Spectrum Computing

Assuming the Spectrum is your favourite retro computer, what's your second and third favourites? Mine would have to be MSX and Enterprise 128. The Enterprise is an odd choice I know

I assume we’re talking eight-bit? Because otherwise, I’m quite fond of early Macs.

Since no 8 bitters were specified, my next favourite retro machine is the Amiga 1000. To this day, in many ways, the best computer I have ever owned.

Old PCs with MSDOS. Great times with great games!

Also the ZX81. Never saw any for real, but some games were really cool.

Oh my! That’s a three way split for me

When I was at school, I loved the Acorn BBC B with the 5¼” disk drives. But at that time, I had never heard of Memotech and it was before Atari had produced the ST.

Later, a friend loaned me a Memotech MTX500. The sexiest sleekest computer that was available in the U.K. and with the Z80 clocked at 4MHz, machine code ran very quickly. Although I did not have any software or games to run on it, I loved playing with the BASIC. Discovering the colour, graphic and sound commands and how to control the display.

As time moved on, I still loved my Speccy, still could not afford a BBC B or a MTX. But the Spectrum was now getting on. I bought magazines and drooled over the photos of the Amiga and ST. My the graphics looked great. But getting one was beyond pocket money and paper round money...

Eventually while at college, I got enough money to buy an Atari 520 STFM. Wow! Suddenly lost all interest in the eight bits.

Of course, eventually the Atari ST became old hat, and I moved on to PCs.

When I got the retro computing bug, there were two computers that I wanted. A BBC B and a Memotech MTX. Keep in mind that I never got rid of my Spectrum or my Atari ST.

So I don’t really rank things in a numerical order. It’s like when people ask for my favourite number. I like 5 and I like 7. And I have the same trouble when asked for my favourite colour (deep bright red AND bright shiny blue, although get the right shade of purple....!)

So I love my Speccy because it was our first computer (my sister and me) and I have had so much fun from using it. So that has to be first.

But it does have to be a joint second, with the BBC B, the MTX and the ST all coming in as a joint second

Mark

As we're talking computers, rather than games consoles, I think the idea of using them for programming seems like as good a metric as any. With that in mind I offer...

The BBC model B. It feels physically so well engineered, has a great BASIC and a built in assembler. A stunning machine, really. And very capable the right hands.

The Jupiter Ace - with it's FORTH interpreter - makes a gloriously leftfield choice for a budding programmer. And has a lot going for it. But it was a lonely path you were treading as everyone else shared their BASIC tips. And the form factor is beautiful, but perhaps not the most ergonomic.

I think for me it's the Amiga. When I got the 500 it was such a massive step up to have those hardware chips handling the sprites, playfields and amazing sound. I remember making demos in 68000 piling on the graphics and sound without having barely any impact on performance. It was amazing!

Upgrading to no colour clash was so liberating too!

But the Spectrum (16K), limited as it was in comparison, was where it really all got going for me so it holds a special place.

Some nice answers. Thank you.

My choice is Galaksija (Galaxy), the first ex-Yugoslavia widely popular home computer made as a DIY project by constructor Voja Antonic.
The computer was promoted 1983 in ex-YU sience magazine "Galaksija" and compuer magazine "Računari" (Computers) and despite low expectations, nearly 10,000 pieces were made by computer enthusiasts.
The computer was similar to the zx81, in fact slightly better but not inspired by the Sinclair machine, with the original design and Basic somewhat inspired by the TRS-80 one.
Some of the games are really good, especially Jumping Jack and the Galakticki Rat (Galaxy Wars).
There is an emulator for Spectrum and SamCoupe, written by Tomaz Kac and Simon Owen with a selection of the best games.
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/index.p ... 6&id=17550
https://simonowen.com/sam/galemu/
Beautiful machine, tons of memory, one of my favorite 8bit computers.

If we're counting games consoles as computers, then the Sega Mega Drive. An absolutely unparalleled thing, so many great games for it.

Of course, games consoles aren't computers as such, so to fit within the parameters of your question, the Amiga 1200, which is the computer I got after I gave my Speccy away. I got it because it could emulate the ZX Spectrum, and, in late 1992, it seemed to have a thriving games scene (well, that was true for a bit). Yeah, I was late to the party. I particularly loved the PD disks, as I didn't often have the money to buy full price games, and there was a lot of crazy creativity going on in PD games that were, in a way, similar to the heyday of the Spectrum.

Actually I didn't own many different models of computers in my life. My first computer was ZX Spectrum, my second computer was already PC.

I have a strong sentiment for PCs from the early 90s. I started from 286, then there was 386, 486, Pentium... At some moment I got Sound Blaster card, later I got my first graphics card and so on. I can mention more PC games from that period than modern PC games.

So I guess old PC is my second retro computer. Just because I had it and I have memories connected to it.

Atari 65XE was 1st computer i meet.

