PROFILE ON A KEY WITNESS:

We look at Advanced Memory System LO PROFILE keyboard.

It is surprising to see that over 1 year after the introduction of the first add-on keyboard for the Spectrum, a flood of new keyboards are suddenly appearing on the market. Although an expensive extra, the keyboards enable many owners to use their Spectrum for business applications. Certainly the major deficiency of the Spectrum is its moving keyboard, which is quite an improvement over the ZX81 but still miles away from the full travel typewriter style keyboard of its competitors. Added to this the multi-role, single stroke per function keys have been a constant source of argument as to whether they are a merit of deficiency. The aftermarket keyboard should correct all these deficiencies and upgrade the Spectrum to a more serious home computer.

THE HARDWARE

At first glance the size of the keyboard enclosure suggests a lot of hidden extras, but it soon becomes apparent that the only reason for the Cadillac proportions is the restricted choice of low cost standard keyboard enclosures on the market. The enclosure size tends to dwarf the actual key cluster. The white and grey keytops are certainly the best seen on any Spectrum keyboard with excellent legends using the original colours for extended, symbol and caps shift mode functions. The key cluster has a moulded shape with the front row tilted and slightly projected which allows easier reading of the front row extended mode functions such as Beep, Ink, Paper etc.

The key action usually generates a lot of controversy amongst users, but from my own personal experience I found the action fairly light and giving a good feedback, although just a little bit soggy. Probably a very fast touch typist would find this effect would slow down his or her typing speed, but I should think for the average user the action is perfectly alright. The slightly soggy feel is in fact the only give away clue, that the owner hasn't escaped the membrane type keyswitch however refined it may be. The switching action is generated by the collapse of a rubber membrane cup with a graphite contact which bridges two interleaved tracks on the printed circuit board. This gives, in combination with the keytop plunger, a nicely balanced and smooth travel. It may be worth pointing out that nearly all low cost home computers feature similar membrane type keys- witch mechanisms (including the QL), as this allows a tremendous cost saving compared to the orthodox keyswitches.

Another interesting feature not apparent to the user is the technology of the printed circuit board, which is not through hole plated as usual, but boasts similar techniques as used with thick film hybrids with silk-screened conductive ink tracks running over the copper tracks of the printed circuit board.

KEY LAYOUT

The keyboard features a full length spacebar, a fake caps lock (cap shift and caps lock have to be pressed combined) and a separate numeric keypad with a further cap shift key for the oddly positioned cursor keys in the numeric pad. The layout proves to be a bit of a disappointment as the only benefits are the full-length spacebar and the numeric keypad. It would have been nice to include an extension mode key, stop and comma keys and a cursor cluster all accessible with a single stroke. Nevertheless the layout is practicable and because it is equivalent to the original, the Spectrum owner will instantly feel at home with it.

INSTALLATION

The installation represents no problems. The Spectrum printed circuit board is fixed via 4 screws, nuts, nylon washers and counternuts onto the plastic vacuum-formed base of the keyboard, which is very flimsy and bows and twists in all directions until fixed to the solid enclosure main body. The ribbon cables of the keyboard plug into the usual sockets of the pcb and that concludes the easy set-up procedure. There is no provision to fit any other add-on inside the case, but the ZX Interlace 1 may be connected from the outside and will come to rest underneath the keyboard case giving it an improved tilt which provides a better typing position. An extension cable is however required for connecting up the microdrive unit to the Interlace 1 due to the extended dimensions of the keyboard enclosure.

CONCLUSION

The LO PROFILE provides the Spectrum with a good low profile, full travel keyboard. The keys have a very legible annotation and provide a good feel when typing. It fails however to provide extra benefits such as single stroke extended mode, punctuation and sensible cursor keys. Here the Fuller, Transform and Saga 2 Crusader keyboards definitely score points.

