The Spectrum launch

[dilwyn]

This product launch tomorrow (Tuesday 27th August) might be of interest to those of us who came to the QL via ZX Spectrums. A brand new rubber-keyed Spectrum called simply The Spectrum. No QL Core on this machine I guess (unlike the Next), but might be of nostalgic interest I guess. Hell, at this price I might just get one for old times sake!

There's an indirect connection in that former QL trader Darren Branagh is involved to a degree with it.

For me the appeal is that you can load Spectrum tape image files via USB pen drives and it comes with a sizeable collection of Spectrum games.

Launch price seems to be just under 90 pounds on Amazon - don't know if that's just an offer at launch or the permanent price.

Haven't found out yet if it has BASIC on board - the photo of the keyboard hints it might.

EDIT: I got it slightly wrong. The formal announcement of it is indeed Tuesday 27th August, but looks like the actual availability from the pre-order adverts might be 22nd November. Back to 28days+ again?

The Spectrum

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0DCZLFHB1? ... Eu5gUZoUoA

[RalfR]

The German news portal "t-online.de" quotes the manufacturer:

"In the spirit of authenticity, Retro Games even took the time to incorporate BASIC programming, allowing aspiring developers to get just as creative as the original pioneers"

Source: https://www.t-online.de/digital/aktuell ... rueck.html

[Mark Swift]

My wife was struggling to think what to get me as a Christmas present, so I suggested this from Amazon.
Even on the morning of the Nov 22 release day, Alexa was telling me that my stuff would be delivered by 1pm.
Later that day I got a new estimated delivery of Jan 4, so I won't be playing with it on Christmas day.
I guess it wouldn't be a true Sinclair experience without the delay.

Before I moved to the QL, I wrote a Spectrum character generator in Z80 code, ported some fonts from the Mac, wrote line, circle and fill routines and I was hoping to resurrect it from the ashes.

I remembered I had the code on tape and Microdrive. I no longer have a Spectrum or any of the Spectrum hardware, so I was planning to copy from tape using something like MakeTZX. Unfortunately not only have I lost my Spectrum, I've also lost that tape. I wish I'd been more organised.

So I have the code on ZX Microdrive and no way to transfer.
Strictly off topic. Does anyone do a transfer service for ZX Microdrives?

[XorA]

This product launch tomorrow (Tuesday 27th August) might be of interest to those of us who came to the QL via ZX Spectrums. A brand new rubber-keyed Spectrum called simply The Spectrum. No QL Core on this machine I guess (unlike the Next), but might be of nostalgic interest I guess. Hell, at this price I might just get one for old times sake!

Its just an ARM board running linux with an emulator on top, so you can just run sQLux if you want

[Sparrowhawk]

TL;DR; It's good. I mean, really, really good.

It looks, feels, acts like a Speccy. But with HDMI out and USBB for storage and joysticks.
Nice packaging. The carousel interface + ability to load all your own games/programs is great.

A very few small rough edges but a new firmware is due to drop any second apparently to address these.

BTW it's using custom ROMs for the BASIC (both 48K and 128K/+2A), but so far I've not seen anything untowards. The 128K BASIC still uses Keyword entry though, which was a surprise. No sign of "Sinclair" branding anywhere, so they clearly did not get the rifghts to use that from BSkyB.

Good video review here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSKMzSkLuWE

[dilwyn]

I agree, Sparrowhawk (assuming you were referring to The Spectrum, not the Next).
EDIT, just realised I misunderstood in my haste to reply which machine you were talking about, sorry.

Darren Branagh encouraged me to order The Spectrum. I haven't owned a ZX Spectrum for many years now, so I'm looking forward to using it as and when I get time. Mine arrived when Amazon said it would and worked first time apart from a little snag with the HDMI cable not making very good contact with the one on the monitor. A spare HDMI cable I had here seems to work fine. Including getting audio through to the monitor's speakers.

Going back to the Next, I know a few people like Phoebus Dokos have invested a lot of their time and energy into the QL core side of it, so it might appeal to a few QL people over time.

QL will still be primary machine for me, though. We are so fortunate to have such a choice of systems to use as our "QL" through the hard work of people like Peter, Marcel, Daniele and Graeme (XorA), to name only the first four who came to mind.

[bwinkel67]

Sadly they won't sell to the US. I thought it officially launched just a day or so ago? So people already have it in hand in the UK?

Looks like a cool retro remake. I saw a few videos and inside the case there's a picture of Clive Sinclair stamped into the plastic...pretty neat.

[dilwyn]

Sadly they won't sell to the US. I thought it officially launched just a day or so ago? So people already have it in hand in the UK?

Looks like a cool retro remake. I saw a few videos and inside the case there's a picture of Clive Sinclair stamped into the plastic...pretty neat.

I think the first users in the UK received their The Spectrum last Friday (22nd November).
At launch, there was a firmware upgrade available, but users realised it caused side effects, so was quickly withdrawn. However, if you had already installed the upgrade, you can't roll back because the machine won't let you install an earlier version of the firmware than that installed. Other than that, and a lot of people complaining that their promised receipt dates did not happen (in some cases people expecting it this weekend have now been given delivery dates in January), it looks to be a rather good little system for the price.

[bwinkel67]

Interesting...Amazon.co.uk has it for £74.96 and claims that it can ship to the US for £15.07 for a January 17th arrival...that would make the system £100 even. I wonder if I can use my Amazon.com login for the UK site (ebay.com and ebay.co.uk share the same login). That would be a great deal. Anyone in the US try that? I may wait until after the holidays to see if availability gets better.

Btw, did anyone get those awesome Microdrive shaped USBs?

[Sparrowhawk]

No USB stick in my delivery, alas. They do look really cool, don’t they?

Also you do not get a printed manual, just a set up pamphlet. The full manual is however available as a PDF download from their website.