAC - COmplem...

Britain is a nation of PET lovers - the No. 1 computer in the UK

This advert shows the original Chiclet-style 4K PET, retailing for £520 inclusive - about £3,730 in 2025 terms. At around this time, the newer 4000 series - 16K and 32K models, wi...

The Research Machines' 380Z - A unique tool for research and education

From its launch in 1977 through to mid 1982, Research Machines Limited, often abbreviated to RML or RM, seemed to be selling the same one machine - a Z80-based system called the 3...

Introducing Acorn: A professional MPU card

This is probably Acorn's very first advert - it does indeed say "introducing Acorn" - and appeared just a few months after the company's founding as Cambridge Processor Unit (CPU)...

MSI 6800 - At the root of every good system

The MSI 6800, from Midwest Scientific Instruments, was a Motorola MC6800-based system running at 2MHz on SWTPC's SS-50 bus. It was first launched in 1977. The MC6800 could nomin...

New low price for Level 1 BASIC 4K RAM

The TRS-80 was one of the "1977 Trinity" - which also included the Commodore PET and the Apple II. They were the first three modern personal computers - micros that could be taken...

Keen Computers takes you into the future with the Apple II

This is a third-party advert for the Apple II, one of the "1997 Trinity" of computers that changed the landscape of computing. Apple, true to form ever since, was the most expen...

Cromemco System Three - the professional one

With a 4MHz Z80A CPU and an expansive 21 card slots, the System 3 was particulary impressive in being able to address 16MB of memory - a fairly fantastical amount in 1979, where 4...

Almarc: Specialists in Vector Graphic

Vector Graphic was an American company set up in 1976 by husband-and-wife team Robert and Lore Harp. Vector's machines were distributed in the UK by Almarc Data Systems, a compa...

Three Trumps from Acorn: The Acorn Microcomputer

Acorn was founded as Cambridge Processor Unit (CPU) in November 1978 by Hermann Hauser, who had moved to the UK from Vienna at the age of 15, and Chris Curry - a former Science of...

Transam: The Exciting New Triton Personal Computer

The Transam Triton was a British-built Intel 8080A-based kit computer that was first released in December 1978. Somewhat uniquely, it offered different levels of firmware with a...

Chessmate Electronic Chess Opponent - a player you'll find hard to beat at a price that's impossible to beat

As well as the PET/CBM range of computers and the continuation of the calculator line, which had survived the Calculator Wars of the mid 1970s, Commodore wasn't averse to putting ...

How to solve Systems problems - Zilog's MCZ family

Here's a rare advert from Zilog for its MCZ range of micros - everything from an entry-level floppy-disk-based model up to the MCZ 1/35 rack-mount machine with 10MB storage. Th...

EuroC - Simplicity is the watchword

Built for Euro-Calc by Plessey Microsystems, the EuroC was firmly aimed at businesses with its "computer as furniture" manufacture and extensive list of requisite business softwar...

Acorn Computer: Four of a kind!

This is another early advert from Acorn Computer - the trading name of Cambridge Processor Unit Limited (CPU), a company set up in 1978 by Chris Curry - formerly of Sinclair Radio...

RAIR - Terminals for your micro

This an very early advert for RAIR - the enigmatic British company which started out in 1978 as a time-share consultancy and supplier of terminals. It shows a range of peripheral...