Add-ons may be connected as usual to the extension bus, but no provision is made to fit them inside the keyboard case such as with the DK'Tronics unit, where the ZX Interface 1 and power supply all fit inside the cavernous case. But where the DK'Tronics keyboard is enormously bulky and unhandy to use because of its very high profile, the Advance Memory Products LO PROFILE is exactly what it says, low profile, even if somewhat expansive in respect of required desk top surface.

TOUCH OF CLASS

The newest keyboard on the market for the Spectrum is the Lo Profile from Advanced Memory Systems. It is visually a very attractive design and it will give your Spectrum a professional appearance.

Measuring 440 x 220 x 50mm. overall and 190mm. from the Q key to P, it has a sculptured keyset printed in three colours. The 155mm. long space bar has a good levelling mechanism and there is a separate numeric keypad with an extra Caps Shift and full stop. The full stop and the extra Caps Lock on the main board still require a shift key to be pressed first. All the keys have a very good feel to them and the ENTER key is twice the size of the others.

The Spectrum PCB has to be removed from its case to be fitted and there are four bolts sticking up in the base for it. In the review model they did not line up correctly and had to be moved by enlarging the mounting holes slightly. The PCB is mounted on those bolts, using plastic washers to protect it. While the base seems very flimsy, when everything is bolted together it is held securely.

PCBs are removed and used in the same manner as the normal two long screws - the interface is plugged in underneath the keyboard and bolted through. That raises it to a far more comfortable working angle.

As with all full-size working keyboards, fitting add-ons such as the Kempston printer interface is difficult due to its increased height at the back. The CPS connector would be a useful addition.

At £49.95 plus £2.50 p&p, the keyboard should sell well as it looks good and feels good. The addition of a few single-key entry functions would undoubtedly make it the best available. Advanced Memory Systems is at Green Lane, Appleton, Warrington WA4 5NG. Tel: 0925-62682.

The Lo-Profile Keyboard from Advanced Memory systems is a fairly large unit which is, as the name implies, quite slimline. However, its length and width are excessively proportioned but, having said that I must add that the overall look is rather elegant.

Using a unique system the keys are sprung by a rubber bubble, this makes them the most sensitive to press that I have ever encountered, but at the same time they have a very positive feel and spring back quickly. A touch typist could outpace the Spectrum's input speed. The key tops themselves feature engraved legends rather than the cheaper, more common sticky labels and have a nice tactile feel. A full sized space bar is a feature of this unit and it is very well balanced. A numeric keypad is also included and this is situated to the right of the main keys.

An extra Caps Lock is added to the left above the Caps Shift key, though both keys still need to be pressed at the same time. On the numeric pad, an extra "." key is included but again this still needs to be pressed at the same time as the Symbol Shift key. Both sets of keys are slightly stepped and have an unusual but effective concave curve to them. The base, unseen in use, is shiny plastic but the top has a classy matt finish to it.

Fitting the Spectrum is very easy and all that is required is that you unscrew the two keyboard halves, unscrew the two spectrum case halves and remove the top, carefully pulling out the keyboard ribbon cables. Finally, undo the single screw holding the PCB in place and transfer it to the base of the AMS where it is held by the four screws supplied, push in the AMS keyboard ribbons and screw the two halves of the case back together.

I have used this keyboard for some time now and it has performed perfectly, in fact I am writing this review on it! At £49.95 it is one of the cheaper keyboards on the market, and as such it lacks some of the features of the more expensive ones, such as single key E mode, dot and comma. But, in contrast it has a superb set of keytops with the engraved legends. If you are planning to upgrade from the Standard Spectrum keyboard and, unless you really feel that you need the missing features, then I suggest that you give this keyboard due consideration. This reviewer is impressed!

AMS can be contacted at, Green Lane, Appleton, Warrington, WA4 5N.

(We would just like to add that the price of the keyboard is £49.95, and not £19.95 as we stated in a previous issue - Ed)

KEYBOARD CAPERS

Our all-star reviewing team get to grips with the alternatives to the infamus Spectrum keyboard.

