Amiga.org

Coffee House => Coffee House Boards => CH / General => Topic started by: therail on December 01, 2006, 11:19:27 PM

Title: am on the lookout for zx spectrums
Post by: therail on December 01, 2006, 11:19:27 PM
i currently own 2 zx spectrum 128ks (both pretty dodgy tho) i am on the lookout for possibly another 128k model. but i may also be tempted in getting a 48k rubber keyed model. i know ebay is the obvious choice to look for them, but was wondering whether anyone here has possible a package deal or something like that. many thanks.
Title: Re: am on the lookout for zx spectrums
Post by: InTheSand on December 10, 2006, 09:04:45 AM
Yep, eBay's your best bet!

Or alternatively, if you're in the UK, it's worth checking out car boot sales / garage sales. However, people are a lot more clued up on such things these days and it's more and more difficult to find bargains like those in the pre-2000 days!

I got some great bargains in the UK in the 1990s, before retro computing became fashionable!

 - Ali

P.S. My two favourite Spectrums are the 48K rubber keyed model and the original Sinclair 128K with the external "toast rack" heatsink. None of this Amstrad rubbish!!!  :-)
Title: Re: am on the lookout for zx spectrums
Post by: Speelgoedmannetje on December 10, 2006, 01:32:51 PM
Quote

therail wrote:
(both pretty dodgy tho)
Yeah, every spectrum I owned was dodgy, also, QL was a failure because of being dodgy.
So I doubt you'll get a sinclair wich isn't dodgy.
Title: Re: am on the lookout for zx spectrums
Post by: odin on December 10, 2006, 03:12:09 PM
:lol:
Title: Re: am on the lookout for zx spectrums
Post by: InTheSand on December 10, 2006, 11:14:06 PM
Quote
Speelgoedmannetje wrote:
Every spectrum I owned was dodgy, also, QL was a failure because of being dodgy.


Heh! The Spectrum was OK! Issue 3s onwards were of a non-dodgy nature, but certainly the earlier ones were a bit suspect, with some having overheating problems and the issues 1 and 2 having "dead {bleep}roach" IC bodges soldered in place!

EDIT: Err.. "{bleep}roach" !!!  :-)  :lol:  :lol:

And the QL was a failure because it was released before being completed. I guess the use of Microdrives rather than disk drives didn't help its case either!

I have one working and one dead QL, plus used to use the excellent QL emulator for the A500. Oh, and countless Spectrums! (All working and non-dodgy the last time I checked!!!)

 - Ali
Title: Re: am on the lookout for zx spectrums
Post by: Cyberus on December 10, 2006, 11:16:31 PM
I've got a QL, never even powered it up though. Its missing a key, that's all I know about it!

There were only a few hundred of them produced weren't there???

I always wanted a SAM coupe....
Title: Re: am on the lookout for zx spectrums
Post by: InTheSand on December 11, 2006, 12:37:33 AM
As far as I know, there were around 100,000 QLs sold worldwide. Not exactly the success Sinclair Research had hoped for...

Still, it did have a multi-tasking OS and was based on the good old 68K we know and love! I haven't powered my one up for years but I was at least able to track down a disk drive interface for it and transfer stuff from the few QL-formatted Microdrive cartridges I own. Bought the QL, literally "mint in box", from a radio/electronics fair in the UK some time in the 1990s for the princely sum of £5! Bargain!

I'd also love a SAM Coupe, but these are very rare and I've got pretty much zero chance of finding one in New Zealand!!! Shame it was released so late and at a comparatively high cost vs the Atari ST. I'd have had that over the ST if it'd been available in 1988...

Another old rarity I'd like to find is the Enterprise 64 or 128. This was definitely ahead of its time but ended up hitting the market way too late. It could be made to run Spectrum software via a bit of code plus a ROM image file.

 - Ali
Title: Re: am on the lookout for zx spectrums
Post by: Karlos on December 11, 2006, 09:03:58 PM
Quote

Speelgoedmannetje wrote:
Quote

therail wrote:
(both pretty dodgy tho)
Yeah, every spectrum I owned was dodgy, also, QL was a failure because of being dodgy.
So I doubt you'll get a sinclair wich isn't dodgy.


I'll have you know my 48K rubber keyed spectrum is totally functional :-)







The fact that it was made by scavenging two non-functional spectrums is irrelavent :lol:
Title: Re: am on the lookout for zx spectrums
Post by: PMC on December 12, 2006, 01:14:31 PM
Rubber keyed speccys make excellent coffee mats.

