CW/P Cortex

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The Cortex computer was manufactured by the British company C/WP ("Computers and Word Processors"), who bought the design from the US company Ontel (they marketed it as the Amigo). Major modifications were made to the hardware, including easy service access, and software, all designed to make this micro more user friendly. CW/P was aiming to sell the system to the mainstream office word processor market.

The Cortex was in three main parts: the keyboard; 5.25" disk drive; and monochrome display, which also housed the main logic board. The plastic housing was available in six different colours. Only four screws needed to be removed to access change any part of the system.

The IBM-style keyboard was set up to generate various Wordstar control codes, and the version of WordStar shipped with it was modified to use them. It ran the CP/M operating system, modified to support a second processor for display management and graphics capabilities. It was also one of the first machines to support Digital Research's GSX graphics standard.

Keyboard
Full stroke 83 keys, PC style, 10 function keys and numeric keypad
CPUM
Z80A @ 4MHz
Coprocessor
6502 (Screen)
RAM
64KB
VRAM
40KB
Text modes
80 chars x 25 lines
Graphics modes
640 x 300 pixels
Size
34x31x30cm
I/O ports
Parallel Centronics, Serial RS-232
Media
2 x 200KB 5.25'' floppy disc drives in separate unit
Price
£1795 (UK, 1984)

Manufacturer: CW/P
Date: 1983



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Magazines RELATED to CW/P Cortex in our Library

Item Manufacturer Date
Personal Computer World - December 1983 Dec 1983

This exhibit has a reference ID of CH43408. Please quote this reference ID in any communication with the Centre for Computing History.

 

CW/P Cortex


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