ZX-80

[Clock]

We were starting to sort out the loft in our house the other day which is quite a museum for old computers and we found a gem......

 

A boxed un-built Sinclair ZX-80

 

We knew it was up there and I am now curious about if it would work still if I built it. Or should I leave it in component form which will of course be worth more money.

 

I would imagine these are quite valuable now. But alas I never got to use one, in fact I'm not even sure what can be done with them. The ZX-81 was quite impressive for 1k.

 

Has anyone ever used one of these? and do you still have/use one?

 

How much is it worth?

 

Should I build it?

 

What do you guys think?

[Vic George 2K3]

Haven't used a Sinclair ZX80 (only a Timex/Sinclair 1000 -- the American version of the Sinclair ZX81 -- with its built-in 2K memory and a 16K expansion pack), but according to one of Tim Hartnell's books on the Sinclair ZX81, the ZX80 doesn't do a very stable graphics display and it also doesn't have some of the commands of the Sinclair ZX81's BASIC (like INKEY$ for detecting real-time input instead of just using INPUT). All I can say is that it depends on whether you really want to use a ZX80 or not.

[Mayhem]

White case I presume?

 

I would definitely be interested in acquiring it if you should want to part with it

 

And yes, it's worth more than £10

[SteveW]

There's a kid I work with who doesn't believe that there was a time when you REALLY built a computer. I remember ads for the build-it-yourself ZX-80, before Timex started distributing Sinclair computers in America. You could get a real computer for under $100! But the phrase 'Some assembly required' doesn't begin to cover it.... I'm not sure I have the nerve or skill to do something like that nowadays. My soldering skills are lousy at best.

[Clock]

It is indeed a white case and I think it cost us £150 at the time. But we got a ZX-81 soon afterwards so it never got built.

 

ZX-81's in the UK only have 1k of ram....FEEL THE POWER.

 

I used to have a chess program that worked in 1K!!! that always impressed me.

[Spirantho]

If you want to swap it for a fully working (and fully built!) ZX80 then let me know! I have one spare....