That may sound a little sacreligious, but given that retro computing rarely lives up to nostalgia I'm happy to simply emulate my speccy/c64/amstrad experiences.

Amigas on the other hand are a different matter entirely...

Back in 1987 I had a +2.  There was a lot of stuff bandied about in the press about supposed incompatibilities between the +2 and other speccys, but I almost never had an issue with mine, the only programmes which I recall failing to load were "Brian Bloodaxe" and "Falcon Patrol".  

I can play Speccy Elite for hours, but like every other piece of speccy software, the realisation that everything I do is limited to eight garish colours begins to really hurt my eyes.  Then the incessent bleep/fuzz noise of the AY begins to make my ears bleed but at least it can be turned down, hehe.

I remember my local shop had two SAM coupes back in 1990... Probably the largest gathering of the mythical machines since they left the factory :lol:
Title: Re: am on the lookout for zx spectrums
Post by: therail on December 13, 2006, 01:19:21 PM
Quote

InTheSand wrote:
P.S. My two favourite Spectrums are the 48K rubber keyed model and the original Sinclair 128K with the external "toast rack" heatsink. None of this Amstrad rubbish!!!  :-)


yeah tell me about it. i have 2 of the original sinclair 128s! :) my situation at the mo is i am keeping one as spares/bits and bobs and i am getting the other one repaired for normal use. i did see one on ebay last week but bah i can't buy at the mo what with christmas and that and haven't much money to spare! :(
Title: Re: am on the lookout for zx spectrums
Post by: InTheSand on December 13, 2006, 08:11:47 PM
What's wrong with your 128s? It usually only seems to be the keyboard membrane that dies... And they can be got hold of fairly easily.

I must admit I can't remember the last time I powered up real Spectrum hardware! Emulation is so perfect these days... All I need is one of these (http://www.jenlogix.co.nz/products/kg7007.htm) to complete the experience! :-)

 - Ali
Title: Re: am on the lookout for zx spectrums
Post by: therail on December 23, 2006, 06:41:39 PM
Quote

InTheSand wrote:
What's wrong with your 128s? It usually only seems to be the keyboard membrane that dies... And they can be got hold of fairly easily.

I must admit I can't remember the last time I powered up real Spectrum hardware! Emulation is so perfect these days... All I need is one of these (http://www.jenlogix.co.nz/products/kg7007.htm) to complete the experience! :-)

 - Ali


yeah it is the membrane. i got a replacement but unfortunately i have had complications with it. someone is one the case tho and repairing it for me i am also have a new modulator installed so i should get a decent speccy back soon after xmas hopefully.
Title: Re: am on the lookout for zx spectrums
Post by: InTheSand on December 23, 2006, 11:48:59 PM
Cool!!!

It's always fun to be using vintage hardware!

Makes me wonder why nobody (Amstrad, are you listening?!) has made a Spectrum-in-a-joystick yet, as the innards are so much simpler than a C64...

 - Ali
Title: Re: am on the lookout for zx spectrums
Post by: CannonFodder on December 24, 2006, 12:35:29 AM
Quote

InTheSand wrote:
Cool!!!

It's always fun to be using vintage hardware!

Makes me wonder why nobody (Amstrad, are you listening?!) has made a Spectrum-in-a-joystick yet, as the innards are so much simpler than a C64...

 - Ali


I would imagine it's because the games look (and sound)  like crap in comparison to C64 and Megadrive joysticks etc.
Title: Re: am on the lookout for zx spectrums
Post by: InTheSand on December 24, 2006, 04:44:22 AM
Quote
CannonFodder wrote:
I would imagine it's because the games look (and sound)  like crap in comparison to C64 and Megadrive joysticks etc.


"Crap"??! Spectrum sound and graphics?!  :-o  :-o  :-o

That's just sacrilege!!!  :-)

Everyone knows the Speccy had the best graphics and sound of all the 8-bitters!  :-D

/me runs and hides from the imminent roasting! :madashell:

 - Ali
Title: Re: am on the lookout for zx spectrums
Post by: CannonFodder on December 24, 2006, 05:14:18 AM
:roflmao:
Title: Re: am on the lookout for zx spectrums
Post by: therail on December 24, 2006, 12:52:46 PM
they have done atari 2600/vcs joystick game things too. surely speccy is better than that!?
Title: Re: am on the lookout for zx spectrums
Post by: CannonFodder on December 24, 2006, 02:01:19 PM
Quote

therail wrote:
they have done atari 2600/vcs joystick game things too. surely speccy is better than that!?


