If your Spectrum ownership was with a different model...

[PeteProdge]

I've said before that I started out on the grey +2 in late 1987, much later than most who embraced home computing in the 1980s (a miracle anyway considering how absolutely brassic my family was), and no real regrets about it.

I have often wondered how my computer-owning history would be in those parallel universes where my Spectrum is something else from the official line-up.

I could have started with the +3 for about 70 quid more. That would have greatly helped my programming and art efforts, it's great to quickly load BASIC efforts - resume things, update them, etc. I'd have been happy with that. On the gaming side, I doubt I'd have really forked out more for +3 games, which even then were rather rare and the best way would have been mail order - way too much faffing around in my days before debit cards and online shopping! (I did eventually get a +D disk interface for my +2 in its final year, which was mainly saving snapshots) Another upside over the +2 is that I'd never face the hell of the really fragile buttons on the grey model (the rewind key must have snapped off at least four times, keeping Northampton's Comp-U-Serv rather busy) - just connect any one of a load of tape decks (my dad had quite a few of them).

I never liked the original Sinclair rubber-keyed Spectrum. I've always been upfront about that, agreeing with Surallansugar's "pregnant calculator" insult. Sorry, but it's abysmal to touch and use. The 48K+ would have been alright, and placed me a few years before the 128K era, but, knowing what my brother and I were like, I don't think the computer would have survived very long, we were very 'experimental' with toys to say the least, and I think it'd have blown up or been wrecked somehow within a year. (It's actually remarkable how my +2 went on for over five years, frankly.)

Of course, if you offered me that rubber-keyed Speccy back in 1982, yeah, I'd have bitten your hand off for it. Even a 16K one. Any computer, quite frankly, I was obsessed with the idea of having a computer, I'd tune into any TV program about them - Video & Chips; Tomorrow's World, etc, I thought they were fascinating and I still do now, what with working in IT (as I guess 95% of us here still do).

Those are my honest assessments of how I'd have coped/thrived with a different Speccy. What are yours?

[stupidget]

BITD my parents spent ages on deciding what Home Computer they should go with and I spent many a happy hour in several Computer shops in Wolverhampton messing about with as many as possible. We nearly had a TI-99/4A, an Oric, an Acorn and they finally decided on a Dragon 32 (stop laughing at the back, it actually had some great games). We also nearly went for a ZX-81 and I remember going into WH Smiths and seeing one for the first time thinking 'It's go a flat keyboard that looks like something from Doctor Who!!!'

If we'd have had the ZX-81 I think I would have been hugely disappointed due to the lack of sound and low-res graphics. We were lucky that the Dragon died on several occasions so my Dad got a full refund and we got a 48k Speccy

[AndyC]

Well I started with a 16K model, not long after upgraded to 48K with a RAM pack. Later, after an unfortunate joystick interface accident, we upgraded to a 48K+ model. Then, much later, a James Bond Action Pack +2A.

So I'm not sure it would have made much difference, aside from when I got entirely addicted to computers.

[p13z]

I never liked the original Sinclair rubber-keyed Spectrum. I've always been upfront about that, agreeing with Surallansugar's "pregnant calculator" insult. Sorry, but it's abysmal to touch and use.

Just wrong on this
After many years of folk "upgrading" to joysticks, then games consoles using plastic keyed game pads - many controllers ended up going for rubber keys eventually - because they are damn good.
I'm probably biased, because the rubber key thing was the first computer I used properly, and I learnt to read, type and program on it. I do wonder if degraded originals, and modern replacements for the membrane and keypad give a worse feel / impression. But, honestly, I've never found anything better for playing games than 40 odd reprogrammable rubber keys.
I started with 16k rubber, it got upgraded to 48k (before the days of the PLUS). I wouldn't have it any other way.
And - wasn't the pregnant calculator quip aimed squarely at the ZX80?

[toot_toot]

My original Spectrum was a rubber keyed model from Xmas 1985. For Xmas 1987, I upgraded to a +2.

Some of my friends moved over to a C64 and although I actually kept my original rubber keyed Speccy (not sure why, maybe compatibility), I really should have got a C64 that year and had both the Spectrum 48K AND a C64. But the playground rivalry meant I could never move over to a C64 in 1987… I did play on my friend’s C64s and really enjoyed some of the games, especially the exclusives, I didn’t get a C64 until around 1992 or so. Should have got one in 1987.

