Spectrum Computing

There have been a few SAM Coupé questions of late, and whilst it's not an official Sinclair machine it is pretty close.

So, the question is do you want a SAM Coupé sub-forum. We certainly are not trying to replace existing places to ask questions, just provide an extra place if users want it.

To come to fruition we would need 10 yes votes.

Based on recent posts, I'm also thinking of creating a Commodore Amiga sub forum

I remember while I had the spectrum, I was thinking of Amiga and SAM coupe as an "upgrade". I ended up with an Amiga 500 (I think most spectrum owners went the amiga route). Also, I remember Acorn Archimedes was an option at sometime

i know this is SpectrumComputing but I don't see there being an issue with tbe forum being 'home' for Sinclair computers and their derivatives (there's plenty of Amstrad clones!).

I'm very happy for people to discuss the retro computing machines of their choice, but making silos where such discussions should take place reduces the cross pollination, comparisons, relative timelines, and other topics where the histories and capabilities of the machines merge or compare. If you make a SAM Coupe forum I'll probably never go into it which will probably, ultimately, be to my detriment. It's not like the other forums are being overwhelmed with SAM discussions.

I've voted no in this and the QL poll. I'd echo what @dfzx says. I don't see enough posts to justify it, so I think we'll end up with some very quiet subforums. It looks like the ayes have it though, so we'll find out.

I'm with @R-Tape. This is the sort of question that invites yes answers, because it implies that the SAM discussion will be additive. A more accurate phrasing might be:

Do you want to:

(a) marginalise SAM discussion in a separate tumbleweed-strewn forum, or
(b) keep it in the main forums?

The WoS forum latterly went down this route and it ended up a fragmented mess of dead subforums.

The ayes have it so I will create one and move any Sam threads to it. If after six months it's tumbleweed then the sub forum is removed and the posts go back to other retro.

I voted yes because it seems tidier and an obvious place to go to should I require SAM discussion. However, I generally consume the forum only via the recent topics thing at the top of the forum anyway! It’s incredibly convenient.

I’ve been working on some SAM programming and I’ve held off posting ideas/questions here since it’s not _strictly_ Sinclair but I’ll make use of the new sub-forum now. Thanks!

By and large, I'm a lot more active on the SAM Coupé than on the Spectrum these days, but I've felt a bit odd about posting anything in particular in the 'Other Retro' forum. I've added to the 'Yes' pile but can't say that having a SAM-specific forum will cause a sudden outpouring of posts from me. Certainly worth a try, though, and if it ends up getting rolled back into 'Other', so be it.

I could potentially post about particular projects or more random graphics from pie-in-the-sky projects... Will have a think, see if I have anything coherent enough.

Spud wrote: ↑Sat Jun 10, 2023 12:36 pm I voted yes because it seems tidier and an obvious place to go to should I require SAM discussion. However, I generally consume the forum only via the recent topics thing at the top of the forum anyway! It’s incredibly convenient.

Same here! It’s a lovely feature that’s missing in so many forums.

I am especially interested in programming for this computer, since there is little information on the Internets

I am especially interested in programming for this computer, since there is little information on the Internets

You should remember that Spectrum had 5 million owners while Sam Coupe had only 12000 owners as Wikipedia says. There were very few
of these guys and there is very few of them left who are still interested in Sam. So they won't produce as much info as Speccy users just
because of their number.

I know 3 or 4 guys in Poland who owned Sam and are still somehow active but they are rather not interested in writing tutorials for beginners.

Luckily there are still plenty of us still around but I don't think I was ever much of a Sam programmer. The FB group isn't a bad place to ask Sam programming questions and Sam has it's own World of... site as well as stalwarts like Colin flying the flag over at samcoupe.com.

Maybe if there were a "merged topic" like "QL/SAM etc corner". When you see many posts for a a specific machine then break the topic.
I believe there are already specialised forums for these machines and it might be better to send people there where there are more "experts" there.

g0blinish wrote: ↑Sat Jun 10, 2023 3:36 pm I am especially interested in programming for this computer, since there is little information on the Internets

Anything specific you are looking for? For getting started, read the user manual followed by the technical manual.

For coding I currently use vscode + Ant + pyz80 + SimCoupe. I used to use Eclipse + Ant + pyz80 + SimCoupe. Before that, in the nineties, it was Comet + SAM Coupe (which I do not recommend using now).

Pete Gallagher also wrote a blog about getting started at https://www.pjgcreations.co.uk/sam-coup ... ogramming/
Martin Fitzpatrick also has some nice entries at https://www.mfitzp.com/writing-about/sam-coupe/

Following 28 votes in favour, I have created the forum. Let's give it a go. If it doesn't work then there is no harm done (more important things to worry about in the world!).

Thanks to @flatduckrecords for the traditional witty forum description.

I'm closing this thread now. Thanks to all who participated.