Atari is a well known brand the world over.  Spectrum is well known in the UK the most, maybe Russia.

Marketing sorts would shudder at such a limited market I guess.
Title: Re: am on the lookout for zx spectrums
Post by: NoFastMem on December 24, 2006, 11:21:15 PM
I'd bloody love to play Midnight Resistance or Hero again though.

I was a Speccy kid for a time, mostly had +2As. I think they're unfairly maligned. So the Amstrads weren't as pretty as the Sinclair models, but the built-in tape was handy, and at least they had proper keyboards!

Must admit I loved the look of the original 128, though. I had one for a while, but I'd managed to blow it up the first night I had it and it was never resurrected.  :-(
Title: Re: am on the lookout for zx spectrums
Post by: InTheSand on December 27, 2006, 05:10:48 AM
The (UK-only) enhanced phones (http://www.amstrad.com/products/emailers/emp.html) made by Amstrad have in-built Spectrum emulation, shame this wasn't taken further into a stand-alone product.

Though the C64's sound was miles better, and its graphics were better for probably 85%+ of games, quite a lot of us old ex-Speccy users were (at the time) ardent haters of Commodore!!!!! So even given the size of the market, I'm sure a fair profit could still be made if such a device was sold for around the same price as the C64DTV... A couple of million would probably be sold in the UK alone!

 - Ali
Title: Re: am on the lookout for zx spectrums
Post by: Vincent on December 27, 2006, 01:42:36 PM
Quote

NoFastMem wrote:
I was a Speccy kid for a time, mostly had +2As. I think they're unfairly maligned. So the Amstrads weren't as pretty as the Sinclair models, but the built-in tape was handy, and at least they had proper keyboards!

Yeah, but the amount of times the Azimuth Head Alignment had to be fixed on the +2s was unbelievable, especially on the Amstrad versions.

The keyboard was tops though :-D
Title: Re: am on the lookout for zx spectrums
Post by: InTheSand on December 27, 2006, 09:37:48 PM
Quote
Vincent wrote:
The keyboard was tops though :-D


Nooo! Rubber keys rule!!!  :crazy:

 - Ali
Title: Re: am on the lookout for zx spectrums
Post by: Vincent on December 28, 2006, 02:08:53 PM
Got a fetish? :-P
Title: Re: am on the lookout for zx spectrums
Post by: Van_M on January 07, 2007, 02:28:46 AM
Quote
None of this Amstrad rubbish!!! :-)


Watch your words on Amstrad!!!

Alan Sugar is God!
Title: Re: am on the lookout for zx spectrums
Post by: PMC on January 08, 2007, 10:47:34 AM
Well, my +2 needed opening up and having the noise output adjusted because of the incessant buzz of static drowning out the sound and it wasn't by any means the only +2 which required such fine tuning.  

As for the tape heads, mine needed a little adjustment but were fine for ever after once tuned correctly.  And with a very few exceptions, it managed to load almost every program I attempted to run.

Full marks to Amstrad on that score, however the garishness of the 8 colour display and the fact that on a TV screen the colours used to bleed into one another (not to mention the awful colour clash) meant that I'd have swapped the bleepy AY for a less migraine inducing display.
Title: Re: am on the lookout for zx spectrums
Post by: A4000_Mad on January 09, 2007, 06:34:21 PM
I had every Spectrum ever made once, but when we moved the Mrs said I had to bin them or some of my Amigas !! No contest... so into the bin went all the Speccy's :boohoo:


Well all except a boxed, fully working +3 with floppy drive that I managed to sneek up into the loft   :lol:

Any idea of its value now?

P.S. Heathrow Radar on the Spectrum is still the best Air Traffic Control simulator that I have seen on any platform  including the PC  8-)

A4000 Mad


(http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o164/Cyberstorm604e/3.jpg)
Title: Re: am on the lookout for zx spectrums
Post by: Speelgoedmannetje on January 09, 2007, 07:05:05 PM
Aw, yet another victim of the 'Mrs. terrorism'

Title: Re: am on the lookout for zx spectrums
Post by: Speelgoedmannetje on January 11, 2007, 05:44:43 PM
Quote

A4000_Mad wrote:
I had every Spectrum ever made once, but when we moved the Mrs said I had to bin them or some of my Amigas !! No contest... so into the bin went all the Speccy's :boohoo:


Well all except a boxed, fully working +3 with floppy drive that I managed to sneek up into the loft   :lol:

Any idea of its value now?

