The Sinclair ZX Spectrum: a homage

[xardo66]

this is so cool, I remember my first computer

[Cezi1975rdm]

zx spectrum my first computer ehhh 1985 y cool!!!

[Helderhugo]

It seams like yestarday and 30 years passed by.

[adamwba1979]

In 1982 I was 3 years old lol. But the ZX Spectrum was still really popular in the late 80s too and I used to use it a lot. Either it be programming or just playing games. One of my favourite games used to be Back 2 Skool. :)

[RussWWFC]

The original Spectrum looked great, even if I did bugger up the power socket by the constant "resetting" Aside from games, fun could be had by typing GOTO USR (then a random number) and seeing what came up!

[SiskinOnUTube]

10 PAUSE 4E4

20 IF INKEY$="" THEN PRINT "Cheers"

[gnamp]

Believe it or not *this*. Incredible. Real Time sound effects.

[MASTURCHEEF001]

RONALD REAGAN FTW!

[cycleskin]

Christmas 1982 I got my first one. On boxing day the p key wasn’t working. So couldn’t play Through the wall anymore (((

Spectrum and BBC Micro where the best computers ever ))) (well apart from my Mac Pro)

[nofreedomofspeech]

I still have mine :) but it doesn't work anymore :(

[ldavelou2]

Awesome. Brings back so many great memories.

[GR8TM4N]

Loved your video guys :) Many greetings from a fellow speccy user from Greece! keep the dream alive !

[xxkil]

shit it,s loe and andy yer i know

[boydegg]

@xxkil

Ha ha ha ha ha - I don't want that one, I want that one.

[doubledragonuk]

i have all models of Spectrum in my collection yet i havent seen another 16k issue one with a light coloured rubber keyboard that i have, its serial is just over 3000 all my other 16k issue one speccys have blue rubber keys, does anyone know when they stopped using this colour or was it an option to change from the blue?

[Tehploe]

It's swell to see your guys' admiration and it's true what you say... fetuses like me rarely have the oppourtunity to get under the skin of a machine to truly understand what is going on. We have to go the long way around and it takes us an age to even get a basic grasp.

[FX23]

how do you get in working on a flatscreen then?

[kingqueen3065]

@FX23 modify it to output Composite, google "ZX Spectrum Composite" for more, then I used a TV tuner card in my PC.

[robotwo]

Couldn't help but to notice that you said that it only understood BASIC ...

Well since the ZX Spectrum was powered by a Zilog 80 processor , wouldn't you also say that it understood Z80 ASM? which also is BY FAR faster than any basic compiler :)

[kingqueen3065]

@robotwo good point; perhaps we should have said "only understood BASIC out of the box". I liked that you had to do BASIC to get it to do anything, even if it was only LOAD ""

[16mmDJ]

Gotta love BASIC.

and the Zed X Spectrum

[badnewswade]

We were a few years behind, so I got a ZX81 in 1987, then a Speccy 48k in '88, and then finally a +3 in 1990. Wish I'd got an Atari ST instead of the +3 but otherwise, best computers ever!

[Call3503]

...and the machine is still supported today, with new hardware and software...

[MrZXSPECTRUM]

I had a few ZX Spectrums, My first computer was a ZX81. then I got hold of a 48K then later on a +3.

[Svettjodd]

The 48K version has 48K RAM and 16K ROM, a total of 64K.

There is no ROM/RAM overlap (such as in the C64 or similar) but the screen takes 6144 +768 bytes, leaving ~42K of RAM for programs.

[Bp1033]

I have a zx81 (timex 1000) it was a fun little machine until the ula chip burnt out. Good thing its socketed and easy to replace....

[HellNight7]

Dead Flesh! LOL

[darthbergmen]

thanks for the great video. i have just time travelled to my 5 yr old days.

[chevkoch]

Charming. Thanks for the flashback. I remember my days of teaching myself BASIC fondly.

[2008Overkill]

is it connected just through the RF cable? The screen looks clear

[kingqueen3065]

@2008Overkill no I modified the spectrum to output composite, cos the advent of Channel 5 meant it clashed with the RF, and the modulator notoriously broke if anybody ever attempted to move it. Google "ZX Spectrum composite" for more info if interested.

[kingqueen3065]

@2008Overkill no I modified the spectrum to output composite, cos the advent of Channel 5 meant it clashed with the RF, and the modulator notoriously broke if anybody ever attempted to move it. Google "ZX Spectrum composite" for more info if interested.

[palexandersquires]

I used to have a spectrum, and I enjoyed every minute of it. I used to press Break to stop the programe, then I pulled the power lead out.

[MyOddSock]

Network speeds are usually quoted in bits not bytes. Not that matters in the comparison - sequential loading from cassette was a nightmare. When you saved your own code you had to remove the speaker / ear jack otherwise the feedback would prevent it working. The BASIC and OS was stored on a 16K ROM so it didn't eat into the RAM. The screen 256x192 pixels consumed the first 7K of RAM I think... you could write and read the screen memory directly using POKE and PEEK commands.

[rudeydudey05]

Yeah, it was bit of a nightmare saving code to tape.

i was a bit jealous of my mate who had a Commodore 64 with a 5-1/4 Floppy disk drive.

But i still loved it.

[darthbergmen]

i could never save my code to the tape. i remember writing down the listing to a paper and re-typing hundreds of lines of code again and again :)

[rudeydudey05]

It was very tedius, i used to write the programs from the Spectrum magazines Crash Magazin ( the irony, as most of the programs crashed lol) & Sinclair User.

I used the tapes to death too.

I remember my mate and his new C64 and floppy disk drive, saving and loading programs in seconds it seemed, i thought the future is here lol

I had the ZX Microdrive much later which eased alot of the saving problems. God it brings it all back, i really loved that computer despite its problems.

[SechsFluegel]

Problems saving code with a Spectrum?

No way!

I only had a humble mono tape recorder purchased for 75 German Mark back in the day(s).

It worked perfectly fine.

C64 floppy drives did cost 700 German Mark and worked with 2400 baud instead of the Spectrum's 1500 baud tape speed.

I know C64 users always used speed loaders.

But my 25 year old program for latin verb grammer still loaded absolutely fine recently.

Try that with 5,25 floppies - you might not be so lucky :-)

[code123ns]

Got some 5,25 from ~93. Still load and save perfectly :)

[tjstoned73]

Tornado Low Level should be reimagined for the ps3.

[rudeydudey05]

Great work guys, you are real naturals in front of camera, you should have your own show.

Speccy is one of my fav machines, Pitty Matty Smith didnt make more games as i was a massive fan of Manic Miner and jet se willy on the Spectrum, still play them now lol.

[vladabuba]

You did not mentioned "Tape Loading Error" :D Doug is cool guy :) thanks

[gabo972]

Saludos!! de argentinaa ,ustedes dos me traen muchos recuerdos ,aunque no se muy bien que dicen ,se muy bien lo que hacen pues tenia una maquina de esas..byeeee

[apoathgr]

aaah! i had one of those...! still do...

[stevieb133]

Yer enjoyed watching that, thxs

[BinaryReader]

Thanks for the video guys :) brings back the memories :)