The Timex TS1000 was a modest improvement over the ZX81. Instead of the 1KByte of RAM in the ZX81, the TS1000 had 2KByte of RAM. It also pushed the price of the computer to over $100.

Timex launched the computer in July of 1982. Timex launched numerous TV and print ads which provided a toll-free number for more information. The response was so enthusiastic that at one point Timex was receiving more than 50,000 calls a week of people inquiring about the machine.

By November of 1982, Timex's manufacturing facilities were producing one computer every ten seconds and production was still lagging behind demand. Timex opened two new factories in the United States to reduce the back-log.

The TS1000 featured the same Sinclair BASIC as the ZX81. All the software that ran on the ZX81 could also run on the TS1000. The TS1000 received an enthusiastic reception, not in a small part due to Timex's significant marketing efforts. Timex also had experience in sales, and had access to 171,000 retail locations that already sold Timex products. Consumers now had the opportunity to buy the computer at chains like K-Mart, jewelry- and even drug-stores.

The Z80 quickly became popular in the personal computer market, with many early personal computers, such as the TRS-80 and Sinclair ZX80, using the Z80 as their central processing unit (CPU). It was also widely used in home computers, such as the MSX range, SORD, and the Amstrad CPC, as well as in many arcade games. Additionally, it was also used in other applications such as industrial control systems, and embedded systems. The Z80 was widely used until the mid-1980s, when it was gradually replaced by newer microprocessors such as the Intel 80286 and the Motorola 68000.

The Z80 microprocessor was developed by Zilog, a company founded by Federico Faggin in 1974. The Z80 was released in July 1976, as a successor to the Intel 8080. It was designed to be fully compatible with the 8080, but also included new features such as an improved instruction set, more powerful interrupts, and a more sophisticated memory management system.

Originally the Z80 was intended for use in embedded systems, just as the 8080 CPU. But the combination of compatibility, superior performance to other CPUs of the era, and the affordability led to a widespread use in arcade video game systems, and later in home computers such as the Osborne 1, TRS-80, ColecoVision, ZX Spectrum, MSX, Sega's Master System and many more. The Z-80 ran the original Pac-Man arcade cabinet. The Z-80 was used even in the Game Gear (1990s), and the TI-81 and succeeding graphic calculators.

The Z-80 remained in production until June of 2024, 48 years after its original release. Zilog replaced the processor with its successor the eZ80, an 8-bit microprocessor that features expanded memory addressing up to 16 megabytes, and running up to 50MHz, comparable to a Z80 clocked at 150MHz.