Dragon 32 as we had one before we got a 48k rubber keyed beauty.

My dad and me used to spend hours playing Cuthbert goes walkabout, mined out, ugh and Mansion adventure and I seem to remember my finishing Mined Out and Mansion Asventure, with a bit of help from my mum to work out ‘prise door with steel bar’

I think we’d have kept it if it wasn’t for the fact that the TV out port failed on 3 separate machines. Every cloud eh

1) Atari VCS - simple graphics but some of the most fun games you can find - combat, maze craze, adventure, warlords...
2) The Amiga had impressive hardware for it's time and a nicely thought out OS
3) The Sam Coupe had great intentions and Miles and Gordon were great guys

Honorable mentions to the Acorn Atom and ZX81 that I first programmed on in '81, both 1K models. Necessity breeds invention. And the IBM mainframes running MVS that I worked with few years, not many games on that platform (though I did write some solitaire games in Rexx) but lots to learn

I also had a QL (learned database programming on QL Archive)

I have never touched a C64, but I'm very tempted to try the new one just released, looks like a classy recreation

ZX Spectrum is my second favourite retro computer. First is Amiga 500.

Pegaz wrote: ↑Sun Dec 22, 2019 9:34 am My choice is Galaksija (Galaxy), the first ex-Yugoslavia widely popular home computer made as a DIY project by constructor Voja Antonic.
The computer was promoted 1983 in ex-YU sience magazine "Galaksija" and compuer magazine "Računari" (Computers) and despite low expectations, nearly 10,000 pieces were made by computer enthusiasts.
The computer was similar to the zx81, in fact slightly better but not inspired by the Sinclair machine, with the original design and Basic somewhat inspired by the TRS-80 one.
Some of the games are really good, especially Jumping Jack and the Galakticki Rat (Galaxy Wars).
There is an emulator for Spectrum and SamCoupe, written by Tomaz Kac and Simon Owen with a selection of the best games.
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/index.p ... 6&id=17550
https://simonowen.com/sam/galemu/
Beautiful machine, tons of memory, one of my favorite 8bit computers.

I highly recommend this excellent talk from the 29th Chaos Communications Congress about the Galaksija!

https://media.ccc.de/v/29c3-5178-en-the ... _talk_h264

The ti99/4a. My first computer, and I still have it! And it still works perfectly after 40 years.

Atari ST. Got mine late '88 and it's almost as beloved as my Speccy. Got so many years out of it and thanks to the likes of Automation, Pompey Pirates a seemingly never-ending supply of new games

Oh, and Dungeon Master - what a game.

Spectrum was my childhood computer, so has that place in my heart as my favourite. To be honest there isn’t much competition, I did upgrade to a SAM, but only really used it for playing Spectrum games, only had the one actual SAM game which was Flash Gordon. So it was just an extension of my spectrum really. Other than that I had a Sega Mastersystem, then computers/games consoles took a back seat in my life. Wasn’t until buying a PC in 1999 for Uni work that I owned another computer.

So at moment, Speccy is the favourite, and I will say SAM is 2nd, maybe though I’ll have a new favourite soon when the Next comes along.

Atari ST came second for me - got a cheap one and loved the games on it. Lasted me a very long time, subject to a few upgrades.
Took me a long while to get the hang of programming it in assembly, but it's a bit like a Spectrum in that it's all down to programming technique instead of custom chips.

Another vote for the TI99/4A here. Released in 1981, the first (mostly) 16-bit home computer.

Also, Parsec!!!

It's got to be Amiga - perhaps not second but more of an equal. If Spectrum was my first, juvenile puppy love then Amiga was the mature one ;) For a few years, between 1987 and 1992 she was the undisputed Queen of the binary world.

Paradoxically though, if I had to choose one retro-computer for a Desert Island it would be a DOS machine. Even if a lot of Amiga versions were better, on balance PC wins here because of later, unassailable exclusives. Still, it's hard to call a bunch of components in a grey PC box a "favourite computer" ;)

animaal wrote: ↑Tue Jan 28, 2020 12:33 pm Another vote for the TI99/4A here. Released in 1981, the first (mostly) 16-bit home computer.

Also, Parsec!!!

We very nearly had a TI99/4A before our Dragon 32. I remember traipsing around the Wolverhampton computer shops with my folks and my sister trying to decide on which one to get. I still can't remember why we decided on the Dragon rather than a TI99/4A, or a Speccy for that matter, but it was probably down to the fact that in '82 none of my mates had a computer so I didn't know any the wiser. I always thought TI99/4A looked like a 'proper' computer, well it did to my 9 year old self

stupidget wrote: ↑Mon Feb 03, 2020 12:59 pm ... it did to my 9 year old self

Me-> Does a quick calculation to work out how many times my age has gone past a multiple of 9 and then shakes me head at the answer

The Amiga 1200