P.S. Heathrow Radar on the Spectrum is still the best Air Traffic Control simulator that I have seen on any platform  including the PC  8-)

A4000 Mad


(http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o164/Cyberstorm604e/3.jpg)
is that a 3.5" diskdrive? Or didn't the Spectrum have a 3" "microdrive" (or what was it?).

Anyway, I got myself a ZX81 from a friend :banana:
Title: Re: am on the lookout for zx spectrums
Post by: Vincent on January 11, 2007, 09:58:17 PM
A microdrive was completely different, it was basically a very miniature tape system.

The +3 had a 3" disk drive.  The same disks that Amstrad used in their PCW systems.

I've still got my 2 48k's and 3 +2's in a box under my bed along with 2 more boxes of just Speccy games :-D
Title: Re: am on the lookout for zx spectrums
Post by: Karlos on January 11, 2007, 10:04:19 PM
Off Topic:

@Vincent:

Quote
Who ate all the pies?


Your avatar?
Title: Re: am on the lookout for zx spectrums
Post by: Vincent on January 12, 2007, 01:31:04 AM
Yup :-D

Speaking of eating a lot...

Siouxsie was out on Tuesday afternoon with uni buddies and there's one guy, Cam, that takes the mickey out of her (just like I do).  They decided to have an eating contest to see who could eat the most.

Siouxsie won because Cam couldn't finish his fruit salad at the end.  He couldn't bend over either :lol:

Siouxsie's prize?  Winning and being able to rub it in to Cam that he's a loser.  As well as having the luxury of not having to eat on Wednesday!

Back OT again... kinda.

Apparently Sir Clive was on Celebrity Poker on ftn tonight.
Title: Re: am on the lookout for zx spectrums
Post by: A4000_Mad on January 12, 2007, 06:30:25 PM
Yes the floppy is 3". I Think I've only got a few blank disks, Batman and Gauntlet II.

Has anyone seen a good Air Traffic Control simulator (preferrably for Heathrow) for any other platform than the Speccy?


It's a real shame but to be honest 'Kennedy Approach' and 'ATC' for the Amiga were more like kids games than simulators. But 'Airbus 320 Volume II' sure is great fun. I paid £15 for my new boxed copy, but the charts and airway maps alone would have cost much more than that  :-)



A4000 Mad
Title: Re: am on the lookout for zx spectrums
Post by: InTheSand on January 17, 2007, 03:12:25 AM
Quote
A4000_Mad wrote:
...a boxed, fully working +3 with floppy drive that I managed to sneek up into the loft   :lol:

Any idea of its value now?


Hi,

It's unfortunately probably worth less than you'd hope... It helps that it's boxed, but I'd guess at somewhere in the £40-£100 range...

Much better to keep it!

 - Ali
Title: Re: am on the lookout for zx spectrums
Post by: NoFastMem on January 17, 2007, 06:37:16 AM
I was gonna say £30.

The Microdrive was introduced with the QL and was another typically ill-fated Sinclair baby. It was marketed for the Speccy as an Interface 1 add-on but by the time the +3 came along it had already proven itself horribly unreliable.

'Course, Amstrad then made its own mistake in going with 3" floppies after the 3.5" had been established.
Title: Re: am on the lookout for zx spectrums
Post by: Vincent on January 17, 2007, 04:47:43 PM
The +3s are usually rarer (not R@RE as eBay would have it, proper rare) than the rest of the Speccys so the price is usually higher for them.  I've seen them go for £30 to £100+ (£100 is usually boxed in mint condition).

Quote

NoFastMem wrote:
It was marketed for the Speccy as an Interface 1 add-on but by the time the +3 came along it had already proven itself horribly unreliable.

A week after they were released for the 48k they proved unreliable :-P

They have to be the most awkward, clunky and slow tape devices ever devised.  They got chewed up a lot aswell.  No, not by the dog :-P
Title: Re: am on the lookout for zx spectrums
Post by: PMC on January 17, 2007, 05:49:45 PM
Quote

NoFastMem wrote:

'Course, Amstrad then made its own mistake in going with 3" floppies after the 3.5" had been established.


