yann64andClaude Opus 5.5
b274874139
1,289 discussions, 9,527 archived comments; pages no longer carry the comments themselves. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com> Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01YDRjtmAiNpo5mK5N3d7QwZ
106 lines
5.0 KiB
Markdown
106 lines
5.0 KiB
Markdown
---
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title: Research Machines RM-380Z
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categories:
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- Computers
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types:
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- Professional Computer
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origins:
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- United Kingdom
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years:
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- '1977'
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cpus:
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- Z80-A
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params:
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name: RM-380Z
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image: /media/museum/photos/researchmachines_rm380z_system_1.jpg
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company: /companies/research-machines
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company_name: Research Machines
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specs:
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- label: NAME
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value: RM-380Z
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- label: MANUFACTURER
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value: Research Machines
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- label: TYPE
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value: Professional Computer
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- label: ORIGIN
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value: United Kingdom
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- label: YEAR
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value: '1977'
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- label: BUILT IN LANGUAGE
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value: None
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- label: KEYBOARD
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value: Full stroke 60 keys QWERTY layout
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- label: CPU
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value: Z80-A
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- label: SPEED
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value: 4 MHz.
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- label: CO-PROCESSOR
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value: None
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- label: RAM
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value: 4 KB expandable to 56 KB
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- label: ROM
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value: 2 or 3 KB (Monitor)
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- label: TEXT MODES
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value: 40 chars (later optional 80) x 24 lines
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- label: GRAPHIC MODES
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value: |-
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80 x 72 monochrome as standard\
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320 x 192 16 colours and 640 x 480 4 colours with optional HRG board
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- label: COLORS
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value: Monochrome or 256 colours (HRG option)
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- label: SOUND
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value: None
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- label: SIZE / WEIGHT
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value: 59.5 (W) x 42.5 (D) x 21.5 (H) cm
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- label: I/O PORTS
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value: UHF TV, Composite video, Tape recorder, Parallel printer
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- label: BUILT IN MEDIA
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value: Single or dual 5.25
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- label: OS
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value: CP/M
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- label: POWER SUPPLY
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value: Built-in power supply unit
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- label: PERIPHERALS
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value: Graphic and colour board, 8'' 500 KB floppy drives
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- label: PRICE
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value: From £519
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tabs:
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- links
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forum_thread: 793
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links:
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- title: Research Machines RML380Z and 480Z Yahoo Discussion Group
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url: http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/380z/
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text: All is in the title...
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oc_id: 812
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source:
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url: https://web.archive.org/web/20230605231027/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=812
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date: '2023-06-05'
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---
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Research Machines is based in Oxford, England and the RM-380Z was their first model. It was designed specifically for the education market and the vast majority of its users were in this area.
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The computer was based around the Z80A processor. It had a clever physical bus made of ribbon cable with IDC crimp on connectors obviating the problems of poor connections associated with edge connectors.
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The basic system was composed of a 4 KB main unit, a typewriter style separate keyboard and a monochrome monitor. Single or dual floppy disc drives could be inserted in the main housings. 8" floppy drives (2 x 500 KB) were also available as well as a ‘High resolution’ colour graphics board.\
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The CP/M operating system was used to run lots of educational software.
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Before and during the time that the BBC computers were introduced in English schools, the 380Z and its successor the [Link 480Z](/museum/research-machines-link-480z/) met a great success, mostly due to their high reliability.
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The RM-280Z should be the kit version of the 380Z but RM never shipped any kits but only pre-built 380Z machine, thinking better of the support problems it would cause.
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---
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Cassette tape version, by **Simon Elliott**:\
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I seem to recall using an early version of the RM380Z that used to load the OS from cassette tape, not floppy disk.\
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Once loaded, if the reset button was pressed, the 'J103' trick could be used to bypasss the reload; but the initial load was a real pain.\
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When the school I was attending purchased the disk drive and memory upgrade, all us CS students thought we'd entered computer heaven. ;-)\
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I also recall a very primitive add-on sound option, beeps from something not unlike a modern PC speaker.
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**Gary** adds:\
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The 5.25" floppy drives were renowned for sudden failure caused by the rubber drive band coming off the drive. It was a simple matter to pop open the lid and re-seat the band.
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**Ben Jones** remembers:\
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I remember using a 380Z in Canterbury, around 1980. As well as the excellent text editor (can't remember what it was called now, but I found nothing comparable for a decade afterwards), I loved the simplicity of programming it in assembler.\
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Two geeks I knew used to hang out in the school's computer room, one writing a version of Defender in 6502 Assembler on the BBC, the other writing Space Invaders in Z80 on the 380Z (I myself did a PacMan-like game on the 380Z - and I've still got the floppies). Any time the Space Invaders code hung, its author would pause an instant, look up, sniff, comment that he "could smell the 380Z's hi-res board burning" and dive for the white button. :-)\
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But best of all was the fact that even after a 'hard reset' like that, you simply had to enter "J103" to jump back to where you were before ("J100" did a full reboot). I think 0103 as a recovery address stayed around for years (or even decades) -- disassemble any .com programme even now, and you'll probably find that the first, 3-byte, instruction at 0100 jumps to the main start routine, while the next one jumps somewhere else. Oh if only that worked with Windoze... :-(
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