I joined this great forum a couple of days ago and so it's time to introduce myself.
My name is Patrick. I'm from the Netherlands and 47 years old.
When I was a kid my schoolteacher introduced me to my first computer. A Grundy Newbrain.
But it didn't take long befor my father bought a Sinclar ZX spectrum. The 16kb model.
Soon I realized 16kb was limited because most games required 48kb.
So I saved all my money and bought a memory expansion. A very ugly unstable block in the back. But it worked.
A year later I sold my spectrum and bought a ZX Spectrum+.
I learned how to program and played lots of games which I " traded" from the kids in the neighborhood. Yeah I admit, I copied tapes, but also bought some games.
After a while I also bought a Commodore 128 and loved that machine too (some people here probably hate me now).
But I'm still in love with the ZX spectrum.
Last year I decided to pickup my Spectrum and Commodore hobby's again. So I bought the Ultimate 64 FPGA version of the commdore 64 and I decided to build my own ZX Spectrum. On Bytedelight I ordered a Harlequin board and the parts and soldered my own spectrum in an evening. All works just excellent.
I also bought an SD card solution wih ESXDOS and a ZXHD to use it on my modern tv. It's just fun all over again, without the long loading times. HDMI output is great too.
So what's next? I think I want to buy a ZX Spectrum Next. I missed the first kickstarter, but hope to see a second run.
I'm also interested in the MISter FPGA. I can't find really much experieces here though. It's an expensive solution. I wonder how good the ZX spectrum core is. I also wonder if it's ossible to boot directly into tht core so it boots up in spectrum as I switch it on.
I also using a raspberry PI2 with the ZXBaremulator on it. Amazing emulator. It's accurate and it boots fast. Love it. I ordered an empty ZX Spectrum case, tubber keys, membrane etc, to put the Raspberry pi in it.
Enough plans and enough questions, but that's a whole other discussion. Anyway, I hope to find the answers I'm looking for on this forum and I will enjoy reading all exeriences and tips I can find here. Good to be amongst other speccy lovers out here!