The Wren was one of the last "laptop" CP/M computer. It can be described as a combined personal computer and Teletext terminal. It weights more than 12 Kg !
This Computer was assembled at the Thorn EMI factory in Treorchy South Wales. Only about 1000 were made before Wren went bust and many companys were left holding the parts for the other 9000 units that were part of the first production run.
It was very advanced for its day and the software package was very good quality and comprehensive for that era.
Although the Wren computer was manufactured at Thorn EMI in Feltham, they were a subcontractor to Wren Computers Ltd. Wren was a joint venture company between Transam Microsystems (www.transam.co.uk) and Prism (who distributed computers for Sinclair). Transam have recently been aquired by Eurodata Systems.
The Wren was sold with several good softs : Perfect Calc, Perfect Writer, Perfect Filer, Executive Desktop (agenda, phone directory, note-pad, etc.), the popular BBC Basic (the same as the Acorn BBC or the Electron) and a communication application. Indeed the Wren has a built-in modem and is Prestel (english videotex) compatible. But it can also be used to automaticaly dial phone numbers stored in a directory.
The whole system looks quite strong and robust. When transported, the whole monitor and drive assembly slides over the keyboard. The 7" built-in screen is monochrome but it is also possible to connect the WREN to an external RGB monitor. The two disk-drives (40 tracks) can stored 190k each. Weird fact : the drives LEDs light up when one of the floppies is selected but don't light off when this drive stop to work...
Quality control was a major issue which certainly delayed production and caused a few financial problems for Wren. It might just have been too far advanced a concept for the time....
Please consider donating your old computer / videogame system to Old-Computers.com or one of our partners from anywhere in the world (Europe, America, Asia, etc.).
Hi
It seems I need to provide contact details since the forum does not forward, mobile telephone number is 07928 483938 text only I wont pick up a call. G
Saturday 29th January 2022
george baker (United Kingdom)
Hi
I in Manchester England and found a Wren transport bag a couple of weeks ago full of stuff. I would like to see it united with a Wren if someone has a suitable bag to hold the stuff currently in it. I had 2 wrens, bought as insurance salvage because they stopped working around 1988. In the workshop they were always coming back because they stopped working, The under side of the unit hit your leg and buckled shorting out the MoBo. My workshop fix was a sheet of insulator. We sold a News Agents package with them as IIRC a turn key solution. G
Saturday 29th January 2022
george baker (United Kingdom)
Ian (London, UK)
"Do you still have the audio digitiser schematic and software to share or to purchase? I am also interested in the RGB to PAL card."
I''m afraid I don''t have the schematics. I *may* have the circuit boards somewhere, but it''s quite likely that I got rid of them when the Wren itself stopped working, or during a house move. Even knowing which ICs I''d used would probably help you a bit.
The RGB-to-PAL interface was a design I saw in an electronics Magazine.
I''ll have a quick look through my things and see if by any chance I can find the circuit boards, but I''m not confident :-(
Tuesday 11th May 2021
Martin Underwood (England)
NAME
WREN
MANUFACTURER
Thorn EMI
TYPE
Transportable
ORIGIN
United Kingdom
YEAR
1984
KEYBOARD
Full-stroke keyboard with 5 function keys and arrow keys, 67 keys
CPU
Zilog Z80 A
SPEED
6 MHz
RAM
64 kb (up to 256 kb)
VRAM
32 kb
ROM
8 kb
TEXT MODES
80 x 25 / 40 x 25
GRAPHIC MODES
512 x 256
COLORS
monochrome built-in display
SIZE / WEIGHT
235 x 420 x 470 mm / 12 kg
I/O PORTS
Centronics, RS232c, Winchester Hard Disk, Paddle (2), Modem socket, RGB video output
(France, october 84)
