 The ZX Spectrum was released in 1982 after it’s success of the ZX81. Sinclair released seven versions of this model. The first ZX spectrum was released with only 16K Ram expandable to 48K internally. Later Spectrum released another version with 48K of ram. This made the 16K version very expensive and people started to buy the 48K model. The basic is rather slow, and the editor is very strange to work with. I/O capabilities compared with other machines were very limited, however there was a large collection of additional hardware, mostly from third party manufacturers. Although all this still the machine made a lot of success in Europe, especially in the UK. Sinclair released this machine primary for business and educational, but after a short time it became a gaming machine. As all the others Spectrum the ZX does not have a power or a reset switch and the only way you can switch it off is by pulling the plug. The ZX Spectrum+ is identical to the ZX Spectrum. The only difference is the keyboard upgrade. In fact you could buy a kit to upgrade it to a ZX Spectrum+
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| ZX Spectrum |
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| £125 ($200) |
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| Boxed: 0001-207240 48K |
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| 1982 |
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| Zilog Z80 8BIT CPU running at a frequency of 3.5 Mhz. |
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| 16 Kbytes Rom, 16/48 Kbytes Ram depending on the Model The 16 K version has 16-Kbits x 4 bits DRAM chips. The 48K version has both 16-Kbit and 32-Kbit DRAM chips respectively. |
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| Small black plastic case with grey rubber keys. Like the ZX81 Sinclair embossed their logo on the top left corner of the computer with the ZX spectrum logo underneath. The keyboard area is black in an aluminum plate. On Rubber keys and aluminum plate are printed the basic commands. |
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| Single video mode that mixes both graphics and text with a resolution of 256 x 192 pixels. Characters are 8 x 8 pixel thus it can display text at a resolution of 32 x 24 in 8 colors, and an extra BRIGHT attribute to increase the brightness of the colors. |
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| Simple Beeper driven directly by the ULA. The ULA produces the sound by simply sending pulses to an internal speaker. The sound does not have any volume setting, and is very low since its driven by a single transistor. One can amplify the sound by connecting an amplifier to the Ear out instead of the Tape Deck |
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1 x RF output that only transmits the video signal. 2 x 3.5mm Jack plugs for tape recorder with a baud rate of 1200 bps. 1 x Expansion bus edge connector.
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| Common 9VDC 800mA wattage. |
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| The case measures 233mm x 144mm x 30mm (W x L x H). The weight is approximately 1.5Kg. |
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| Sinclair sold more than 5 million units around the world. |
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