Actually, Mr Sugar had cut an excellent deal on a bulk buy of 3" drives - as low as £10 a unit IIRC.  Naturally, they became the defacto standard for Amstrad so it was only a matter of time before Speccys had them fitted.

There was a device called the +D (I think!) for the 128K speccys which allowed the fitting of a 3.5" disk drive.  A friend had one for his +2, which made loading games a breeze.

Title: Re: am on the lookout for zx spectrums
Post by: NoFastMem on January 17, 2007, 08:40:58 PM
Quote

Vincent wrote:

They have to be the most awkward, clunky and slow tape devices ever devised.  They got chewed up a lot aswell.  No, not by the dog :-P


Tutor: "Let me guess, dog ate it?"
Student: "No, I saved it on a Microdrive (TM)"
Title: Re: am on the lookout for zx spectrums
Post by: Vincent on January 17, 2007, 08:55:27 PM
Quote
PMC wrote:
There was a device called the +D (I think!) for the 128K speccys which allowed the fitting of a 3.5" disk drive.  A friend had one for his +2, which made loading games a breeze.

Good memory!

Info page (http://www.worldofspectrum.org/infoseekid.cgi?id=1000246)

Advert (http://ftp://ftp.worldofspectrum.org/pub/sinclair/hardware-adverts/MGTPlusD.gif)

Loads a 48k speccy game in 3.5 seconds apparently :-D

I always wanted this (http://ftp://ftp.worldofspectrum.org/pub/sinclair/games-adverts/Compilations/CDGamesPackThe.jpg) though.

@tpg
:lol: I did think about making the homework joke.
Title: Re: am on the lookout for zx spectrums
Post by: InTheSand on January 18, 2007, 10:27:32 AM
Quote
Vincent wrote:
I always wanted this (http://ftp://ftp.worldofspectrum.org/pub/sinclair/games-adverts/Compilations/CDGamesPackThe.jpg) though.


Me too!!! But IIRC, it required a small loader program to be loaded in from tape before the CD's stuff could be accessed!!!

As for the Microdrives and ZX Interface 1... What about that lovely syntax to load and save?!

Anyone remember LOAD *"m";1;"program" and other such nice commands??!

 - Ali
Title: Re: am on the lookout for zx spectrums
Post by: PMC on January 18, 2007, 12:22:37 PM
Quote

InTheSand wrote:

As for the Microdrives and ZX Interface 1... What about that lovely syntax to load and save?!

Anyone remember LOAD *"m";1;"program" and other such nice commands??!

 - Ali


Yeah, but to be fair the speccy wasn't the only one:

Load "*",8,1 (C64)
Run "Nebulus (CPC)

It's why emulators exist, haha.
Title: Re: am on the lookout for zx spectrums
Post by: nadoom on January 18, 2007, 01:06:57 PM
I used to have a +3, most of the games were on tape though so you had to plug in a tape player to get that sorted.

I remember scouring high and low looking for those bloody CF2 disks, and they were about £2.50 a pop, thanks alot mr sugar.

Those were the days,
Title: Re: am on the lookout for zx spectrums
Post by: Vincent on January 18, 2007, 01:38:26 PM
Quote

InTheSand wrote:
Me too!!! But IIRC, it required a small loader program to be loaded in from tape before the CD's stuff could be accessed!!!

I didn't know that.  Kinda defeats the purpose then really.
Quote
Anyone remember LOAD *"m";1;"program" and other such nice commands??!

I couldn't remember it when I last posted, but I do now!  Kinda simple really when you think about it.

*"m" means microdrive
;1; means the first drive in the chain (that chain can be up to 14 IIRC)
"program" is the prog you want to load and it *must* be specified unlike just Load "" from tape.

@PMC
You might want to take out the "[quote]Vincent wrote:" line in your last post ;-)

And at least the Speccy+, +2 and +3 had Tape Loader where you just pressed enter then started the tape.  Or in 48k/128k mode it'd be Load "".  You didn't need to type the program name at all.  It just loaded the first basic header it could.

There were a few games that used Load "" CODE.  Androids being one of them, no not Android One (http://www.worldofspectrum.org/infoseekid.cgi?id=0000190), just Androids (http://www.worldofspectrum.org/infoseekid.cgi?id=0000197)).  Still one of my favourite games to this day.  All in 16k!
Title: Re: am on the lookout for zx spectrums
Post by: PMC on January 18, 2007, 05:26:43 PM
Quote

Vincent wrote:

And at least the Speccy+, +2 and +3 had Tape Loader where you just pressed enter then started the tape.  Or in 48k/128k mode it'd be Load "".  You didn't need to type the program name at all.  It just loaded the first basic header it could.

