Dick Smith System 80 Mark II

The Dick Smith System 80 Mark II refined the successful TRS-80-compatible design for business and education. It replaced the earlier integrated cassette deck with a numeric keypad and incorporated compatibility and lower-case improvements that owners had previously added themselves.

The machine retained Level II BASIC and the established System 80 expansion environment, allowing existing software, disk systems and peripherals to move forward with the more professional keyboard layout.

Notable Features

• Numeric keypad replaced the Mark I’s built-in cassette recorder.
• Lower-case and compatibility improvements were incorporated at the factory.
• Retained the expansion ecosystem and software base of the original System 80.

Historical Significance

• The most visibly distinct production development of Dick Smith’s System 80 family.
• Responded to business users who valued data-entry keys and external storage over an integrated cassette.

Collector’s Notes

• Mark II is identified clearly on the case, unlike informal Mark I board revisions.
• External cassette equipment is required because the built-in recorder was removed.

Specifications

Technical Information
Name	Dick Smith System 80 Mark II
Manufacturer	Dick Smith Electronics
Launched	Friday, January 1, 1982
Country	Australia
CPU	Zilog Z80 at approximately 1.77 MHz
Units Sold
Operating System	Level II BASIC; TRS-80-compatible disk operating systems with expansion
I/O	Expansion bus, cassette, video and printer through expansion
Keyboard	Full-travel keyboard with numeric keypad
Storage	External cassette; optional floppy disk expansion
Sound	Cassette output supported simple sound
Graphics	128 x 48 block graphics
Display	Television or monitor; 64 x 16 text with lower case
ROM	Level II BASIC and revised character firmware
RAM	Typically 16KB, expandable to 48KB
CPU Speed	Approximately 1.77 MHz