While most of us have our own computer (or two), back in the 70s and 80s computers were just starting to become common in the household and many of them took the form of what then was known as a 'microcomputer', even though the term 'personal computer', as commonly used today, would also have been correct. Examples of microcomputers include the Amstrad CPC 464, BBC Micro, Commodore 64, Dragon 32, TRS-80, many of which are covered on this page, along with less well known systems, including computers from Sharp and Tangerine.
These microcomputers typically took the form of a single unit (most often rectangular in shape) containing all the fundamental parts of a computer (CPU, memory, I/O interface components, etc.) as well as a built-in keyboard. To use the microcomputer, it was connected to a TV or monitor (most usually a TV as that was what most people had and could afford at the time). Some microcomputers could also be connected to a cassette player or floppy drive for storage, a printer, hard drive, or even a network.
Most of these microcomputers had a very simple operating system and built-in BASIC interpreter, allowing the user to either type in programs or load ready made ones. And while the majority of the microcomputers supported graphics as well as text, the even older machines did not have any menus, icons or a desktop environment at all. The user had to type commands into the microcomputer very much like in the days of DOS that older PC users will remember. Imagine paying loads of money for a microcomputer and being faced with a flashing cursor!
While microcomputers may seem very primitive by today's standards, and certainly they are, at the time they were a big breakthrough in the computing world. No longer could computers only be used by professionals and university students but now they were also available to ordinary people. No doubt the microcomputers encouraged many people to learn programming or at least the basics of how a typical computer works.
There is still a big interest in microcomputers today and people like myself collect these old computers, fix them, update them and use them. Hobbyists have been able to do things with microcomputers that were once not thought possible (such as overcome their apparent technical limitations) and new hardware and software has been produced to further extend their capabilities or make them easier to use.
We have seen recently new hardware releases of classic systems (in emulated form) such as The C64, as well as new (unofficial) releases of software for these old systems which for many may be a fulfilment of a childhood wish. The Raspberry Pi is in some ways a modern microcomputer but at a fraction of the cost of a retro computer that can emulate the old systems as well as be used as a general desktop and programming platform.
You can learn more about the many different types of microcomputers, both original and modern versions, as well as the software and accessories to use with the old and new, by following the various links on this page. You will also find more general information which may be useful for a wide range of computers.
New: VTech Computers (9/8/23)
MSX Computers (11/7/23)
Amstrad PCW Computers (19/4/23)
Tatung Computers (20/3/23)
Peripherals (30/10/22)
Tandy (Radio Shack) Computers (28/10/22)
Sharp Computers (21/08/22)
The A500 Mini (14/04/22)
Sirius Systems Technology Computers (23/09/20)
The C64 (18/02/20)
Sinclair ZX Spectrum +2 (21/04/2019)
You can email me at james.boshikoopa@gmail.com
To go back to the main page please go to Computers Exposed.
Please go to BBC Microcomputers.
Please go to Acorn Electron.
Please go to Amstrad PC Computers.
Please go to Amstrad PCW Computers.
Please go to Apple Computers.
Please go to Commodore 64.
Please go to Commodore 128.
Please go to Commodore Plus/4.
Please go to Commodore VIC-20.
Please go to Commodore Amiga 500.
Please go to Commodore Amiga 600.
Please go to Commodore Amiga 1200.
Please go to Amiga CD32.
Please go to The A500 Mini.
Please go to The C64.
Please go to MSX Computers.
Please go to Dragon 32 & 64.
Please go to Sega SC-3000.
Please go to Sharp Computers.
Please go to Sinclair Computers.
Please go to:
Please go to: Tandy (Radio Shack) Computers.
Please go to Tangerine Computers.
Please go to Tatung Computers.
Please go to VTech Computers.
In this section you can learn about peripherals and other useful devices to make using retro computers easier.
If you want a less stressful way to load software into a computer, the Gotek floppy drive emulator is a great option, which you can find out more about on the Gotek page.
Computers have used many different formats for floppy disks over the years but thankfully, the Greaseweazle floppy drive controller takes the pain out of archiving different disk types, which you can learn more about on the Greaseweazle page.
For the various computers linked to from this page there will be information concerning the use of those computers, however, in this section is some general advice.
Cassettes/tapes were commonly used for both commercial and user software due to being common and cheaper than the faster and higher capacity disks which were also more expensive. Whereas tapes typically could be used with either the computer's built in tape player (where applicable) or an external proprietary or household drive, disk required either an internal or external disk drive that could cost as much as the computer in the case of external drives.
