Editing Zilog Z80 (section)

== Notable uses ==

=== Desktop computers ===
{{See also|list of home computers }}
[[File:ColecoVision-Open-FL.jpg|thumb|right|The Z80A was used as the CPU in a number of gaming consoles, such as this [[ColecoVision]].]]
During the late 1970s and early 1980s, the Z80 was used in a great number of fairly anonymous business-oriented machines with the [[CP/M]] operating system, a combination that dominated the market at the time.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Holtz |first=Herman |url=https://archive.org/details/computerworkstat0000holt |title=Computer work stations |date=1985 |publisher=Chapman and Hall |isbn=978-0-412-00491-9 |page=223 |quote=and CP/M continued to dominate the 8-bit world of microcomputers. |url-access=registration}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Dvorak |first=John C. |date=May 10, 1982 |title=After CP/M, object oriented operating systems may lead the field |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bDAEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA20 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240106211122/https://books.google.com/books?id=bDAEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA20 |archive-date=January 6, 2024 |magazine=[[InfoWorld]] |publisher=InfoWorld Media Group |page=20 |volume=4 |issue=18 |issn=0199-6649 |quote=The idea of a generic operating system is still in its infancy. In many ways it begins with CP/M and the mishmash of early 8080 and Z80 computers.}}</ref> Four well-known examples of Z80 business computers running CP/M are the [[Heathkit H89]], the portable [[Osborne 1]], the [[Kaypro]] series, and the [[Epson QX-10]]. Less well-known was the expensive high-end [[Otrona]] Attache.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Stengel |first=Steven |title=Otrona Attache |url=http://oldcomputers.net/attache.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231227190448/https://oldcomputers.net/attache.html |archive-date=December 27, 2023 |access-date=March 5, 2019 |website=Steve's Old Computer Museum}}</ref> Some systems used multi-tasking operating system software (like [[MP/M]] or [[Morrow Designs|Morrow]]'s Micronix) to share the one processor between several [[concurrent user]]s.

[[File:ZX Spectrum.jpg|thumb|A [[Sinclair Research|Sinclair]] [[ZX Spectrum]] which uses a Z80 clocked at 3.5&nbsp;MHz]]
Multiple home computers were introduced that used the Z80 as the main processor or as a plug-in option to allow access to software written for the Z80. Notable are the [[TRS-80]] series, including the original model (later retronymed "Model I"), [[TRS-80 Model II|Model II]], [[TRS-80 Model III|Model III]], and [[TRS-80 Model 4|Model 4]], which were equipped with a Z80 as their main processor, and some (but not all) other TRS-80 models which used the Z80 as either the main or a secondary processor. Other notable machines were the [[Digital Equipment Corporation|DEC]] [[Rainbow 100]], and the [[Seequa Chameleon]], both of which featured both an [[Intel 8088]] and a Z80 CPU, to support either 8-bit CP/M-80 applications running on the Z80, or a custom MS-DOS that was not fully compatible with [[PC DOS]] applications running on the 8088.

In 1981, Multitech (later to become [[Acer Inc.|Acer]]) introduced the [[Microprofessor I]], a simple and inexpensive training system for the Z80 microprocessor. Currently, it is still manufactured and sold by Flite Electronics International Limited in [[Southampton, England]].

In 1984 Toshiba introduced the Toshiba MSX HX-10 in Japan and Australia.

In 1985, [[Sharp Corporation|Sharp]] introduced the [[Hotbit]] and [[Gradiente]] introduced the [[Gradiente Expert|Expert]], which became the dominant 8-bit home computers in [[Brazil]] until the late 1980s.