Oh well, it could have been worse, it could have been a Sam Coupe.

[mjwilson]

I could have started with the +3 for about 70 quid more. That would have greatly helped my programming and art efforts, it's great to quickly load BASIC efforts - resume things, update them, etc. I'd have been happy with that. On the gaming side, I doubt I'd have really forked out more for +3 games, which even then were rather rare and the best way would have been mail order - way too much faffing around in my days before debit cards and online shopping! (I did eventually get a +D disk interface for my +2 in its final year, which was mainly saving snapshots)

I started out on a 48K rubber-keys (although that was actually my brother's, but we shared it). I upgraded to a +3, but only bought a few games on disk - for the rest I learnt lots of hacking techniques in order to convert them onto disk.

[PeterJ]

As a youngster I only ever owned the original 48k rubber key model. I yearned after a Toastrack at the time, but only got one five years ago. It's my pride and joy!

Whilst I own a +3 now and it's very nice to have a proper keyboard and disk drive, I've got no affection in the slightest for any official models post the Amstrad takeover.

[TheMartian]

I think I got my Speccy in December '83. I was six, I was already interested in computers and I made a drawing of me and a C64 because I wanted that for Christmas. I think my mom still has the drawing.

That Christmas my father brought home a ZX Spectrum 48K, because father knows best. He fitted the plug to the power supply and we tried it, and I think there was some problem with the Spectrum, so he got it exchanged for another. I also got the book "BASIC para niños" (BASIC for kids) by Sofia Watts and Miguel Mangada. I learned how to type with the Horizons tape and then devoured the book. So I guess I've been coding for 40 years now.

Some months later the 48K+ was released and I was very disappointed because that was when I learned about machines becoming obsolete. Luckily, aside from the keyboard, there were no improvements. When the 128K models came out I really wanted one, but I didn't. I sometimes tried loading the 128K version to see if magic happened and my 48K could run the program.

I got my next Speccy, a +2A, from the flea market at '95 or '96, when Speccies were already obsolete but not yet vintage. The chassis was a bit broken, and the PSU cable also was broken, but I could fix both. At this very moment this +2A is sitting on my desk with the Arkanoid tape in the datassette. (Not the THS version; the original modified by myself so it runs using the +2A floating bus - thanks to @Ast A. Moore for all the info on this phenomenon.)

From the flea market I also got a CPC 6128. I guess that was when I started my collection.

Those days some of my friends gave me their obsolete machines they wanted to get rid of. I got two C64 (breadbins), a CPC 464, a ZX Spectrum +2, and a broken Speccy 48K which is no more broken. And also an Amiga 500, and two MSX (Sony HB-75P and Philips VG8020).

Many years later I got the Spanish toast rack from a friend. He had fixed it but there was a problem with the memory. Turns out that there are memories with 7-bit refresh cycle and 8-bit refresh cycle. This is the 128K I used for testing the 128K snow effect for @Weiv.

Finally I got a +3 from eBay.

I've got most of my machines in pretty good condition, I guess, and I try to make them better. I've replaced all the disk drives with GoTek emulators, I've tried to clean them up, etc.

At this point I wouldn't have had it any other way. I keep the old keyboard from my 48K, with all the marks from all the hours of use. I enjoyed playing with it and coding and learning. I had this envy of the 128K machines and their ability to load games in one go and their music chips, and also of the CPCs because of the music. Now that I have them, still they don't overshadow my old 48K.

One friend from school told me once that he liked upgrading to a new machine when he had already learned from it and had done some project with it. I guess I still have some projects to do. But I guess that my emulator shows that I've learned a bit from my Speccies.

[Ast A. Moore]

At this very moment this +2A is sitting on my desk with the Arkanoid tape in the datassette. (Not the THS version; the original modified by myself so it runs using the +2A floating bus - thanks to @Ast A. Moore for all the info on this phenomenon.)

Aww . . . Glad I could help!

[TheMartian]

Also, I *did* use it to help with the homework.

One day the teacher punished the entire class for making a ruckus, and she gave us three pages of multiplications to do.

I just PRINTed the results and wrote them back to the notebook.

I cheated and I got away with it.

