Preview Mode Links will not work in preview mode

A podcast about home computers of the late 70's through the 80's. NEW SPONSORSHIPS! 8-Bit Classics is a great place to get video cables, power supplies and more for a wide variety of vintage computer platforms. Arcade Shopper has a wide variety of hard-to-find items for a large number of platforms.

Jan 28, 2024

Grundy NewBrain Tech Specs with Chris Despoinidis

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays

Sponsors:

0 Floppy Days Tune
1 min 14 sec Vintage Computer Ads
1 min 43 sec Intro
5 min 38 sec bumper - Chris Espoinidis
5 min 51 sec New Acquisitions
16 min 32 sec bumper - Gerald McMullon
17 min 15 sec Upcoming Computer Shows
21 min 26 sec bumper - Steve O’Hara-Smith
21 min 45 sec Interview with Chris Espoinidis
36 min 23 sec Tech Specs
1 hr 12 min 07 sec Closing

Hello, and welcome to episode 135 of the Floppy Days Podcast.  I’m Randy Kindig, the host of this show, and I’ll be your guide to a journey back to the year 1982, when a very interesting, low-cost machine entered the market in Great Britain.  This machine, if you've been following the show, was the Grundy New Brain.  This is not a well-known machine, most particularly here in the United States where very few have even heard of it; let alone ever owned one.

As you know, I’ve been hot on the trail of pioneers who were involved with development of this machine.  I’ve recently published interviews with John Grant, Steve O’Hara-Smith, and Gerald McMullon concerning their involvement with the New Brain back in the day.

In this episode I move more into discussing details of the machine and its impact on the home and small business market in the 1980’s.  To help me talk about the machine, I was able to track down Chris Espoinidis and convince him to co-host this episode.  Chris manages the New Brain Emulator site from his home in Greece.  Even though Chris created one of the premier New Brain emulators in existence, and that was the primary focus of his Web site initially, his site has become one of the best places (along with Gerald McMullon’s Website) to get any and all New Brain information (which quite honestly is quite sparse).

The focus of this episode, and the next, is to cover things like tech specs, Web sites, emulators and all of the topics that have become the standard for machine coverage on Floppy Days.  This particular episode contains an interview with Chris, and then goes into great detail concerning the technical specifications of the New Brain.  The next episode will cover all the other details, with the intent to impart every bit of information to you that I could find about this little-known machine.

Before we do that, I will talk about new acquisitions and upcoming shows.