ZX Spectrum. The ZX Spectrum (pronounced /ˈzɛdˌɛks/ "Zed-Ex"[2][3]) is an 8-bit personal home computer released in the United Kingdom in 1982 by Sinclair Research Ltd. Referred to during development as the ZX81 Colour and ZX82,[4][5] the machine was launched as the ZX Spectrum by Sinclair to highlight the machine's colour display, compared with the black-and-white of its predecessor, the ZX81.[6] The Spectrum was ultimately released as eight different models, ranging from the entry level model with 16 kB RAM released in 1982 to the ZX Spectrum +3 with 128 kB RAM and built in floppy disk drive in 1987; together they sold in excess of 5 million units worldwide (not counting numerous clones).[7] The Spectrum was among the first mainstream audience home computers in the UK, similar in significance to the Commodore 64 in the USA. The Commodore 64, Oric-1 and Atmos, BBC Microcomputer and later the Amstrad CPC range were major rivals to the Spectrum in the UK market during the early 1980s.
Hardware[edit] World of Spectrum. ZX Spectrum: 30 years old, and still one of the cheapest computers ever made. Today is the 30th birthday of the ZX Spectrum, one of the most popular home computers ever made, and probably the single most important factor in the creation of the IT industry in the UK. The ZX Spectrum, made by Sinclair Research in Cambridge, England is usually considered the UK equivalent of the US-made Commodore 64.
Hardware-wise, the ZX Spectrum was completely unremarkable. There was an 8-bit Zilog Z80A CPU, a graphics chip capable of outputting 32 columns by 24 rows (256x192px) with 15 colors, and either 16 or 48KB of RAM. At just £125 ($200), however, the ZX Spectrum was incredibly cheap. The Commodore 64 cost $600. The BBC Micro, made by Sinclair’s arch rival Acorn Computers, cost £299. Despite costing just a fraction of its contemporaries, the ZX Spectrum had comparable functionality. How did Sinclair Research pull it off? ZX Spectrum+, a later version that did away with the "dead flesh" keyboard. The ZX Spectrum - Cambridge ESOL Reading Comprehension Exercise. Instructions: Read through the text, answer the questions that follow, then click on 'Grade Me!
' to view your score. In April 1982 a British company, headed by Sir Clive Sinclair, launched the ZX Spectrum computer on the market and sparked an IT revolution. The tiny black computer with its rubber keys ignited the home computer age both in the UK and elsewhere, which led to an boom in computer manufacturing and developed software programmers whose talent is still evident today. The ZX Spectrum was the brainchild of the entrepeneur Clive Sinclair, who had previously developed one of the first cheap and slim pocket calculators. The Spectrum was Sinclair's fourth computer, but was by far the most successful.
For many people, the ZX Spectrum was their first experience of using a computer and it soon gained a loyal following. Even today, there are programs being written for the Spectrum, though it has not been made for years. ZX Spectrum: the legacy of a computer for the masses | Technology. Celebrated today in a pitch-perfect Google Doodle, the 30th anniversary of the ZX Spectrum will have many veteran gamers swooning into a reverie of eighties nostalgia. Released on this day in 1982, the machine typified the British approach to industrial design – utilitarian but also idiosyncratic and characterful. It should have been buried by its more powerful contemporary, the Commodore 64, but somehow this strange little slab of plastic and rubber earned itself a considerable slice of the nascent home computing market, especially in Britain. Partly its success was about price.
Since the launch of the ZX80 computer two years earlier, restless British inventor Clive Sinclair had been interested in computing for the masses. Using cheap components and a minimalistic approach to design, he was able to manufacture machines at a lower cost than rivals such as Acorn, Apple and Tandy. "We spent a full year with this massive jar in the house labelled 'Spectrum savings fund'. LGR - Sinclair ZX Spectrum 48k Computer Review. Unofficial Timex Sinclair 2068 Site. Timex Sinclair 2068. The Timex Sinclair 2068 (TS2068), released in November 1983, was Timex Sinclair's fourth and last home computer for the United States market. It was also marketed in Portugal and Poland, as the Timex Computer 2068.
A variant of the machine was later sold in Poland under the name Unipolbrit Komputer 2086.[1] Technical specifications[edit] The TS2068 was based on the ZX Spectrum and followed Timex's ZX81-based TS1000 and TS1500, and the Spectrum-based TC2048. Advertisements described the TS2068 as offering 72K of memory, color, and sound for a price under $200.[2] Like the TS2048 was announced as a 40K memory machine (16K RAM + 24K ROM), so the 2068 was announced as a 72K machine (48K RAM + 24K ROM).
The TS2068 was a more sophisticated device, significantly changed from its UK ancestor. Sinclair BASIC was extended with new keywords (STICK, SOUND, ON ERR, FREE, DELETE, RESET) to address the new hardware and the machine offered bank-switched memory, allowing ROM cartridges to be mapped in.