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Why is the Timex Sinclair 1500 computer from Sinclair and Timex so famous? It was neither the very first nor the most powerful (even in its own time) computer on our planet. He was not even a laptop or tablet. Nondescript keyboard, which is also a system unit. And, nevertheless, he left a significant mark in the history of technology. The fact is that it was very cheap. Moreover, the delicate marketing word "budget" is not suitable here. It is cheap. Only this rude-unambiguous word is able to fully characterize what made the Timex Sinclair 1500 stand out from the mass of its fellows.
First details. Technical and other. Price: 79 dollars 95 US cents. It was presented in July 1983. Processor: Zilog Z80A with a clock speed of 3.25 megahertz. RAM: 16 kilobytes in the base configuration, expandable to 64 kilobytes. Display resolution in text mode: 22 x 32. TV was used as a monitor. Ports: extensions and cassette recorder. Compatible peripherals: cassette recorder and T / S printer. The operating system: the language BASIC, stitched into permanent memory.
This super-cheap computer had an interesting background. In February 1980, the British company Sinclair introduced the Sinclair ZX-80, the first computer in the world that could be bought for less than $ 200. It was delivered in a small case and was equipped with a membrane-type keyboard.
A year later, in March 1981, the same company improved and cheapened its product. Thus, the Sinclair ZX-81 was born, which already cost one dollar less than a hundred dollars. The keyboard remains the same, but the capabilities of the Basic language have been expanded.
A company from the United States named Timex assembled the ZX-81 on Sinclair’s order. With the permission of Sinclair, in July 1982, she began to trade these computers in America. In the Americas, the Sinclair ZX-81 was known as Timex Sinclair 1000 (TS 1000) and was worth the same $ 99.
In July 1983, the final transformation took place. An old Sinclair ZX-80, even in those times, turned into a Timex Sinclair 1500, getting a new keyboard and more internal memory. The keyboard has become only slightly wider. But pressing the keys began to be felt tactilely (the known effect of the return movement of the key when typing). A kind of “sensory” way of recruiting the first models was not very pleasant for the users. So, he looked better, but according to his capabilities, he differed little from the Timex Sinclair 1000.
As a monitor Timex Sinclair 1500 (TS 1500) used a conventional TV. By default, the second channel was used, but if you press the “3” key on the keyboard and hold it for a few seconds (with the computer turned on), the uncomplicated digital picture moved to the third channel of the TV. Each key of this model (and its predecessors) performed up to five functions, depending on how many keys were pressed and in what order.
RAM in the basic configuration was 16 KB. It could be expanded either to 64 Kb, or to 32 Kb. In different places of the description there are both numbers, but there is no way to check it. For the computer to see additional memory, it was necessary to enter several commands from the keyboard (POKEs).
The computer itself was more than inexpensive, and the tape recorder was a drive that was quite accessible to the masses. Timex was selling an additional Timex Sinclair 2020 tape recorder (TS 2020) to it.
The Timex Sinclair 1500 motherboard contained only 5 IC chips for logic and 8 additional slots for 16-kilobyte memory modules. In practice, the memory used much less. Therefore, all the "wealth" of his motherboard did not give him great advantages over its predecessor.
I must say that such an amazing cheap computer was to a certain extent a marketing ploy. In practice, the Timex Sinclair 1500 was just one of the elements of a set for educational purposes, which was already more impressive ($ 295). The set, in addition to the computer, included a Timex Sinclair 2020 cassette recorder, cables and literature from the publisher of the National Education Corporation, as well as a neat suitcase.
The following books were part of this training series (we cite both the original English titles and an approximate translation into Russian): “The Magic of Computers” (“The Power of Computers”); “An“ Inside ”View”; "The System and the Software" ("System and Software"); “Program Design - The Game Plan” (“Program Design - Game Plan”); “Putting Your Microcomputer to Work” (“Put your microcomputer into operation”); “A Lesson in BASIC Programming” (“Programming Lesson in BASIC”); "Computer Logic - The Limits of Computer Intelligence" ("Computer Logic - Limits of Computer Mind"); "Control Breaks - Taking Intermediate Totals" ("External Interruptions - Intermediate Results"); "Tables and Arrays - Lists of Similar Data" ("Tables and arrays - a list of similar data"); "Merging - Functions" ("Association - functions"); "Advanced Printing and Graphics Techniques" ("Advanced Printing and Graphic Technology"). Only eleven books. It is possible that some of our readers are familiar with their content.
Thus, Timex Sinclair 1500 was more a training tool than a computer designed for full-fledged work. Although at that time it was still too early to talk about a personal computer as if it were a mature technology.
Based on: Oldcomputers.net
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