Back in the day I had a 16K ZX Spectrum followed by a +2. They both came with the very clear Sinclair BASIC manual.
I recently bought a refurbed 128K toastrack model in excellent condition as a bare machine. I have bought the 'ZX Spectrum+ User Guide' separately but, although it has some programming examples, it's very superficial compared to the 'proper' Sinclair Basic reference.
Judging from more complete ZX Spectrum 128K auction photos I can see that I also need the 'ZX Spectrum 128 Introduction', which I presumed would include the full BASIC reference. However I notice from perusing the HTML version of this book that it is also a pretty superficial document mainly outlining the new 128 features, and it suggests that the reader should consult the 'ZX Spectrum+ User Guide' for programming examples.
So my question is: were the two documents I mentioned above the only manuals provided with the toastrack Spectrum, or was there a Sinclair BASIC guide also, as there had been with the 16K and 48K models? Was there in fact no comprehensive BASIC manual for this particular model? If not, does anyone know why not? It seems a bit odd.
128K toastrack manuals
128K toastrack manuals
Last edited by patters on Wed Jan 01, 2020 8:21 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Ast A. Moore
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Re: 128K toastrack manuals
The only two new BASIC commands were PLAY and SPECTRUM (with the latter being not very useful for programming per se), so there was no need to write up a whole new manual for it; the original covered it pretty well.
Kudos for purchasing a Toastrack, by the way. I love mine (also got it as a bare machine).
Every man should plant a tree, build a house, and write a ZX Spectrum game.
Author of A Yankee in Iraq, a 50 fps shoot-’em-up—the first game to utilize the floating bus on the +2A/+3,
and zasm Z80 Assembler syntax highlighter.
Author of A Yankee in Iraq, a 50 fps shoot-’em-up—the first game to utilize the floating bus on the +2A/+3,
and zasm Z80 Assembler syntax highlighter.
Re: 128K toastrack manuals
Surely Sinclair wouldn't presume every purchaser of a 128K model would also have a previous issue manual though? Are you saying that the 128K also included the original 16K/48K floating cloud city covered manual?
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Ast A. Moore
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Re: 128K toastrack manuals
No, I’m not. I’m pretty sure the Toastrack just came with the two manuals you’ve mentioned. Don’t quote me on that, though. I’m not a collector; only need the hardware for testing purposes.
By the way, it turns out someone’s selling a copy of the Introduction manual on eBay.
Last edited by Ast A. Moore on Wed Jan 01, 2020 9:07 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Every man should plant a tree, build a house, and write a ZX Spectrum game.
Author of A Yankee in Iraq, a 50 fps shoot-’em-up—the first game to utilize the floating bus on the +2A/+3,
and zasm Z80 Assembler syntax highlighter.
Author of A Yankee in Iraq, a 50 fps shoot-’em-up—the first game to utilize the floating bus on the +2A/+3,
and zasm Z80 Assembler syntax highlighter.
Re: 128K toastrack manuals
Yup, that's what caused me to ask... 
Re: 128K toastrack manuals
I had a 16K, then a 48K+ and finally (till now) a +2A and I do remember the + model having a very flimsy manual that really didn't tell you how to use BASIC at all. I don't know if Sinclair were perhaps selling the old manual separately or whether they had given up, assuming most users just wanted to load pre-built software.
It was nice to see a revised version of the original for the +2A, albeit without the superior ring binding of the old orange covered one.
It was nice to see a revised version of the original for the +2A, albeit without the superior ring binding of the old orange covered one.
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Ast A. Moore
- Rick Dangerous
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Re: 128K toastrack manuals
Yeah. Mine’s falling apart, although all the pages are there and overall it’s in pretty decent shape.
Every man should plant a tree, build a house, and write a ZX Spectrum game.
Author of A Yankee in Iraq, a 50 fps shoot-’em-up—the first game to utilize the floating bus on the +2A/+3,
and zasm Z80 Assembler syntax highlighter.
Author of A Yankee in Iraq, a 50 fps shoot-’em-up—the first game to utilize the floating bus on the +2A/+3,
and zasm Z80 Assembler syntax highlighter.
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1024MAK
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Re: 128K toastrack manuals
As far as I’m aware, the ZX Spectrum+ (the 48K model with the new case & keyboard) was the first not to include the original orange covered, ring bound BASIC manual (although it is possible that there may be some versions that were perfect bound rather than ring bound, Sinclair did the same with the ZX81 BASIC manual).
Instead a Sinclair ZX Spectrum+ User Guide (written by Neil Ardley and published by Dorling Kindersley) was supplied. See here for more details. Note that there were multiple versions of this (I have two that are slightly different, both claiming to be the third printing).
I’ve never had a ZX Spectrum 128 from new, so I can’t tell you first hand what was supplied.
The next Sinclair ZX Spectrum that came with a decent BASIC manual was the Amstrad produced +2 (gray). This had a new manual that contained most of the contents of the original orange BASIC manual, but was perfect bound in grey covers. The later +2A, +2B and +3 all included a larger manual which also included most of the contents of the original orange BASIC manual.
Mark
Instead a Sinclair ZX Spectrum+ User Guide (written by Neil Ardley and published by Dorling Kindersley) was supplied. See here for more details. Note that there were multiple versions of this (I have two that are slightly different, both claiming to be the third printing).
I’ve never had a ZX Spectrum 128 from new, so I can’t tell you first hand what was supplied.
The next Sinclair ZX Spectrum that came with a decent BASIC manual was the Amstrad produced +2 (gray). This had a new manual that contained most of the contents of the original orange BASIC manual, but was perfect bound in grey covers. The later +2A, +2B and +3 all included a larger manual which also included most of the contents of the original orange BASIC manual.
Mark
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Alessandro
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Re: 128K toastrack manuals
For what it's worth, years ago I bought a mint condition 128 from a seller located in a village about 50 Km from here. It came with the same Italian edition of the old 16K/48K manual, which I already owned from my old 48K, plus the Italian translation of the 128 introductory booklet.