1985 The Liberator First Laptop Computer by Thorn EMI in Original Case

About this deal

The Thorn EMI Liberator was a laptop word processor produced in the UK by Thorn EMI Datatech, primarily intended for use by British government civil servants, and is considered the first mass-produced British laptop. Its design was commissioned in 1983 by the UK Government's Central Computer and Telecommunications Agency (CCTA), envisaged as a portable device to let civil servants write and print their own reports without relying on typists. The Liberator ran on a Zilog Z80A microprocessor with its custom word processing software operating under the CP/M operating system. It featured an LCD screen capable of 80 columns by 16 lines of text and came with 40 kB of internal RAM as standard. Thorn EMI quoted a battery life of 14 hours with the bundled rechargeable battery pack. This is a rare and historically significant piece of British computing heritage, sold here for parts or not working, complete with its original carry case.