Saga Systems
£39.95

The Lo Profile was originally produced by Advanced Memory Systems (of AMX Mouse fame) and priced at £59.95 until Saga, who have close to a total monopoly on the keyboard market these days, bought the rights and cut the price by £10 to bring it into line with the rest pf their range.

Installation of the keyboard was quite simple: you only have to remove the top of the Spectrum's own keyboard and then the rest of the computer fits bodily into the new keyboard, so you don't have to do any fiddling about with screwdrivers on the circuit board itself (which always makes me a bit nervous).

The Lo Profile doesn't provide new keys, and simply provides a better version of the standard Spectrum keyboard. There is a large space bar set on its own right at the front of the board, which is quite useful, and a group of numerical keys set off to the right hand side, but apart from these there are no extra keys (for things like commas and full stops for instance, which require you to enter Extended or Symbol Shift mode).

The keys themselves are strong moulded plastic with all the keywords engraved and coloured so that they're clear and unlikely to wear off as they are on some other boards. The action of the keys is controlled by springs (I think) and they require a fairly firm press in order to print the character on-screen. I've never found this a problem with my own typing speed though I'm told that it might slow down a good touch typist.

Despite having fewer extra keys than most of the other Saga boards the Lo Profile is very wide. Much of the board's width is just empty space on either side of all the keys which doesn't really serve much purpose, especially since much of the keyboard is hollow inside so there's no real reason for all that 'dead' space. This doesn't affect the keyboard's performance in any way, but it does take up quite a lot of desk space.

The Lo Profile has considerably fewer frills than some of its competition, but it is a perfectly sound piece of hardware. And, as one of the cheaper boards on the market it's quite good value and preferable to Sinclair's own upgrade.

GOING OVER BOARDS

Feeling out of touch with your Spectrum? Then join Henry Budgett as he fingers his way through five replacement 'boards - all out to prove that pressing keys doesn't have to be a rubbery experience.

Ask a hundred owners of the Spectrum to point out their least favourite aspect of the machine and it's odds on that 99 per cent will plump for the keyboard as the prime culprit - which is hardly surprising, considering it feels not unlike a hunk of dead meat! Added to the peculiarities of its india-rubber action are the allied quirks of a non-standard spacing, a fiendishly complicated system of Shifts and Symbol Shifts to access the various keywords, and punctuation symbols littered everywhere.

While Sinclair Research's revolutionary keyword and syntax checking system works well enough for the beginner, it tends to stifle the familiarity that occurs on a more regular kind of computer keyboard. Remember, however much fast typing is simply not possible on a squidgy membrane, still there are several word-processing programs available!

Obviously, many of the major objections could be alleviated by the simple bolting-on of a full QWERTY keyboard that uses full-travel keys; this, however, is surely not the ideal answer. Many of the difficulties experienced by users trying to cope with the idiosyncratic shifting system could be solved through the addition of extra keys to handle the more commonly occurring characters - such as the punctuation and mathematical symbols, and the Delete key.

While carrying out such reorganisation, an astute designer can also build-in switches to control the power and isolate the EAR lead while recording. And further enhancements could include a case big enough to hold various components of the system... such as the power supply, Microdrive, Interface 1 and other add-ons. All these possible options have been considered while judging the five keyboards under test.

So, the question we're going to be asking ourselves is: just how far have the manufacturers gone towards creating the 'ideal' replacement? But there's a sting in the tail. Add a keyboard to your Spectrum and, although you're going to be enhancing its usefulness, you're going to raise its overall price to a level where you're justified in expecting something very special indeed. That's the high level of criteria to which the five units here have been subjected.

CONCLUSION

Just one of the keyboards on test comes close to meeting the exacting criteria I initially laid down for a replacement unit, and that's the Fuller FDS; even here the finishing touches let it down a bit. From a manufacture point of view, the best made by far was the product from Ricoll; given a set of decently engraved keytops, this would rate very highly as a direct replacement system - and it's also quite attractively priced.

