Zilog's Z80 was a lynchpin of the home computer revolution. The first two 8-bit machines I owned, the ZX Spectrum and the Amstrad CPC, both had one. The versatile chip was a regular co-processor in the 16-bit era, and enjoyed a long golden afternoon as a low-power CPU with an instruction set everyone and their gran knows by heart. — Read the rest
The post Zilog to stop making classic Z80 8-bit CPU after 50 years appeared first on Boing Boing.
Zilog's Z80 was a lynchpin of the home computer revolution. The first two 8-bit machines I owned, the ZX Spectrum and the Amstrad CPC, both had one. The versatile chip was a regular co-processor in the 16-bit era, and enjoyed a long golden afternoon as a low-power CPU with an instruction set everyone and their gran knows by heart. — Read the rest
Enlarge / A cropped portion of a ca. 1980 ad for the Microsoft Z80 SoftCard, which allowed Apple II users to run the CP/M operating system. (credit: Microsoft)
Last week, chip manufacturer Zilog announced that after 48 years on the market, its line of standalone DIP (dual inline package) Z80 CPUs is coming to an end, ceasing sales on June 14, 2024. The 8-bit architecture debuted in 1976 and powered a small-business-PC revolution in conjunction with CP/M, also serving as the h
Last week, chip manufacturer Zilog announced that after 48 years on the market, its line of standalone DIP (dual inline package) Z80 CPUs is coming to an end, ceasing sales on June 14, 2024. The 8-bit architecture debuted in 1976 and powered a small-business-PC revolution in conjunction with CP/M, also serving as the heart of the Nintendo Game Boy, Sinclair ZX Spectrum, the Radio Shack TRS-80, the Pac-Man arcade game, and the TI-83 graphing calculator.
In a letter to customers dated April 15, 2024, Zilog wrote, "Please be advised that our Wafer Foundry Manufacturer will be discontinuing support for the Z80 product and other product lines. Refer to the attached list of the Z84C00 Z80 products affected."
Designers typically use the Z84C00 chips because of familiarity with the Z80 architecture or to allow legacy system upgrades without needing significant system redesigns. And while many other embedded chip architectures have superseded these Z80 chips in speed, processing power, and capability, they remained go-to solutions for decades in products that didn't need any extra horsepower.
A basic calculator is a tool for quickly performing quick arithmetic functions. But graphing calculators are basically programmable computers. While they’re designed as math aids for students, engineers, and others… hackers have been porting games like DOOM to run on graphing calculators for decades. Now someone has ported a full Sonic the Hedgehog game to […]
The post Now you can play Sonic the Hedgehog 2 on a TI-84 Plus CE graphing calcultor appeared first on Liliputing.
A basic calculator is a tool for quickly performing quick arithmetic functions. But graphing calculators are basically programmable computers. While they’re designed as math aids for students, engineers, and others… hackers have been porting games like DOOM to run on graphing calculators for decades. Now someone has ported a full Sonic the Hedgehog game to […]