There were a few games that used Load "" CODE.


The tape loader was handy, but many games needed to be run in 48K mode, which presented it's own issues:

"Which bloody command shortcut is on which bloody key????"  (+2/+3 keyboards only had PRINT/RUN/LOAD commands printed on the P/R/J keys respectively).

I mean, typing J""....
Title: Re: am on the lookout for zx spectrums
Post by: InTheSand on January 18, 2007, 09:00:20 PM
Quote
Vincent wrote:
Quote
Anyone remember LOAD *"m";1;"program" and other such nice commands??!

I couldn't remember it when I last posted, but I do now!  Kinda simple really when you think about it.


Simple for the likes of us lot! perhaps! But not so great for less techie people!

IMO, the "m";1; should have been made optional (after all, how many people had a ZX Net and/or loaded/saved programs via the RS232 port?) - and not many people at the time had more than a single Microdrive!

Then it could have just been LOAD *"program" - much neater!

Quote
at least the Speccy+, +2 and +3 had Tape Loader


Sorry to be picky, but this was on the 128, +2 and +3 - the original + didn't have it as this was basically a standard 48K machine in a new case but with the same old ROM.

Quote
There were a few games that used Load "" CODE.


IIRC, this was done as a form of "copy protection" (yeah right, all were futile on tape-based media!!!) where the whole 16 or 48Kb of RAM was loaded in from tape, including the display, system variables, stack, etc - and once loaded, the stacked return address from the ROM's tape loader routine would point to the entry of the game's code and start execution that way.

Quote
PMC wrote:
I mean, typing J""....


Heh! But after a few years of Spectrum use, the positions of most of those keywords were committed to memory! Even now, nearly 25 years on, I still remember at least where all of the primary keywords are (the unshifted letter keys in "K" mode), and most of the punctuation! Perhaps I should get out more!!  :-)

 - Ali

EDIT: one of the early Spectrum emulators was called JPP for that very reason!
Title: Re: am on the lookout for zx spectrums
Post by: Vincent on January 19, 2007, 02:38:08 AM
Quote

InTheSand wrote:
Sorry to be picky, but this was on the 128, +2 and +3 - the original + didn't have it as this was basically a standard 48K machine in a new case but with the same old ROM.

Whoops, my mistake.  I should've realised that.  There's no point in having a menu on the 48k+ with "48k mode" and "tape loader".  To be picky myself - didn't the +3 just have "loader" as it had the floppy instead?
Title: Re: am on the lookout for zx spectrums
Post by: InTheSand on January 20, 2007, 12:11:44 AM
Quote
Vincent wrote:
To be picky myself - didn't the +3 just have "loader" as it had the floppy instead?


Yep, you're right! The +3 and +2A/2B both just have "Loader"...

 - Ali
Title: Re: am on the lookout for zx spectrums
Post by: Vincent on January 20, 2007, 03:56:25 PM
Quote

InTheSand wrote:
Quote
Vincent wrote:
To be picky myself - didn't the +3 just have "loader" as it had the floppy instead?


Yep, you're right! The +3 and +2A/2B both just have "Loader"...

What I meant was the +2a/b has "Tape Loader", but as the +3 has a floppy drive does that have "Disk Loader" or just "Loader"?

Other than that, the menus are identical.
Title: Re: am on the lookout for zx spectrums
Post by: InTheSand on January 21, 2007, 01:21:14 AM
Hi,

The original Sinclair 128 and Amstrad +2 have "Tape Loader", whereas the +3, +2A and +2B (which are based on the same revised Amstrad +3 ROM) all just have "Loader".

And, of course, the original 128 has an additional "Tape Tester" option!

Ah, the joys of cassette-based loading!!!

 - Ali
Title: Re: am on the lookout for zx spectrums
Post by: Vincent on January 24, 2007, 10:45:38 PM
Ever so slightly off topic...

If you're still nostalgic about Spectrum games, I'd strongly suggest you pick up a copy of The ZX Spectrum Book - 1982 to 199x (http://www.zxgoldenyears.com/).

A 256 page book featuring information on 230 Speccy games.  Including a single page of information about each year in general.  It's the size of a 48k and about the same weight aswell.

There's a pdf sample on the page itself for an idea of what it's like.

