ZX Spectrum

[biometrics]

The ZX Spectrum (the "Z" is pronounced "Zed" from its original British English branding) is an 8-bit personal home computer released in the United Kingdom in 1982 by Sinclair Research Ltd.





http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZX_Spectrum

[TirNaNog]

http://www.zxspectrum.net/

Java Speccy games online

LOVE the Spectrum! Where it all began for me.

[isie]

The ZX Spectrum (the "Z" is pronounced "Zed" from its original British English branding) is an 8-bit personal home computer released in the United Kingdom in 1982 by Sinclair Research Ltd.





http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZX_Spectrum

we had one of those, remember having programs stored on audio cassette - copy games using high speed dubbing on our old Hi-Fi

[TirNaNog]

we had one of those, remember having programs stored on audio cassette - copy games using high speed dubbing on our old Hi-Fi

Yeah, did you ever have to tweak the head with that little screw to get the audio sounding sharp? Then waiting 5 minutes for the game to load and all of sudden...

R- Tape Loading Error

[cbrunsdonza]

Those where the days. Remember writing my first games on my Spectrum

[sjpslabbert]

Those where the days. Remember writing my first games on my Spectrum

I still have mine. AFAIK it is still in working condition, but it is stored in a box at the moment. Unfortunately I do not have any games left. It was absolutely brilliant (at that time ) I had hours of fun on it.

[The_Librarian]

Best spectrum site IMHO :

World of Spectrum

Most games can be played in your browser via Java.

Speccy games for the iPad :

iSpeccy

Also playable on your PC - but it really need a touchscreen. Should also work on other touchscreen devices.

(the only way to circumvent Apple's ban on emulators [which I think is silly - the ban on emulators])

[dade]

That is where it all started for me aswell. I remember as kid going to the library to get books with fun little basic games you could type out and eventually started writing my own. That was in primary school (20+ years ago) and today I'm a software developer. (thanks zx spectrum).


Anyone remember writing Hangman from that book?

save & verify

[TirNaNog]

That is where it all started for me aswell. I remember as kid going to the library to get books with fun little basic games you could type out and eventually started writing my own. That was in primary school (20+ years ago) and today I'm a software developer. (thanks zx spectrum).


Anyone remember writing Hangman from that book?

save & verify

For sure! That little book was so dog-eared at my place lol.
I recall 'typing in' a game (as we called it when we were 10 years old lol) that had hundreds of lines of code. It was a text adventure called 'time slider'. After three months, I came home one day to work on it, added some code and saved it at the start of my tape (like I had done every other time) and halfway through the save, the power went out.
I thought i'd lost all my code for that day, only to discover that I had partially overwritten the previous version with half of the new version I was saving... I had lost ALL MY CODE. Good life lessons
I got my 16k Speccy in 1983 and upgraded to 48k shortly thereafter.

[isie]

Yeah, did you ever have to tweak the head with that little screw to get the audio sounding sharp? Then waiting 5 minutes for the game to load and all of sudden...

R- Tape Loading Error

screw dont recall
R-tape loading error- yes think my first swear words were said around then

remeber if you played the cassete it would sound like a dial up modem

[absynth]

Was my 1st computer too.First the 48k then 128k +2.
Sadly all the buttons on my +2 tape player broke and then it stopped working so had to call it quits there with Spectrum.
Could not use an external tape deck on the +2.

There is a great Emulator called Spectaculator(Payware), but well worth the price.

[TirNaNog]

screw dont recall
R-tape loading error- yes think my first swear words were said around then

remeber if you played the cassete it would sound like a dial up modem

Yeah - lol @ swear words.

They were exactly like a modem - same principle... actually a 1.2k modem to be precise. The first backup system I had for original games was called 'The Key'. It did most simple and older games, but then the games and copy-protection got harder to crack, including 'Speed-Lock'... they manipulated and increased the baud, with the effect that loading was quicker, but far less reliable.

We then had to use the newer software - "Lerm" if I recall - to copy stuff in 'near original' quality. Otherwise you were stuck with the 'tape to tape' method where you would play on one side and record on the other of your double tape deck or (if you were poor lol) your two tapes connected via audio jacks Earphone->mic.

[atomcrusher]

This thread took me back in time ... and I think I've still got my ZX Spectrum in a top cupboard somewhere

[TirNaNog]

This thread took me back in time ... and I think I've still got my ZX Spectrum in a top cupboard somewhere

What version did you have? I'm looking for the hard keyboard type - 128k. Let me know if you're interested in selling (if it still works)

[madrynn]

Weird... I found the user manual of mine in a box full of books just yesterday! :P