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I have seen that some people are asking questions about assembly programming using the Z80 CPU. I used it years ago. It it still being used in new pieces of hardware or is it totally obsolete?

Rob Anthony
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    I believe the game boy was a modified Z80, and so related questions could be about developing gb games. Also: *"The Zilog Z80 has long been a popular microprocessor in embedded systems and microcontroller cores, where it remains in widespread use today...."* from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zilog_Z80 – Nick is tired Jul 27 '17 at 10:56
  • This question is off-topic as it's not about programming. – tambre Jul 27 '17 at 10:56
  • They probably want to code against an emulator. – CodeCaster Jul 27 '17 at 11:01
  • I'm asking to see whether it is worth me digging out my Z80 Handbook and start to program in it again. – Rob Anthony Jul 27 '17 at 11:01
  • @RobAnthony Which would be an opinion-based question, which is also off-topic. – tambre Jul 27 '17 at 11:48
  • I'm not asking for an opinion if it's worth me doing it, I'm asking for factual information upon which I will base my own opinion. However, if my question is not suitable for this site, I apologise. – Rob Anthony Jul 27 '17 at 11:50
  • IIRC some Texas Instrument calculators still use either full Z80, or some similar clone with minor differences. Otherwise the old GameBoy/Gameboy Color, with considerably customized Z80 (not beyond understanding, but requires studying and getting used to, if you did lot of classic Z80 assembly). GameBoy Advanced used the ARM7 already, no Z80. And then there's the new ZX Spectrum Next: https://www.specnext.com/ (kickstarter is over, boards should be available soon, full computer around Q1/2018) – Ped7g Aug 08 '17 at 17:26
  • Quesiton is more on-topic for retrocomputing or electronics SE. – qwr Aug 17 '22 at 07:38

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Yes, the TI-84+/TI-83+ line of graphing calculators (besides the CE, which uses the faster eZ80 processor) use it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TI-84_Plus_series

Zilog still appears to sell the Z-80 though it does look like they're mostly selling the eZ80 in that line which is compatible but much improved.

Hobbyists still use it and there is even a kickstarter for building a ZX Spectrum clone: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1835143999/zx-spectrum-next However, they don't technically use the Z-80 but a 100% programming compatible clone using an FPGA. Certainly that's still a Z-80 as far as the programmer is concerned.

iPhoenix
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George Phillips
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I was curious about this myself so I looked around a bit. The most extensive list I could find was from Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zilog_Z80#Embedded_systems_and_consumer_electronics

Here are the more modern pieces of equipment from the list:

  • Gasoline dispenser flow-rate controllers. US Patents 4930665 (1988), 4962462 (1983), 5602745 (1995). I would bet many of these are still in use today.
  • Breathalyzers (2008)

Looking through Google Patents I found these (after 2000):

Many of these are low-cost Chinese embedded devices or Japanese arcade machines.

qwr
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There is hobbyists project of ZX Spectrum clone that uses Z80 exactly http://nedopc.com/zxevo/zxevo_eng.php This computer is still in production as well as several extension devices for it.

Roman Mindlin
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    I think it's debatable whether a modern clone of an old computer counts as "new hardware". – qwr Mar 20 '18 at 19:20