Transistor Computer

• The Manchester University experimental transistor computer, operational in November 1953 and therefore the world's first transistor stored-program computer to work. See Simon Lavington, Early British Computers, p.50 (Manchester University Press, 1980).
  The transistor computer was built by Dick Grimsdale and Douglas Webb at Manchester University. It was commercialised by Metropolitan Vickers as the Metrovic 950. The prototype employed 250 transistors and consumed around 150W.
  Dick described the project in his talks to the BCS Computer Conservation Society (13th December 1994) and to the Computer History Museum (28th September 2000)
  See page10c and $set421 for more details.
  In the foreground (left) the drum that was originally used on the Manchester Mark I computer can be seen in use as the memory of the Transistor Computer, see $set412 for more details.
  Digital image from compact disk CD1 in the departmental archive, original source unknown.

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This is the best of set $set316, which contains images IMG0063, IMG5004, page55_D2 and SHL0201G. ID: IMG5004. 2352x1786 (JPEG only). Copyright: unknown. Collection: Digital images from a variety of sources not part of the other collections. No source artefact.

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Set edited 4-Nov-2025 (Jim Miles)

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