Sinclair ZX81 - Timex Sinclair 1000   Sinclair ZX81 Home
Computer  The ZX81 was the first cheap, mass-marketed home
computer selling 1.5 million units before it was discontinued in
1984. It was truly innovative, and allowed the general public to
get their hands on something that was once only available to
businesses and hobbyists with huge amounts of cash.  However,
those who rushed out to buy a ZX80 will probably have been
regretting the move after the release of the ZX81 (Timex
Sinclair 1000 and 1500 in the U.S.). For a start it was half the
price (£49.95 or £69.95 in kit form), it used just five chips
(the ZX80 used 21) and it had a much better BASIC programming
language.  As with virtually all other home computers around at
the time, programs were loaded and saved via an external
cassette recorder, which was the most popular and cheapest
method in the early 80s, although it wasn't always reliable! 
Floppy Disk drives were available to purchase as extras with
other, more expensive computers such as the Ata