Torch Advert - December 1984
From Personal Computer World
The best thing next to a BBC Micro
Available at around the same time as Torch's "Graduate", Torch's Z80-based ZEP 100 was considered by Personal Computer News to be by far the better system out of the two for BBC Micro uses hoping to get in to business software[1].
The Z80 Extension Processor - or ZEP - was a plug-in system for the BBC Micro which turned it into a sort-of IBM PC, making use of the host BBC as a keyboard and display.
The ZEP was intended for BBC owners who already had floppy drives installed, but for those who didn't, the Torch Z80 Disc Pack - a ZEP100 with twin 400K 5.25" floppies, as featured in this advert, was also available, retailing at £699 (£2,640 in 2024 money).
Both ran a Z80A and had 64K memory available and ran Torch's own version of CP/M, called CPN.
At about this time, Torch announced that it was setting up a network of computers at a pilot aptitude training centre at the famous former RAF base Biggin Hill.
As well as the usual custom software packages, Biggin Hill had also ordered a range of computer games, including Elite, written by Ian Bell and David Braben and published by Acornsoft[2].
Sources
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