website/content/museum/grundy-new-brain.md

title, categories, types, origins, years, cpus, params

title	categories	types	origins	years	cpus	params
GRUNDY NEW BRAIN	Computers	Home Computer	United Kingdom	1980	Zilog Z80 A	name image company company_name specs tabs forum_thread photos adverts hardware links oc_id source NEW BRAIN /media/museum/photos/grundy_newbrain_pub.jpg /companies/grundy GRUNDY label value NAME NEW BRAIN label value MANUFACTURER Grundy label value TYPE Home Computer label value ORIGIN United Kingdom label value YEAR 1980 label value BUILT IN LANGUAGE Basic interpreter label value KEYBOARD QWERTY, calculator style, 62 keys label value CPU Zilog Z80 A label value SPEED 4 MHz label value CO-PROCESSOR COP 240 (I/O) label value RAM 32 KB label value ROM 29 KB (8 KB for Basic, 4 KB for graphics, 4 KB for OS/characters set/editor) label value TEXT MODES 80 columns x 25-30 lines / 40 columns x 25-30 lines label value GRAPHIC MODES From 256 x 10 to 640 x 220 pixels label value COLORS Monochrome label value SOUND unknown label value I/O PORTS Tape (two - 1200 bauds); RGB, UHF, RS232c (two - 9600 bauds, one was used as a printer one was cut down in lacking an 'in' line.), Z80 Bus label value POWER SUPPLY External power supply unit label value PERIPHERALS Expansion interface featuring 2 serial ports, 2 parallels, 1 DAC, 1 joystick port, and a light pen port. label value PRICE $325 - £229 photos adverts hardware links 186 title subtitle text image THE FIRST NEWBRAIN This is the first model of the Newbrain, without the 1 line display of the Newbrain AD. /media/museum/photos/grundy_newbrain.jpg title subtitle text image NEWBRAIN AD Notice the 1 Line x 16 characters display. /media/museum/photos/newbrain_pub_0.jpg title subtitle text image EXPANSION & CONNECTION SCHEME /media/museum/photos/newbrain_connection_scheme.jpg title subtitle text image NEWBURRY BROCHURE #1 First Newburry brochure cover Courtesy of **www.oldcomputers.freeserve.co.uk** /media/museum/pubs/grundy_newbrain_leaflet_3.jpg title subtitle text image NEWBURRY BROCHURE #2 According to this brochure, Newbury had four models: Model M: Main Only\ Model MB: Main and with Batteries and display\ Model MD: Mains only with display\ Model MBS: Main and with Batteries and display with special low power consumption. Courtesy of **www.oldcomputers.freeserve.co.uk** /media/museum/pubs/grundy_newbrain_leaflet_newburry_inside.jpg title subtitle text image NEWBURRY BROCHURE #3 Courtesy of **www.oldcomputers.freeserve.co.uk** /media/museum/pubs/grundy_newbrain_leaflet_5.jpg title subtitle text image NEWBRAIN BROCHURE The first Newbrain brochure only offered two models: Model AD: with display\ Model A: without Display Courtesy of **www.oldcomputers.freeserve.co.uk** /media/museum/pubs/grundy_newbrain_leaflet_4.jpg title subtitle text image ADVERT New Brain complet package with FDD´s and peripherals... (the dot matrix printer was connected to the RS232 port)... The main box you see in the photo is the "school network controller" that permitted that "n" computers were plugged in as a network sharing one "5Mb hard drive" Thanks to Rui Santos for this picture /media/museum/pubs/newbrain_completo.jpg title subtitle text image DISK-DRIVE UNIT Under the Newbrain is also a neon-digit readout expansion (!). Thanks to [Allard's Computermuseum Groningen](http://members.tripod.lycos.nl/computermuseum/index.html)for this picture ! /media/museum/hardware/grundy_newbrain_disk-unit.jpg title subtitle text image BATTERY EXPANSION Grundy's marketing literature showed the NewBrain being used on a train. This battery expansion allowed remote operation. It connected in series with the regular NewBrain power supply unit. /media/museum/hardware/grundy_newbrain_batterypack_s1.jpg title url text Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grundy_NewBrain Grundy Newbrain entry title url text www.binarydinosaurs.co.uk http://www.binarydinosaurs.co.uk/Museum/Grundy/gerald.php Very detailed info from an insider 176 url date https://web.archive.org/web/20230320213423/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=176 2023-03-20

"When the NewBrain was announced to the world, in 1980, the design concept was significantly in advance of anything that had been seen in the field of handheld computing." (Dick Pountain - Personal Computer World)

In fact, the company that created it, Newburry Labs, sold the desing to its current owner, Grundy Business Systems Ltd.
It also seems that a small part of the original design came from Sinclair Radionics which designed later the ZX-80.

At one time, the NewBrain was in line to be the BBC computer, but design problems and the change in ownership caused the BBC to look elsewhere.

In 1982, the machine was advertised as a compact but powerful microcomputer with advanced hardware and software features.

The NewBrain AD, which contains a 1-line, 16-character fluorescent display, was complemented by a no-display cheaper version sold £30 less, the NewBrain A. There was no reset button and no ON/OFF switch either. A third model, called Newbrain M included a battery-backup option (and the LCD screen) so it can be used as a handheld computer.

An expansion interface was available, providing 2 serial ports, 2 parallels, 1 DAC, 1 joystick port, and a light pen port.
A network was also available and allowed to connect 24 computers together through RS-232/V24 bidirectional serial ports.
The New Brain used a special management memory system which allows to expand memory up to 2 Mb (IMPRESSIVE!).
The character set contained 512 letters, numbers and graphics as well as VideoText symbols. The Character set was divided into two 256-character banks, only one of which could be selected at a time.
An optional VideoText module enabled NewBrains owners to access British TeleText and Prestel services It could run under CP/M.