Videcom Advert - February 1983
From Practical Computing
The Big Screen micro from KGB at under £1,800 is the best buy around!
Videcom had been formed in 1972 as a manufacturer of terminals, and along the way had carved itself a niche in the transport industry, in particular for airports[1], where it produced a range of products for managing passenger check-in[2], and the railways, where it supplied terminals for British Rail's TOPS system[3].
At some point, and in common with several other terminal manufacturers, it realised that it already had two thirds of the components required to product a complete microcomputer, and so duly launched into the market with this - the Videcom Apollo.
Also in common with almost every other pre-IBM business microcomputer launched at the time, it was a Z80-based CP/M machine, with either 750K or 1.5MB disk drives - probably 5¼" or 8" floppies respectively.
The Apollo also seemed to be aimed specifically at the word-processing market, with its optional 132-column display and a keyboard with 25 function keys, all set up to run Wordstar.
The Videcom Apollo retailed for "under £1,800", probably plus VAT, which is around £9,450 in 2026 money. The company itself appears to be one of the few from that era that has survived and remains in business[4], and still provides airline passenger systems.
Date created: 26 June 2026
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Sources
Text and otherwise-uncredited photos © nosher.net 2026. Dollar/GBP conversions, where used, assume $1.50 to £1. "Now" prices are calculated dynamically using average RPI per year.