Sir Clive's comeback - the portable Z88

SIR CLIVE Sinclair makes his comeback into the computer industry this week with the unveiling of his portable machine, the Z88.

Previewed at the Which Computer? show, the Z88 is, accoring to Sir Clive, "the culmination of what I have been trying to do for many, many years - produce a properly portable computer".

The final Z88 bears little resemblence to the machine Sinclair Research originally set out to develop two years ago, when it was codenamed Pandora.

Gone are plans to use flat tube display, Microdrives, or CP/M compatibility. Instead, it has a liquid crystal screen, custom-made Eprom cartridges and file compatibility with IBM PCs and clones.

Pricing

The price is lower than expected, as well. Sir Clive had previously spoken about a prince point of around 300UKP - 400UKP. The Z88 will initially cost 227.95UKP.

At 11.5 inches by 8.25 inches, it weighs just under 2Ibs, and uses four AA batteries, which should last 20 hours.

The Z88 incorporates the Z80 processor, 32K CMOS Ram, expandable to a maximum of three megabytes, with the addition of battery backed cartridges, a built-in suite of software, and BBC Basic within the machine. The Z80 chip has been used because, Sir Clive points out, "we had to have a completely CMOS system, and the Z80 was the only CMOS chip around at the time."

IBM Compatibility

IBM file compatibility is achieved with the purchase of an I/O cable and floppy disc. The I/O cable connects to the IBM from the Z88's RS-232 port; the disc contains software which runs on the PC machines and configures the Z88's data so that it can be downloaded from the IBM or compatible to the Z88.

The software within the machine has been written by Protechnic of Cambridge. It includes a word processor, database, spreadsheet and 'desk diary' utilities. "These are not cut-down versions of anything - this software is more sophisticated than anything else around." said Sir Clive.

Third Party Software

However, he adds that third party software developers will be encouraged to write for the machine. "Protechnic will help other software houses for it, and we'll be doing everything we can to make it easy for them." Protechnic also plans to write further software to make the Z88 file compatible with machines other than IBM PCs.

Windowing

The LCD screen is divided into four "windows": on the left hand side, menu options, depending on the software used at the time, are shown, the middle is the 'work' area, with eight lines by 80 columns visible. Towards the right hand side, the third window shows a screen map of the whole document being worked on, and on the extreme right, the battery status is shown.

The keyboard comprises 63 keys plus the space bar, made of hard silicon, and, claims Sir Clive, completely slient. "We felt it was very important that it should be quiet. If your'e going into a meeting to take notes on it, you don't want to be disturbing everyone with keys clattering."

Custom Cartridges

More storage space is available with extra Ram and Eprom cartridges in either 32K or 128K versions, with 1Mb versions planned. These are around two inches square, and plug into three ports at the front, underneath the machine.

Sir Clive says that the contrversy over the use of Microdrives in the QL led to the development of solid state cartridges. "if we had not done the QL, we would have been tempted to use the Microdrive technology in this," he said.

Other ports on the Z88 are the RS-232 slot, used for printer, modem and PC connections, and a Z80 bus on the roght hand side of the machine, and a mains adaptor on the left hand side. Also on the left is a screen contrast control knob.

Mail Order

True to Sinclair tradition, the Z88 will initially be sold on a mail order basis, starting in April. Toward the Autumn, Sir Clive hopes to place the machine in retail outlets.

Thorn EMI has already been appointed as a subcontractor (Sir Clive is currently negotiating with one other) to manufacture the Z88, and is building up to a production capacity of 10,000 units per month.

What the buyer will get for 227UKP is simply the machine and carrying case. Optional extras are the I/O cable for IBM transfer, the extra Ram and Eprom cartridges, and an ultra violet eraser for the cartridges. These should be available at launch. Also in development is a dedicated modem.

The Z88 is a product of Sir Clive's Cambridge Computer company, one of the off-shoots of Sinclair Research.

Sinclair Research now exists only as a holding company for three subsidiaries: Cambridge Computer, Anamartic, which is continuing research into wafer scale integration, and Shaye Communications, based in Winchester, which is researching the portable telephone market.

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