Of the rest, the Lo>>Profile had most to offer but lacked the extra function keys of the Fuller model and could also do with more support for its keyboard. The Dk'Tronics unit needs to be supplied with the keys engraved or moulded - stick-on labels that the customer has to apply are not really sufficient. Otherwise it's a substantial add-on.

The Transform device seems to be a little over-priced for the facilities it has to offer over its cheaper rivals. Despite that it's recently been rated "top keyboard at the moment" by one of our magazine rivals; maybe you should check it out to see if I've missed an endearing quality or two.

On a final note, now that Sinclair Research has perfected the newer type of membrane - as used on the QL - it would be interesting to speculate whether the add-on companies are likely to make the switch too. It could be the key to success!

LO>>PROFILE KEYBOARD
Price: £49.95
Supplier: Advanced Memory Systems, Woodside Technology Centre, Green Lane, Appleton, Warrington WA4 5NG

The description 'Big, Black but Slim' might easily be misconstrued by some, but as dedicated readers of a computer magazine I'm sure you'll realise at once that I'm talking about the Lo>>Profile keyboard.

Internally, the keyboard can only accept the ZX Spectrum's main PCB - the various connectors hang out the back through slots, allowing you to add whatever's necessary. It comes supplied with a photocopy of an advertisement for the device - presumably to pass on to a friend - and a single sheet of instructions showing you how to fit it all together. Using logic, it's easy enough to assemble but nowhere does it mention that you've got to unplug the old keyboard, or that the Spectrum's PCB must go in the right way round.

Once fitted, at first sight it looks really nice, with a decent set of keys all properly laid out and a numeric pad set off to the right. All the legends are printed clearly on the keytops in the same colours as the original; the only one missing is Break - which ought to be on the Space bar, but isn't. The cursor keys are repeated on the numeric keyboard that features its own Caps Shift and V keys as well.

The casing is much wider than it needs to be - presumably designed on the premise that bigger looks better - and although the top is made of a substantial plastic, the base isn't and tends to 'give' under pressure. The keyboard surround is also rather flexible; it has provision for 11 mounting plates but only six were fitted.

Overall, the unit worked very well, but the initial feeling that it looked smart slowly evaporated once it had sat on the desk for an hour or two. But for those who hold great stead by personal appearances, the Lo>>Profile is definitely a 'looker'.

HARDWARE WORLD

With ever-increasing amounts of peripherals available for Sinclair computers, users are finding it more and more difficult to know what to buy. We present a buyer's guide to joysticks, keyboard and printers and review the best of the rest from the 1984 add-on market.

A common complaint levelled at the Spectrum is the dead flesh feel of the keyboard. That has encouraged a large number of companies to produce full-sized add-on keyboards for it. We look at seven of the most popular keyboards on the market ranging from a simple replacement board to models of a professional standard.

In each case we fitted a Spectrum and Interface One to the keyboard to see how difficult that operation was and also attempted to fit the power supply according to the instructions or inside if there was room. The ease of fitting other add-ons was also considered and a Kempston printer interface was used to test that. Generally, any full-sized keyboard is a vast improvement over the original and of the seven all but the first can be recommended.

Two of the keyboards connect to the user port; the other five require you to open the Spectrum to fit them, and that will invalidate your warranty. It is possible that Sinclair will not notice that the case has been tampered with. We have yet to hear of anyone who has been refused a warranty claim.

Once the top of the keyboard has been removed the two ribbon cables connecting the old keyboard to the Spectrum are removed from their sockets and those from the new keyboard inserted. It is impossible to damage the Spectrum by fitting those the wrong way round, but care should be taken not to touch the circuit board unnecessarily. As with any piece of electrical equipment the power should not be connected while you are working on it.