And now that I've confessed I've got to return my Engineering degree because I didn't really earned it.

[WallyX]

Well yeah, I do wish I had a better ZX Spectrum back in the day but man, still appreciated what we had.

My first experience was with a ZX81 when I was around 4 years old. I remember us owning a rubber-keyed 48K spectrum after that and later on encasing it in a DK'Tronics keyboard and eventually upgrading to a 48K+.

Still stuck with the 48K+ all the way before switching to a 286 IBM PC in 1992 I think.

It's only the past few years that I've been playing with later Spectrum models in emulation and let me tell you, the 128K machines and the AY chip is like magic to me. I remember playing with "Wham! The Music Box" on our 48K but that's absolutely nothing compared to what was available on 128. If I had Protracker on a modem Spectrum, I would have been blow away.

I still load "Trantor" on a 48K model now and then, just to listen to the beeper music. I still think that was peak for its time, before the later machines came around, but never experienced them.

[1024MAK]

Oh my oh my!

There is far too much rubber key squishy action in this topic.

Queue (is that the right word, I dunno, I didn’t really concentrate in English lessons, there were other exciting things to think about, such as my latest BASIC masterpiece program) the Frankie Howard, "Titter ye not!" ... "Don't laugh!" ... "No Missus!" catch phrases…

Anyone outside the button pressing community would think this was a zX rated site!

(quick, someone rush out to Tescos for a giant pack of loo rolls… Yes of course the soft stuff!)

Just to keep it in a similar theme, I’ll offer up a naked photo later on.

Yes, really.

What! You don’t believe me?

Oh well, if only you will read to the end.

But not yet, I have to keep you waiting.

Yes, waiting…

Waiting in anticipation.

Because it’s the build-up that makes it all so exciting

Anyways…

Back to the very serious business of proper number crunching serious computing.

You know, what computers were supposed to do before spotty teenagers and their “I’m technical, I can set the timer on a VHS deck and actually timer record a programme” dads found them in Boots while Mum was doing the serious business of selecting the exact right shade of lippy…

Anyhow, enough of the digression.

What you all actually need, is a proper computer. One that looks like a proper computer. And one that has a built in datacassette that was not made by a former dodgy cheap audio amplifier company…

One like this:





Oh, and what you have all been waiting for…

Here’s a naked photo of a ZX80. It has the distinct advantage that if you can see a video picture, you know it has not crashed



Oh, alright then, confession time. Yes, I got a rubber key ZX Spectrum 48K for Christmas 1983, a joint present for me and my sister.

Mark

[PeteProdge]

I had this envy of the 128K machines and their ability to load games in one go and their music chips, and also of the CPCs because of the music.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the music capability of the Amstrad CPC just like a 128K Speccy because it's the AY-3-8912 sound chip?

I only got envious of the Amstrad CPC when games were in 'mode 1' graphics which, although limited to 4 colours, was a tad more high resolution than the Speccy and without any colour clash. Head Over Heels looks absolutely awesome on the CPC, it beats the Speccy version it pains me to say.

[1024MAK]

Yes, the AY-3-891X sound chip was used in many 1980s computers. But the available frequencies (notes) varied slightly depending on what frequency clock was used for it.

It was used in:

• Amstrad CPC
• Colour Genie
• MSX
• Oric-1
• ZX Spectrum 128
• Intellivision and Vectrex video game consoles
• Various sound expansions for various home computers
• Various arcade games

The Yamaha YM2149F was also used in various systems including the Atari ST range and some MSX computers.

Mark

[TheMartian]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the music capability of the Amstrad CPC just like a 128K Speccy because it's the AY-3-8912 sound chip?

Well, yes and no. The AY-3-8912 in the CPC is clocked at 1MHz, whereas the one in Speccies and MSX are clocked at 1,75MHz. CPC sounds deeper. Even if the tunes are adapted, the envelope sounds different. Check out Gauntlet III, it's like different instruments were used. The tune in the menu screen of the CPC version of The Vindicator is so good. In any case, I didn't mean that the CPC is more powerful than the Speccy, sound-wise. It's the same instrument with different tunings.

Also, I agree on mode 1 for isometric games, but I think all the CPCs I saw then had the GT-65 green phosphor monitor, so they didn't look so good in comparison.