Oh yeah, the foreword to the book was done by Sir Clive himself!

I've got the book myself and it's just brilliant.  If you can afford the £17.99 + P&P it's well worth it.

Oh, and it was all done by one person, with the exception of getting it printed - that was done professionally.

Only 1000 copies were printed.

Anyways, enough of that advert now...
Title: Re: am on the lookout for zx spectrums
Post by: therail on January 25, 2007, 12:50:23 AM
Quote

Vincent wrote:
Apparently Sir Clive was on Celebrity Poker on ftn tonight.


yeah you're right. i just managed to catch the end of it. they interviewed the smug little git at the end (it looked as tho he had a good poker night).
Title: Re: am on the lookout for zx spectrums
Post by: InTheSand on January 25, 2007, 07:28:58 PM
Quote
Vincent wrote:
If you're still nostalgic about Spectrum games, I'd strongly suggest you pick up a copy of The ZX Spectrum Book - 1982 to 199x (http://www.zxgoldenyears.com/).


Ooh! Thanks for the info! I'd have missed that otherwise!

Colour clash rules!!!  :-)

 - Ali
Title: Re: am on the lookout for zx spectrums
Post by: gertsy on January 26, 2007, 05:32:11 AM
I got my original 1983 Rubberkey 48K Spectrum.
I'd offer it to you but it doesnt work, but Ive got it to look at.
That makes me happy.  
Elite on a 48K Spectrum was the bees knees.  Now it just looks silly.
And the sound. :lol:
Title: Re: am on the lookout for zx spectrums
Post by: InTheSand on January 26, 2007, 08:26:22 PM
Get it fixed!!!

What doesn't work on it? Does it start up with randomly coloured/flashing squares all over the screen? Or no picture at all?

Actually, monochrome vector graphic games were one area that the Spectrum beat the C64  :-o  - faster CPU helped, though the Speccy's "interesting" screen layout negated that a bit!

 - Ali
Title: Re: am on the lookout for zx spectrums
Post by: Karlos on January 26, 2007, 08:49:52 PM
I'd bet it'll be an overheating/dodgy ULA. The Ferranti ones were especially prone to this, I have at least 3 suspect ones and one "functions with a small heatsink attached" that's in my current working spectrum.

The memory chips can suffer problems with age in some models too, leading to all kinds of random chicanery.
Title: Re: am on the lookout for zx spectrums
Post by: InTheSand on January 27, 2007, 12:00:09 AM
I guess I really ought to check out my Speccies at some point... Haven't powered up a real Spectrum for ages, so I wonder how many of mine still work?!

I guess the +2A/+2B/+3s are the most reliable as IIRC they've got far less components than the earlier designs (especially the old 48Ks with their 30000000 resistors and other discrete components!)

 - Ali
Title: Re: am on the lookout for zx spectrums
Post by: therail on January 27, 2007, 01:36:51 AM
good news chaps. i should get my spectrum back next week. apparetnly the keyboard membrane i got (off ebay) is not actually suited to the spectrum i got, even tho it was advertised as a + or 128 compatible. so i got a guy who was in the know to sort it out for me and do some modifictions to the membrane and the (broken) keyboard brackets that tighten the membrane in place. hopefully next week i'll take some pics of it with the games i have. can't wait to play lemmings - isn't this one of the rarest games for the speccy? i am also looking out for street fighter 2- had this when i was a kid, despite the long loading times, i was actually impressed. cant wait to play manic miner and jetpac too! lovely jubbly! :)
Title: Re: am on the lookout for zx spectrums
Post by: Vincent on January 27, 2007, 01:44:33 PM
I hope the speccy works fine with the modified membrane.  And I hope you get the volume just right when loading the tapes ;-)

I doubt Lemmings was rare on the Speccy.  It was out when there was still a lot of publicity about it on the other formats.

The fact that it was faithfull to the 16 bit versions just with crappier sound and graphics was a major selling point and all the magazines went overboard with getting the message out to the public that it was a great game.

My games (Speccy and everything else). (http://vincentac.spaces.live.com/)
Title: Re: am on the lookout for zx spectrums
Post by: InTheSand on January 27, 2007, 10:23:33 PM
Quote
Vincent wrote:
The fact that it was faithfull to the 16 bit versions just with crappier sound and graphics...


I'd guess the sound was probably the same as the Atari ST, given they both used the same soundchip! Not actually played the Speccy version of Lemmings but some lovely screenshots are here (http://www.mobygames.com/game/zx-spectrum/lemmings/screenshots/gameShotId,85420/)!