=== Portable and handheld computers ===
Use of the Z80 in lighter, battery-operated devices became more widespread with the availability of CMOS versions of the processor. It also inspired the development of other CMOS based processors, such as the LH5801<ref>{{Cite web |title=Sharp PC-1500 Technical Reference Manual |url=https://www.pc-1500.info/Data/Service_Manuals/PC-1500_Technical_Reference_Manual.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231105135940/http://www.pc-1500.info/Data/Service_Manuals/PC-1500_Technical_Reference_Manual.pdf |archive-date=November 5, 2023}}</ref> from Sharp. The [[Sharp PC-1500]], a [[BASIC]]-programmable [[pocket computer]] was released in 1981, followed by the improved [[Sharp PC-1600]] in 1986 and the [[Sharp PC-E220]] in 1991. Later models of the [[Sharp Wizard]] series of personal organizers also were Z80 based. [[Laptop]]s which could run the CP/M operating system just like the desktop machines followed with [[Epson PX-8 Geneva]] in 1984, and in 1985 the [[Epson PX-4]] and [[Bondwell-2]]. While the laptop market in subsequent years moved to more powerful [[Intel 8086]] processors and the MS-DOS operating system, light-weight Z80-based systems with a longer battery life were still being introduced, such as the [[Cambridge Z88]] in 1988 and the [[Amstrad NC100]] in 1992. The Z80-derived [[Zilog Z180|Z8S180]] also found its way into an early [[pen computing|pen-operated]] [[personal digital assistant]], the [[PenPad#PDA600|Amstrad PenPad PDA600]] in 1993. Hong Kong-based [[VTech]] produced a line of small laptop computers called 'Lasers' based on a Z80.<ref>{{Cite web |date=April 1991 |title=Poor Man's Laptop |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0eQDAAAAMBAJ&q=laser+pc4&pg=PA120 |access-date=April 11, 2018 |website=Google Books |publisher=Popular Mechanics, April 1991, page 120}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Laser PC4 |url=https://www.oldcomputermuseum.com/laser_pc4.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231105135941/http://www.oldcomputermuseum.com/laser_pc4.html |archive-date=November 5, 2023 |access-date=April 11, 2018 |website=Old Computer Museum}}</ref> The last two were the Laser PC5<ref>{{Cite web |title=Laser PC5 from VTech |url=https://www.larwe.com/museum/laserpc5.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231105135939/http://www.larwe.com/museum/laserpc5.html |archive-date=November 5, 2023 |access-date=April 11, 2018 |website=larwe.com}}</ref> and PC6.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Laser PC6 |url=http://www.perfectsolutions.com/pc6f.asp |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180521024606/http://www.perfectsolutions.com/pc6f.asp |archive-date=May 21, 2018 |access-date=April 11, 2018 |website=Perfect Solutions dot com |publisher=Perfect Solutions}}</ref>
The [[Cidco MailStation]] Mivo 100, first released in 1999, was a stand-alone portable email device, with a Z80-based microcontroller.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Mailstation Development |url=http://www.fybertech.net/mailstation/info.php |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240106190541/http://www.fybertech.net/mailstation/info.php |archive-date=January 6, 2024 |access-date=April 18, 2021 |website=Fybertech.net}}</ref> Texas Instruments produced a line of pocket organizers (ending in 2000) using Toshiba processors built around a Z80 core; the first of these was the TI PS-6200<ref>{{Cite web |last=Woerner |first=Joerg |title=Texas Instruments PS-6200 |url=http://www.datamath.org/Personal/PS-6200.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231105135940/http://www.datamath.org/Personal/PS-6200.htm |archive-date=November 5, 2023 |access-date=June 18, 2019 |website=Datamath Calculator Museum}}</ref> and after a lengthy production run of some dozen models culminated in their PocketMate series.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Woerner |first=Joerg |title=Texas Instruments PocketMate 100 |url=http://www.datamath.org/Personal/PM100.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231105135939/http://www.datamath.org/Personal/PM100.htm |archive-date=November 5, 2023 |access-date=June 18, 2019 |website=Datamath Calculator Museum}}</ref>

=== Embedded systems and consumer electronics ===
[[File:PABX.jpg|thumb|Z80-based [[PABX]]. The Z80 is to the right of the chip with the hand-written white label on it.]]

