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Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01YDRjtmAiNpo5mK5N3d7QwZ
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---
title: ICL OPD - One Per Desk
categories:
- Computers
types:
- Professional Computer
origins:
- United Kingdom
years:
- '1984'
cpus:
- Motorola MC 68008
params:
name: OPD - One Per Desk
company: /companies/icl
company_name: ICL
specs:
- label: NAME
value: OPD - One Per Desk
- label: MANUFACTURER
value: ICL
- label: TYPE
value: Professional Computer
- label: ORIGIN
value: United Kingdom
- label: YEAR
value: '1984'
- label: BUILT IN LANGUAGE
value: None
- label: KEYBOARD
value: Full stroke 73-key with numeric keypad
- label: CPU
value: Motorola MC 68008
- label: SPEED
value: 7.5 MHz
- label: CO-PROCESSOR
value: Sinclair ULA gate array chip
- label: RAM
value: 128 KB (extensible to 640 KB)
- label: VRAM
value: 32 KB
- label: ROM
value: From 128 KB to 352 KB
- label: TEXT MODES
value: 42 / 64 / 84 chars. x 24 lines
- label: GRAPHIC MODES
value: 256 x 256 (8 colors) / 512 x 256 (4 colors)
- label: COLORS
value: '256'
- label: SOUND
value: TI TMP5220C speech synthesiser / built-in loudspeaker
- label: SIZE / WEIGHT
value: 44 (W) x 26.5 (D) x 6.8 (H) cm
- label: I/O PORTS
value: RS232 (2), QL Network (2), Joystick (2), ROM extension, RAM extension
- label: BUILT IN MEDIA
value: Two microdrives
- label: OS
value: Q-DOS
- label: POWER SUPPLY
value: Power is supplied by the monitor
- label: PERIPHERALS
value: Dual 3.5'' Floppy disc drive unit, Terminal adapter, various software in ROM cartridges
- label: PRICE
value: Unknown
tabs:
- photos
- hardware
- software
- emulators
- links
photos:
- title: INSIDE THE OPD
subtitle: ''
text: |-
Worth noticing :
\- 2 free locations for Telephony and RomPack modules\
\- The loudspeaker for the telephone and the speech synthesis\
\- 2 integrated microdrives
All elements are assembled without any screw, only plastic clips.
image: null
- title: REAR
subtitle: ''
text: |-
The back of the OPD reveals only 2 removable modules (Telephony and RomPack modules) and two connectors (Video/Power supply and parallel printer).
**(1)** Double disk drive unit with a connector for an optional second unit\
**(2)** Small cartridge used to connect the disk drive through the RomPack module.\
**(3)** RomPack module which can house 4 ROM cartridges. Three original ICL cartridges contains the telecommunication software\
**(4)** Connector for a serial printer\
**(5)** Monitor and power supply connector (the power is supplied by the monitor).\
**(6)** Telephony module. It handles a classic phone line and a second line for data transfer.\
**(7-8)** Phone cords.
image: null
- title: OPD MOTHERBOARD
subtitle: ''
text: |-
ICL used the Sinclair QL's mother board and transformed it deeply to make it compatible with the specific features of the OPD. The Sinclair Basic ROM were replaced by the operating system of the OPD. The BASIC has thus to be loaded from a disk or MicroDrive tape.
**(1)** Monitor and power supply connector\
**(2)** Parallel printer connector\
**(3)** ROM holding the OPD operating system\
**(4)** Motorola 68008 8/16 bit microprocessor running at 7,5 Mhz.\
**(5)** 128 Kb RAM.\
**(6)** Keyboard connector\
**(7)** Telephony Module Connector\
**(8)** Input/Output Sinclair chipsets\
**(9)** Microdrives connector
image: null
hardware:
- title: INSIDE THE FLOPPY DISK UNIT
subtitle: ''
text: A 'typical' floppy disk unit including two NEC 3.5" disk drives, a dedicated power supply, and an interface card connected to the OPD through a ROM pack module.
image: null
- title: INSIDE THE COLOR MONITOR
subtitle: ''
text: The same power supply is used for both monitor and computer.