The feel and size of a keyboard are important - after all, they are the reasons for buying a new one. The sizes are given in the table but the feel is more difficult to measure. The Saga and Lo>>Profile keyboards use keys which press down onto a membrane and have a small plastic dome to provide the spring, all the others use traditional switches. We suggest you try a keyboard before buying to make sure that it feels right for you.

K-BOARD

The first keyboard we looked at was the K-Board from Kelwood Computer Cases. That fits into the existing Spectrum case in place of the membrane keyboard. Fitting it requires major surgery to the Spectrum. Once the two halves of the Spectrum have been separated the metal cover, which has the E-mode legends on it, has to be removed. The difficulty of that will depend on your Spectrum. After early complaints from Spectrum owners of the glue holding the cover in place melting due to the heat, Sinclair Research used a more powerful glue from issue 3 onwards.

Next the old rubber mat and matrix are slipped out and the new PCB containing 40 moving key switches is put in its place. Onto that is placed a plastic housing, and over the top of everything goes the metal cover.

For each of the keys you are supplied with a new key cap, and each is hot foil printed in two colours, gold and red. Unfortunately, as the original keys were different in size there is a small gap at the side of all keys and the caps also overhang and shadow the legends on the metal cover. The method of printing the caps does not seem too durable as the legends could be removed by heavy scratching which tends to suggest that they would not wear well.

At £28.50 the K-Board is the cheapest replacement keyboard for the Spectrum on the market and as such is worth considering if you can not afford anything else. However, for your money you will get a keyboard that will probably invalidate your warranty as it would be difficult to restore the Spectrum to its original state, and which retains the same, cramped, layout and does not include a full-sized space-bar. Its only advantage is that as it retains the original case there is no problem fitting add-ans.

MAPSOFT

The Maplin keyboard, marketed under the name Mapsoft, is supplied in either kit form or assembled. It has an extender PCB that fits to the Spectrum and ribbon cable to the keyboard. The Spectrum remains outside the keyboard and so add-ons can be fitted with ease.

In all there are 47 keys, the normal 40 plus Delete, Graphs Lock, Shift Lock, Caps Lock, single key E Mode and two space keys. There is also one extra key that you can wire up to your own requirements.

Assembling the kit is straightforward provided you are experienced at soldering. None of the chips is socketed and special care has to be taken with them.

Once assembled the board is then fitted into the thin plastic moulded case, the top of which is held in place by pieces of Velcro. That top has the colour legends for keys 1 to 7 and 0 printed on it. The legends for the keys are three-colour cards that fit under clear plastic tops.

The keyboard offers a number of useful facilities at a reasonable price but it will always look like a DIY kit rather than a professional keyboard. The kit is priced at £44.95 inc.

DK'TRONICS

One of the best-known names for add-on keyboards is dk'tronics. Although its keyboard design has remained largely unchanged the company has made improvements to it. Those are the inclusion of a full-sized space bar, the addition of single key entry Delete and Full Stop and extra holes in the back of the case to allow the fitting of an Interface One.

The company estimates that 10 percent of all Spectrum users own one of its keyboards, a very sizable share of the market and to celebrate that dk'tronics has been offering four software tapes, worth £25.00, free to purchasers, during the last quarter of 1984.

The keyboard has the usual forty keys plus a separate numeric pad, which also incorporates the Delete and Full Stop keys. The three-colour legends on the keys have to be stuck on by the user but provided care is taken they will last a long time.

To fit the Spectrum into the keyboard it must be taken completely out of its case and screwed to the new base; if you have an Interface One then that is fitted first and the Spectrum PCB is slotted into it and then screwed down. As the PCB is fitted in the back right-hand corner there is an extender PCB for the microdrive lead which connects to Interface One by the solid connector supplied with the microdrive. The lead is taken out of the case through a small slot in the left hand side. An extra long lead can be supplied if required.