The Zilog Z80 has long been a popular microprocessor in [[embedded system]]s and [[microcontroller]] cores,<ref name="Heath 2003" /> where it remains in widespread use today.<ref name="Balch 2003">{{Cite book |last=Balch |first=Mark |title=Complete Digital Design: A Comprehensive Guide to Digital Electronics and Computer System Architecture |date=June 18, 2003 |publisher=[[McGraw-Hill Professional]] |isbn=0-07-140927-0 |series=Professional Engineering |location=[[New York City|New York, New York]] |page=122 |chapter=Digital Fundamentals}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Ian R. Sinclair |url=https://archive.org/details/practicalelectro0000sinc_u9l7/page/204/mode/2up |title=Practical electronics handbook |publisher=Newnes |year=2000 |isbn=978-0-7506-4585-0 |edition=5 |location=Oxford, Angleterre |page=204 |lccn=00502236 |oclc=42701044}}</ref> Applications of the Z80 include uses in [[consumer electronic]]s, industrial products, and electronic musical instruments. For example, Z80 was used in the groundbreaking music synthesizer [[Prophet-5]],<ref>{{Cite web |year=1999 |title=Gordon Reid's Vintage Synths – the Sequential Circuits Prophet 5 and Prophet 10 |url=https://www.gordonreid.co.uk/vintage/prophet.shtml |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231105135941/https://www.gordonreid.co.uk/vintage/prophet.shtml |archive-date=November 5, 2023 |website=gordonreid.co.uk}}</ref> as well as in the first [[MIDI]]-equipped synthesizer, the [[Prophet 600]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Fabio |first=Adam |date=March 19, 2014 |title=Prophet 600: A Classic Synthesizer Gets Processor Upgrade |url=https://hackaday.com/2014/03/18/prophet-600-a-classic-synthesizer-gets-processor-upgrade/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231105135947/https://hackaday.com/2014/03/18/prophet-600-a-classic-synthesizer-gets-processor-upgrade/ |archive-date=November 5, 2023}}</ref> The Z80 was the basis for all [[E-mu Systems]] instruments from 1976 to 1986.<ref name="SOSSep2002">{{cite web|last=Keeble|first=Rob|title=30 Years of Emu|url=https://www.soundonsound.com/music-business/30-years-emu|website=Sound On Sound|publisher=SOS Publications Group|date=September 2002|access-date=10 January 2025}}</ref> [[Casio]] used the Z80A in its [[PV-1000]] video game console.

Many early-1980s arcade video games, including the arcade game [[Pac-Man]], contain Z80 CPUs.

The Z80 was used in Sega's [[Master System]] and [[Game Gear]] consoles. The [[Sega Genesis]] contains a Z80, with its own 8&nbsp;KB of RAM, which runs in parallel with the MC68000 main CPU, has direct access to the system's sound chips and I/O (controller) ports, and has a switched data path to the main memory bus of the 68000 (providing access to the 64&nbsp;KB main RAM, the software cartridge, and the whole video chip); in addition to providing backward compatibility with Master System games, the Z80 is often used to control and play back audio in Genesis software.{{efn|This common, but merely optional and not limiting, usage leads to the frequent but incorrect description of the Z80 in the Genesis as a "sound processor".}}

Z80 CPUs were also used in the popular [[Comparison of Texas Instruments graphing calculators|TI-8x series of graphing calculators]] from [[Texas Instruments]], beginning in 1990 with the [[TI-81]], which features a Z80 clocked at 2&nbsp;MHz. Most higher-line calculators in the series, starting with the [[TI-82]] and [[TI-85]], clock their Z80 CPUs at 6&nbsp;MHz or higher. (A few models with TI-8x names use other CPUs, such as the M68000, but the vast majority are Z80-based. On those, it is possible to run assembled or compiled user programs in the form of Z80 machine-language code.) The [[TI-84 Plus series]], introduced in 2004, is still in production as of 2023. The [[TI-84 Plus series#TI-84 Plus CE and TI-84 Plus CE-T|TI-84 Plus CE series]], introduced in 2015, uses the Z80-derived [[Zilog eZ80]] processor and is also still in production as of 2024.

In the late 1980s, a series of [[Soviet]] landline phones called "AON" featured the Z80; these phones expanded the feature set of the landline with [[caller ID]], different [[ringtone]]s based on the caller, [[speed dial]] and so forth.<ref>{{Cite web |date=January 29, 2020 |title=Making a demo for an old phone — AONDEMO |url=https://habr.com/en/post/486010/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231105140002/https://habr.com/ru/articles/486010/ |archive-date=November 5, 2023 |website=habr.com}}</ref> In the second half of the 1990s however, manufacturers of these phones switched to 8051 compatible MCUs to reduce power consumption, and prevent compact wall power adapters from overheating.