image: null
screenshots:
- title: OPD BOOT SCREEN
subtitle: ''
text: |-
When OPD is turned on, a menu with 9 options gives access to :\
\- Telephony functions\
\- Messaging functions\
\- Integrated applications : Abacus (spreadsheet), Quill (Word processor), Archives (data base) - Easel (Graphics package)\
\- Microdrive and Floppy disk programs and files\
\- OPS parameters setting\
\- BASIC language from diskette or microdrive\
Every standard applications are identical to those of Sinclair QL
image: null
emulators:
- title: Q-Emulator for Windows 95
url: http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Heights/1296/winql.html
platform: Windows
text: ''
- title: QLAY - SINCLAIR QL EMULATOR for Windows95, DOS
url: http://web.inter.nl.net/hcc/A.Jaw.Venema/
platform: Windows
text: (Available for Linux)
- title: QEmulator
url: http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Heights/1296/q-emulator.html
platform: Apple
text: ''
- title: UQLX Homepage
url: http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Bay/2602/uqlx_main.html
platform: Unix / Linux
text: ''
- title: QLem
url: http://rand.thn.htu.se/~johan/qlem.html
platform: Atari
text: The QL Emulator for Atari ST/TT/Falcon
- title: Sinclair Emulation Homepage
url: http://users.aol.com/autismuk/sinclair.htm
platform: Other platform
text: ''
links:
- title: ICL OPD - Article from David Tebbutt, Personal Computer World 12-84
url: http://www.presshere.com/html/pw8412.htm
text: ''
- title: Web Wiz CAPTCHA
url: http://www.webwizcaptcha.com
text: Sinclair computers
comments:
- author: Paul Nichols (United States)
date: Tuesday 15th February 2022
text: I am looking to buy a working (or not) OPD or Tonto. Can anyone point me to a source?
- author: Mike (USA)
date: Sunday 10th November 2019
text: |-
So this listing has a slight bug. It says "The system, as did the QL, had basic task-switching - not real multitasking (background tasks didn''t run)..." I didn''t own an OPD but the QL had a true preemptive multitasking OS (i.e. QDOS) and indeed you could exec(ute) a program and it would keep running in the background while you worked in the foreground and you could have many programs running in the background (it was a cool demo to give).
Contrast that with the Mac which started with basic task switching and up until OS X moved the Mac to BSD Unix had a kernel that did cooperative multitasking (i.e. the difference is in preemptive the kernel keeps control and slices up time for each program but in cooperative the kernel gives up control to each program and hopes it gets it back).
- author: sarah (USA)
date: Thursday 7th July 2016
text: I was part of a team evaluating the OPD for ICL before release and we recommended that it not be released until the software worked properly and several ergonomic issues be resolved. The board released it anyway. My personal one burst into flames one day in1988
- author: QUANTA web master (UK)
date: Wednesday 10th October 2007
text: |-
I have compiled some useful information on the OPD / Tonto, which can be found on the QUANTA web site.
QUANTA supports QL and related systems, and I am responsible for maintaining the societies web site. If anyone would like to donate their OPD / Tonto to QUANTA, or would like to support, documentation or advice, please get in touch.
We can offer a small sum for surplus OPD / Tonto hardware and accessories, which we donate to the Red Cross. We are trying to establish an OPD / Tonto support network, so that enthusiasts can swap software, trade hardware and keep this machine alive.
We are in the process of scanning in manuals and documentation for the OPD, establishing an OPD software library and list of frequently asked questions (FAQs). FAQs will include : where to obtain OPD software, tips for repairing damaged monitors, suggestions for troubleshooting hardware faults and advice on exchanging files with a PC or Sinclair QL
- author: Ian Chard (UK)
date: Wednesday 1st December 2004
text: I worked at ICL as a summer student in 1992, and OPDs were still in active use on every department manager's desk. Presumably they didn't know what to do with all the thousands of OPDs they couldn't sell!
oc_id: 275
source:
url: https://web.archive.org/web/20230406084723/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=275
date: '2023-04-06'
---
This strange mixture between telephone and computer is actually a [Sinclair QL](/museum/sinclair-ql-quantum-leap/) (slightly modified, of course). It is based on the QL motherboard, but with some improvements, namely, ruggedized (in other words, more reliable) Microdrives.
ICL also added some software in ROM: diary, address and phone book, communication software and a terminal emulator. It has a built-in modem and a speech synthesizer.
According to ICL, each executive should have this computer on his desktop !
Two rebadged versions were sold in UK ([Merlin Tonto](/museum/merlin-tonto/)) and Australia (Telecom Computerphone).
---
More information from **'Ex Cathedra'**\
This was a classic design disaster - great ideas, poor execution. The microdrives didn't buffer as the Sinclair ones did, leading to a 7-sec seek time ever time a block was missed. The phone handset was 3/4 size and uncomfortable to use. Overheating was a big problem too, with frequent crashes. The speech synth could answer the phone with a Texas Dalek voice, but couldn't take a message. A fave in-house game at ICL was getting the thing to swear using the limited vocab range...
The main software was Psion xChange - WP, spreadsheet, DB and business graphics. This was in ROM, with the BASIC interpreter on Microdrive - Sinclair QLs were the other way round. xChange was a good package for its day, and actually looks very similar to the built-in packages on the Psion PDAs (3a, 5). The terminal emulation was a VT-type and a PRESTEL (the UK info service operated by the post office).
The system, as did the QL, had basic task-switching - not real multitasking (background tasks didn't run) but at least you were not constantly unloading and reloading programs as on the IBM PCs of the day. A big boon given the problem with the microdrives...
Add-on ROMS were available (your pic actually shows one top right) which made the machine into an ICL7561 terminal emulator. This was a popular configuration as ICL discounted them heavily and they ended up cheaper than the original terminals.