On the left-hand side are three pillars on which you can mount the power supply. To do that the power supply must be taken out of its case and should therefore only be fitted by people who have some electrical knowledge. There are a number of problems concerning the fitting of the power supply; the Sinclair power supply has gone through a number of design changes, and if it is marked 'Made in Portugal' then it will probably not fit onto the pillars.

The design of the pillars is such that they will either need cutting to size and the power supply screwed down using oversized washers or it will have to be wedged in by use of a piece of foam, both methods slightly unsatisfactory. The mains side of the power supply is lead out of the case under, and very close to, the extender PCB. It would have been far simpler to put the Spectrum PCB on the left hand side in the first place and so avoid having leads crossing inside.

The Kempston interface will not fit unless you are using Interface One or are prepared to remove the cable's strain relief bar. It is possible to trim the case.

Despite those problems the keyboard is very popular. It has a nice feel to it and on the whole can be recommended. It costs £45.00 plus £1.25 p&p.

LO>>PROFILE

The Lo>>Profile keyboard from Advanced Memory Systems Ltd is one of the newer keyboards on the market and looks very attractive. It is also very large, the largest of the keyboards reviewed, and that could be a problem if you are short of space.

As well as the standard Spectrum keys it has a separate numeric keypad, with extra Caps Shift and Full Stop keys, and there is an extra Caps Lock key included with the main keys, but those last two are not single key entry. It has a full-sized space bar. All the keys are sculptured and printed in three colours.

The Spectrum PCB has to be removed from its case and there are four bolts sticking up from the base of the keyboard on which it fits. In the review model they did not line up correctly and had to be moved by enlarging the mounting holes slightly. There are plastic washers on those bolts to protect the PCB.

While the base seems flimsy, when everything is bolted together it is held securely. Metal inserts in the top where the base is bolted through add to the solidity.

When fitting Interface 1 the two long screws are removed and the interface then sits underneath the keyboard. That raises the keyboard to a better working angle. The bolts which secure the Spectrum PCB to the base are also passed through the interface. On the review model the size of the case meant that the normal microdrive lead was not long enough to clear it and so the drive had to be angled out backwards from the case.

As with most full-sized keyboards the Kempston interface was a problem to fit due to the increased height of the keyboard at the back. The best remedy for that would be to purchase a flexible connector which fits the user port.

Priced at £49.95 plus £2.50 p&p, the keyboards good looks and positive feel will attract many users; its lack of any single key functions may, however, prove a drawback.

EMPEROR

The Emperor keyboard from Saga Systems is similar to the Lo>>Profile keyboard in that the keys use the same method of operation and it looks very good. What sets it apart is its remarkable 67 separate keys.

As well as the usual 40 keys there are 21 of the most commonly used functions on separate keys plus an extra three Symbol Shift and one Caps Shift keys. Those are arranged so that the functions are adjacent to a shift key. In that way just one finger can be used to hit both keys, a system that works remarkably well. Those extra functions are the mathematical - plus, minus, multiply, divide and equals, punctuation - full stop, comma, semi-colon and colon; plus hash and dollar - all operated by a symbol shift. Delete, Edit, Graphics, Caps Lock and the four cursor keys are Operated by a Caps Shift. Two of the Shift keys are together for Extended mode. For good measure there are also two adjacent Enter keys, extra Run, Save and 0 keys and a full size Space Bar with a levelling device.

To fit the keyboard you remove the top half of the Spectrum and the bottom half, containing the PCB, is bolted under the base of the keyboard. The board with the actual keys is screwed to that and the top then screws to the base.

The whole process only takes about five minutes, as claimed in the advertisements, though you then have to stick the three-colour labels onto the keys which takes considerably longer. Provided care is taken, fitting the labels is not a problem and they stand up well to some heavy use. As the original Spectrum base is now the base of the new keyboard, add-ons such as Interface 1 connect without difficulty but the usual problems with the Kempston interface will be encountered.