 - Ali
Title: Re: am on the lookout for zx spectrums
Post by: therail on January 28, 2007, 01:24:21 PM
Quote

InTheSand wrote:
Quote
Vincent wrote:
The fact that it was faithfull to the 16 bit versions just with crappier sound and graphics...


I'd guess the sound was probably the same as the Atari ST, given they both used the same soundchip! Not actually played the Speccy version of Lemmings but some lovely screenshots are here (http://www.mobygames.com/game/zx-spectrum/lemmings/screenshots/gameShotId,85420/)!

 - Ali


surprisingly no it isn't as good as the ST version. the spec hadf only one soundtrack, but the st had many (and pretty good). remember, the ST had more memory to play around with! ;)
Title: Re: am on the lookout for zx spectrums
Post by: InTheSand on January 30, 2007, 02:05:14 AM
That's true!! 128Kb in bank-switched chunks via a 3.5MHz 8-bit CPU vs 512Kb flat via an 8MHz 16-bit CPU meant that the cheap and nasty sound chip could at least be tortured a bit more on the ST to get something approaching reasonable! :-)

Going even further off topic: I have a (very battered) March 1986 issue of Byte magazine, where the 1040ST was reviewed, and there's an interview with Atari's R&D president at the time (Shiraz Shivji). From the text...

Quote
We had a project here ... a chip called Amy. And the ST was designed to have the Amy. But the Amy did not happen... Amy was a chip that had 16 bits of information coming out. So you could have 96dB of range. What you could hear! Amy was a complete digital sound chip... We were going to have the Amy, and then it didn't happen... That's how the MIDI came in... So the Yamaha chip is in there just to give it the basic sound? Yes. Just the basic sounds you need.


So basically, Atari's soundchip design didn't work so it stuffed in an AY-3-8910 clone (Yamaha YM2149) and the MIDI ports to cover for it.

Oh well! The rest is history!

 - Ali

P.S. That same issue has a full colour full page ad from Commodore for the Amiga 1000, as well as several for the extremely dull monochrome-screened CP/M machines and IBM PC compatibles of the time...
Title: Re: am on the lookout for zx spectrums
Post by: therail on February 01, 2007, 11:08:41 AM
grrr! i got the spectrum this morning... but the keyboard still doesn't work! i am seriously thinking about giving up on this spectrum and sell the lot and just carry on with my a4000 project. i guess it wasn't to be! :(
Title: Re: am on the lookout for zx spectrums
Post by: therail on February 02, 2007, 11:11:43 AM
right update here. i sort of temperary fixed the spectrum. i just super glued the brackets down... worked but not perfect. i will concerntrate on my a4000 project (which i half way point) and then when thats done get a replacement keyboard.
Title: Re: am on the lookout for zx spectrums
Post by: InTheSand on February 02, 2007, 09:01:35 PM
Shame about the keyboard!

You could always run a Speccy emulator on your A4000! Might need something faster than a stock '030 though.

 - Ali
Title: Re: am on the lookout for zx spectrums
Post by: therail on February 02, 2007, 09:16:40 PM
yeah i'm ok with that. i have an csmk3 060 in my Amiga 4000! :)
Title: Re: am on the lookout for zx spectrums
Post by: InTheSand on February 04, 2007, 08:56:52 PM
You've probably seen the large amount of Spectrum-related stuff (http://www.aminet.net/search?query=ZX) on Aminet?

ZXLive (http://www.aminet.net/package/misc/emu/ZXLive)  is the most up to date (20th Jan 2007!) though ZXAM (plus update) also works well.

 - Ali
Title: Re: am on the lookout for zx spectrums
Post by: Vincent on February 04, 2007, 10:21:04 PM
ZXAM used to work brilliantly on my A1200 030/25mhz.

Just a pity it doesn't do 128k games though.  Well, it didn't the last time I tried it.
Title: Re: am on the lookout for zx spectrums
Post by: InTheSand on February 05, 2007, 12:37:46 AM
Hi,

It seems ZXLive isn't the only Speccy emulator still in development! ASp (http://www.aminet.net/package/misc/emu/ASpEmu) has also been updated this year!

Both ZXLive and ASp run 48K and 128K games, with the added bonus that ASp has full 128K sound emulation (go AY!) whereas ZXLive requires a real hardware AY-3-8912 to be connected.

 - Ali