Loading software from cassette was a pain (perhaps not quite as bad as many recall) in part due to the linear nature of tapes (having to rewind from the beginning and try loading again if there was an error) along with tapes being susceptible to magnetism and other factors. Keep in mind that often commercial tapes had the same piece of software recorded on both sides, so it's worth trying the other side if the first side doesn't work.
Fortunately in modern times we have alternatives to the humble cassette player, such as MP3 players, smartphones, and tablets, using the headphone socket to function in a similar manner to a tape player along with suitable player software and copies of the microcomputer software you want to load. It can take a bit of trial and error to get the volume level correct and the software will still take some time to load but should prove more reliable than tape and you can still save to the device like you would with tape.
For computers that use proprietary tape drives (that is, they connect to the computer with a dedicated non-standard cable) there are modern solutions that typically use an SD card or flash drive while still connecting to the computer in the same way with an interface circuit.
Microcomputers were typically designed for connection to a TV and some early ones only supported black and white images and some later ones that outputted colour had a switch to only display B&W video as it would typically be clearer than colour. Some microcomputers had direct support for connection to a monitor, offering clearer images and higher resolution (important for graphics and text), but a monitor was an expensive purchase back then when TVs where typically already in the household, yet It has kind of come full circle that nowadays TVs are often good enough to be used with computers even though PC monitors are still very common.
Unfortunately some microcomputers without modification can only be connected to a TV though the RF (Radio Frequency)/antenna connector, which gives the worst audio and video signal, although some computers didn't even output sound though RF and instead used an internal speaker. If you connect an old computer to a TV via RF you'll need to tune the TV in while the computer is on but there were so called TV boxes which converted RF to composite or VGA that could then be connected to a TV but that could result in even worse quality images and sound and may not even support the computer's video mode.
Other computers supported composite which is typically better quality than RF but only supports video, usually there was a mono/stereo audio connector(s), allowing the computer to be connected to a TV or monitor often through RCA or SCART using appropriate cables (SCART cables available more recently). RGB provides the very best quality video (sound has to be obtained through a separate connector) and depending on what type of sync signal was provided it could be connected to a monitor or TV (VGA/SCART being good options).
You can buy cables for various computers and a single one may work on multiple computers where the connections are the same, however, I usually make up my own cables and have detailed how to do so on my site. Note that making a cable is sometimes not as simple as connecting one wire from one connector to another, it may be that resistors, for example, need to be included as older computers tend to output signals higher than what would typically be used today. Without those resistors either the image won't show at all on modern screens or it will be too bright.
While a vintage CRT monitor or TV will typically work best with a microcomputer, in modern times we often have no choice but to use LCD/OLED TVs/monitors which were designed for widescreen High Definition (HD) images, contrasting with microcomputers' lower resolution SD (Standard Definition) visuals. This means that while modern TVs/monitors usually are able to display the microcomputer's visuals, they may be in the wrong aspect ratio (which can often be fixed by changing the TV/monitor settings) or look stretched and lower quality than originally intended. CRT TVs/monitors 'naturally' adapt to different resolutions and refresh rates but LCD/OLED screens have to scale up or down from its native resolution, which impacts the quality of what you see. If the TV/monitor lets you zoom out that may help somewhat but the reality is that a lot of microcomputers did not output the prefect image, even though RGB, and that can appear even more apparent on modern TVs/monitors which typically are larger than what was available when the microcomputer was first released.
I mentioned TV boxes, essentially a form of upscaler, modern upscalers take an input image (composite, RGB, etc) and upscales (brings to a higher resolution) and outputs to VGA or HDMI, which is suitable for many modern TVs/monitors. If a TV or monitor is having a hard time latching on to a video signal from a microcomputer then an upscaler, even a cheap one, could ensure that the image is viewable as they are more tolerant. The cheaper upscalers will support composite or RGB input, for example, with a switch to choose the new resolution, more advanced and expensive devices will let you change a range of settings, which can be overwhelming but give the user the choice of exactly how to display the images. One thing to watch when buying an upscaler is that even if it has a SCART socket it may not support RGB over SCART, another issue is it may force the wrong aspect ratio - be sure to check with the seller.
Another option is a capture card which typically connects to a modern PC though USB and has various inputs (composite, S-Video, etc.) allowing the microcomputer' visuals and sound to be experienced on the PC as well as captured in image and video formats. Not all capture cards can show the the input in real time so they will have an ouput connector (usually HDMI) to avoid the lag. There may be differences in how the capture card displays the images, for example, they appear darker than when viewing directly on a TV/monitor, usually there are software settings to adjust brightness, etc. Another issue is that the capture card may only have an HDMI input but you can use an upscaler to convert the video output from the microcomputer to HDMI.
All content of this and related pages is copyright (c) James S. 2012-2025