The price of £54.45, plus £1.15 p&p, is slightly above average but the multitude of keys ensures value for money.

STONECHIP

The Stonechip Electronics keyboard is one of the few keyboards where the Spectrum does not have to be opened to be fitted. For good measure it also incorporates a beep amplifier, Load/ Save switch and a reset facility.

Fitting the keyboard is simple; the top half, which houses the keys and amplifier, is connected by a ribbon cable to a long, thin PCB. That has the aerial, MIC and EAR plugs on one side and sockets on the other. That is plugged into the back of the Spectrum and the keyboard screwed together, with the Spectrum inside.

The keyboard has 44 keys printed in three colours, the usual 40 including a full-sized 145mm, space bar plus a single key entry Delete and E mode. In addition there are two Reset keys which when pressed at the same time will reset the computer - particularly useful when with many games the only way to do that is to pull the plug which eventually leads to it becoming loose. You have to be careful as resetting will clear out the memory and as one reset key is placed next to the Caps Shift and the other next to the 0 you must get into the habit of using the Delete key rather than the normal method of using those keys, otherwise you may delete more than you intend.

At the top of the keyboard is the Load/Save switch which in its middle position acts as the beep amplifier. There are both tone and volume controls and a good clear sound can be obtained. If you are not using the amplifier then it is best to put the switch to one of the other positions as otherwise it picks up hum from the computer. Also on top there is an LED to show you that the power is on.

For some reason best known to Stonechip the company has re-positioned the MIC and power sockets. The MIC socket is 5mm nearer the user port and the power socket placed between the two. That small change means that a number of add-ons will not fit. Interface 1, however, will fit with a slight struggle as will the Kempston interface.

Priced at £59.95 the keyboard is one of the more expensive ones available but the ease of fitting and the facilities it offers make it a good buy.

TRANSFORM

The last of the keyboards reviewed is that from Transform. It is aimed at professional users as it is the only keyboard reviewed with a metal case and also one of the few with three-colour printed key caps.

There are 60 keys, including a numeric pad that has an extra Caps Shift and single key entry Full Stop plus a full size space bar. The other extra keys are Symbol Shift, Edit, Delete, E Mode, Colon, Semi Colon, Comma and another Full Stop - all single key entry.

Fitting is straightforward; the base of the Spectrum is retained as an insulator and bolted through to the base of the keyboard. If Interface 1 is used the two long mounting screws have to be removed and the bolts then go through it and the Spectrum. There is provision to put the power supply inside the case and special connectors are used to wire an on/off switch and a LED. That is relatively easy and you need not worry about the leads shorting out as everything is well insulated, although Transform do recommend fitting an extra earth wire for safety.

The keyboard has a solid feel to it and is certainly the best of the keyboards reviewed. The only problem that may be experienced is that with some issue 3 Spectrums the ULA chip, if not marked with the word Ferranti, is working to the limits of its specification which may make the computer rather temperamental when used with the keyboard. Transform sell a buffer, at £6.95 inc, which cures that problem.

The price of £69.95 reflects the sort of use to which this keyboard will be put but it is certainly the best keyboard of the moment.

Kelwood Computer Cases, Downs Row, Moorgate, Rotherham S60 2HD.

Maplin Electronic Supplies, PO Box 3, Rayleigh, Essex SS6 8LR.

dk'tronics, Unit 6, Shire Hill Industrial Estate, Saffron Walden, Essex CB11 2AQ. Tel: (0799) 26350.

Advanced Memory Systems Ltd, Green Lane, Appleton, Warrington WA4 5NG.

Saga Systems Ltd, Woodham Road, Woking, Surrey.

Stonechip Electronics, Brook Trading Estate, Deadbrook Lane, Aldershot, Hampshire GU12 4XB. Tel: (0252) 333361.

Transform, 41 Keats House, Porchester Mead, Beckenham, Kent. Tel: 01-658 6350.