Spectrum Computing

Its the ZX81's birthday today so I thought I would write what my own personal experiences with the machine were.
http://www.thezxspectrum.com/2018/03/ha ... riend.html

Would love to know if you have any with this amazing computer?

Never had one. I only have run some programs on an emulator.

It would have been amazing having one in 1981!

Nice website [mention]Morcar[/mention]

The ZX81 was my first computer. My late father and I had the kit, then we purchased a keyboard kit from Maplin Electronics (who have sadly just gone under, although it has changed hands many times since those golden days). We then built an input / output board for it (again with parts from Maplin).

I still have the ZX81 in the garage somewhere in the case, I will try and add a photo over the weekend.

PeterJ wrote: ↑Mon Mar 05, 2018 9:14 pm Nice website @Morcar

The ZX81 was my first computer. My late father and I had the kit, then we purchased a keyboard kit from Maplin Electronics (who have sadly just gone under, although it has changed hands many times since those golden days). We then built an input / output board for it (again with parts from Maplin).

I still have the ZX81 in the garage somewhere in the case, I will try and add a photo over the weekend.

Would to see that if you have the time.

The ZX81 was the first computer I used - my younger brother's friend had one and I remember going round to his house after school, typing in games, and being amazed that these commands made something interactive.
The first game was a V flying down through scrolling up aster[oid|isk]s. All BASIC of course. I don't remember the magazine (or was it a book?), but it may well have been Galaxy Patrol from Sinclair User #2.
Good times.

My friends in school would defend the zx81 by saying 'the screen does not jump like zx80' I would then reply 'but its got 1k... my vic 20 has 4k.. and it has colour.':lol: We were to young too really know much about the merits of the machines beyond very basic stuff. Like I knew that having more ram was good but I didn't really understand why beyond I could put more program in the machine.

My memory of these little machines were they were wonders because of the price point. Nobody a few years before thought it was possible to have a computer in your own home for that kind of money.

Still Lot of the rom that later went into the 48 and 128k started life in the zx81 so in a way the zx81 is in the DNA of all of the later spectrum models (except QL i guess)

Plus some great technical achievements like 1K ZX Chess. I think that has to go down as one of the most impressive programming feats of the time.

My first computer.
I still have a lot of good memories and nostalgia for these days.
I currently have two of them and both are in good working condition, as well as one original Sinclair Ram pack 16K.
Beautiful machine, pretty underrated with a lot of potential, regardless of the lack of color and sound.
A true retro classic.

I have several, including the Timex versions, some working, some not ( I have to find time, to fix all the machines I have )
But I never had one back in the day.
My first was a ZX Spectrum 48K.

First computer for me. At the time just having games that you could play at home, load from tape etc. was a novelty. Mmmm.... 16k of wobbly RAM goodness...

...Didn't seem long before the switch to the Speccy though, which was a serious step up..

I did consider getting a zeddy from eBay a while ago, before I realised that I really wanted it for warm nostalgia value, rather than games/programs etc. and it'd probably just sit in its box forever...

Morkin wrote: ↑Tue Mar 06, 2018 10:10 pm ...
I did consider getting a zeddy from eBay a while ago, before I realised that I really wanted it for warm nostalgia value, rather than games/programs etc. and it'd probably just sit in its box forever...

I have exactly the same feeling, but since I'm trying to build a micro museum, I have to bite the bullet and have at least two of each model

Never owned one but it was the first computer I ever used.

On Boxing Day 1982 we went over to my uncles and my year-younger cousin's house and he'd had a 1K ZX81 for Christmas. I don't think I'd ever seen a computer before, let alone had one, but that computer lit a fire under my arse that continues to the present day. We played simple games like Mastermind and I was gob-smacked you could do such things as play games with it. 8 hours later my parents are dragging me home and from that day it was all I wanted.

I had to wait an entire year until Xmas '83 to get my 48K Speccy and, excluding the birth of my kids and wedding day, it remains the most treasured day of my life. I can still remember that day vividly, 35 years on...