---
title: Osborne Corp. OSBORNE 1
categories:
- Computers
types:
- Transportable
origins:
- U.S.A.
years:
- '1981'
cpus:
- Zilog Z80 A
params:
  name: OSBORNE 1
  image: /media/museum/photos/osborn1_1.jpg
  company: /companies/osborne-corp
  company_name: Osborne Corp.
  specs:
  - label: NAME
    value: OSBORNE 1
  - label: MANUFACTURER
    value: Osborne Corp.
  - label: TYPE
    value: Transportable
  - label: ORIGIN
    value: U.S.A.
  - label: YEAR
    value: '1981'
  - label: BUILT IN LANGUAGE
    value: None
  - label: KEYBOARD
    value: Full-stroke keyboard with separated numeric keypad
  - label: CPU
    value: Zilog Z80 A
  - label: SPEED
    value: 4 MHz
  - label: RAM
    value: 64 KB
  - label: ROM
    value: 4 KB
  - label: TEXT MODES
    value: 52 / 80 / 104 char. x 24 lines
  - label: GRAPHIC MODES
    value: Only graphic characters
  - label: COLORS
    value: Monochrome
  - label: SOUND
    value: Beeper
  - label: SIZE / WEIGHT
    value: '51(W) x 32,5 (D) x 22,5(H) cm. Weight : 10,2 Kg.'
  - label: I/O PORTS
    value: RS232, IEEE 488, Modem port, Composite Video
  - label: BUILT IN MEDIA
    value: 2 x 5.25'' FDD
  - label: OS
    value: CP/M
  - label: POWER SUPPLY
    value: Built-in power supply unit
  - label: PERIPHERALS
    value: 'Supplied with : CBasic, WordStar, SuperCalc, MailMerge, DBase II'
  - label: PRICE
    value: '3201'
  tabs:
  - photos
  - adverts
  - links
  forum_thread: 191
  photos:
  - title: ANOTHER PICTURE
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/photos/osborn1_2.jpg
  - title: KEYBOARD LABEL
    subtitle: ''
    text: Osborne 1 with dBase II keyboard layer
    image: /media/museum/photos/osborne_1_4.jpg
  - title: ANOTHER MODEL
    subtitle: ''
    text: This model is slightly different from the original one. Surely, a later revision.
    image: /media/museum/photos/osborne_1_3.jpg
  - title: CLOSED !
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/photos/osborn1_3.jpg
  - title: STILL CLOSED
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/photos/osborne_1_closed_2.jpg
  - title: BACK LABEL
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/photos/osborne_1_label.jpg
  - title: INSIDE OSBORNE 1
    subtitle: ''
    text: |-
      **(1)** Cathode ray tube.\
      **(2)** Characters generator ROM.\
      **(3)** Disk drives controler card.\
      **(4)** RAM memory chips (64 Kb).\
      **(5)** Brightness adjustment.\
      **(6)** Contrast adjustment.\
      **(7)** External power plug.\
      **(8)** System init button (Reset).\
      **(9)** External monitor plug.\
      **(10)** Numerical keypad.\
      **(11)** Keyboard connector.\
      **(12)** BIOS ROM (Basic input/Output routines).\
      **(13)** Modem connector.\
      **(14)** Parallel IEEE-488 connector.\
      **(15)** Serial RS-232 connector.\
      **(16)** Motorola 6821 chipset handling the IEEE-488 port.\
      **(17)** Motorola 6850 chipset handling the serial port.\
      **(18)** Zilog Z80-A microprocessor.\
      **(19)** Double density 1/4 height disk drives.
    image: /media/museum/photos/osborne_1_inside_1.jpg
  adverts:
  - title: FIRST ADVERT
    subtitle: ''
    text: |-
      Probably one of the first adverts for the Osborne 1.\
      Personal Computing, February 1982.

      Courtesy of **[Attached](http://www.aci.com.pl/mwichary/)**
    image: null
  - title: STRONG WOOMAN(1982)
    subtitle: ''
    text: |-
      Don't beleive this advert!\
      Please, look carefully at the quite horizontal shoulders of the woman who carries the Osborne (about 12 Kg). Either she is a champion of wrestling, or the Osborne case is empty.
    image: /media/museum/pubs/osborne_1_pub_1.jpg
  - title: SAME WITH A MAN
    subtitle: ''
    text: Less impressive...
    image: /media/museum/pubs/osborne_1_pub_3.jpg
  - title: 'U.S. ADVERT(1982) #2'
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/pubs/osborne_1_pub_2.jpg
  - title: ENGLISH POSTER
    subtitle: ''
    text: Poster in a 1982 english computer show.
    image: /media/museum/pubs/osborne_1_poster_1.jpg
  - title: COMPUTERS IN THE EXAM ROOM
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/pubs/osborne_1_exams.jpg
  links:
  - title: Dave's First Computer - The Osborne O1
    url: http://www.davemathews.com/osborne.html
    text: ''
  - title: Osborne page
    url: http://www.digitalcentury.com/encyclo/update/osborne.html
    text: A bit of history...
  oc_id: 181
  source:
    url: https://web.archive.org/web/20230602181528/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=181
    date: '2023-06-02'
---

The Osborne 1 is one of the first portable computers but needs external power source. Its name comes from Adam Osborne, the man who made this computer a reality (not quite true, see end of the text).

It has a very small built-in screen (8.75 x 6.6 cm, which can display 128 columns!!) and weighs more than 10 Kg.\
The first models couldn't display more than 52 columns by line, so to access to the 76 other columns, the user had to scroll among the screen thanks to the cursor keys.

It works under CP/M and was sold with Digital Research CBASIC (compiled BASIC), SuperCalc (spreadsheet), WordStar (word processor), MailMerge (mailing) and Microsoft's MBasic (MBasic source code was 100% upwards compatible with IBM PC's BASICA, source code only).

This machine would be succeeded in 1983 by the [Osborne Executive](/museum/osborne-corp-executive/), which featured a larger screen (YAHOO!) and lower-profile disk drives.

Despite its interesting characteristics, Osborne Computer Corporation suffered the competition of the first IBM PC compatibles and went bankrupt in 1983. One casualty was a planned portable computer called the Osborne PC (which, interestingly, was an MS-DOS clone). It was never released (even though prototypes exist).