Bromcom Advert - March 1983

Here's an early advert for Bromley Computer Consultancy, trading as Bromcom, for its Superstar CP/M-based multi-user system, which would be around until at least the summer of the following year.

Essentially a North Star Horizon pre-built with system software, printer interface and Winchester hard-disk storage, the SuperStar was one of several multi-user systems around at the time where the approach was for the "server" to host an entire computer per user as a plug-in card - on the Horizon's S-100 bus - accessed by a connected terminal.

This approach - which Bromcom called its "private processor" architecture - meant there was no service degredation as additional users were added, except perhaps for the few times that shared resources - the expensive things like printers and disk storage - were used.

It also meant that different users could run different processors, with a choice of 8-bit - probably Z80 - and 16-bit, possibly 8088, running "intermixed".

Possibly the first advert from Bromley Computer Consultancy Ltd, before it was Bromcom, for its SuperStar North Star Horizon-based multi-user machine. A two-user system with 10MB hard disk cost £5,995 plus VAT, or around £34,200 in 2026. From Practical Computing, January 1982

The downside with such a system was that initial prices were quite steep, with a two-user system with 10MB disk storage starting at £4,927 + VAT, which is around £25,800 in 2026.

However, additional users were in the region of £1,000 (£4,560) - which included the CPU card and a terminal - and so it did get progressively cheaper as more users were added.

At the time, IBM's PC had only just been officially launched in the UK, with its entry-level model retailing for £2,080 + VAT and the minimum "business" system costing £3,442 plus VAT - that's around £18,200 in 2026.