Vital Statistics

Introduced April 1982 (16K and 48K versions) Retired: 1989 (Spectrum +2A/B/+3) Price: £125 (16K), £175 (48K) later reduced to £129.95 in 1983. Quantity Sold: approx 8,000,000 including 90,000 Spectrum+ 128K. Countries: UK and Europe (in USA, Timex-Sinclair TS2068) Dimensions: Weight: Ports: 16K, 48K and +: Ear/Mic (for tape playback/record respectively), 9V DC in, Z80 expansion bus and RF out. (Spectrum 128 and up: as above plus an RGB, MIDI-out, 2 x Joystick ports, RS232 serial port, parallel printer port, 2nd disk drive port CPU: Zilog Z80A (3.5 MHz) Usable RAM: 16K (Spectrum 16K), 48K (Spectrum 48K and +), 128K all others Built-in ROM: 16K (originals and Spectrum +), 32K (Spectrum 128), 64K (Spectrum +2/+3) Colours: 8 colours plus 8 flashing and 8 bright equivalents Graphics: 256x192 Sound: Beeper on 16K,48K,and +, MIDI-out via Yamaha AY-3-8912 on Spectrum 128 and up Built-in Language: Sinclair BASIC Codenames: ZX-82 (Spectrum, Spectrum+), Derby (Spectrum +128K) Technical Detail ...

The ZX Spectrum was by far the most widely known home computer of the 1980s - sold in their millions, it was truly a major upgrade over the ZX81 it replaced. Featuring colour and sound, and a lot more memory, it paved the way for home computer games as we know them today. Initially, in April 1982, there were two models available: The Spectrum 16K and the Spectrum 48K, the only difference being the amount of RAM.

In October 1984, the Spectrum+ was released for £179.95 in order to address customer complaints over the rubber keyboard on the original Spectrum. This revised keyboard still used the underlying rubber membrane, but had more professional plastic key caps, not unlike those found on the later released Sinclair QL. For existing Spectrum owners, the Spectrum+ keyboard could be purchased as a home-upgrade kit for £50.

In late 1985, the Spectrum line got a much needed upgrade with the release of the Spectrum+ 128K. This machine boasted not only 128K of RAM, but also a new 3-channel sound chip (similar to the Atari ST/STFM), new peripheral ports on the back, and a revised version of Sinclair BASIC. To support the new commands, it came with twice the ROM size (32K) of the earlier models.

In 1986, Amstrad PLC bought Sinclair Research, and continued the line with the release of the Spectrum +2 in 1987, which featured a built-in cassette recorder and a proper typewriter-style keyboard. The Spectrum +2 succeeded in reviving sales, commonly released in the "James Bond 007 Action Pack" which came complete with a lightgun and game based on the new James Bond film, the Living Daylights.

The final model in the then struggling 8-bit home computer market was the Spectrum +3, released in 1988 with a built-in 3" floppy disk drive (similar to those used in Amstrad's CPC664 and 6128 computers). Not much software was officially released on floppy disk for the Spectrum, but many owners copied their cassette-based games to disk for the larger capacity and faster loading times.

Around the same time, a revised version of the +2 was released, the Spectrum +2B, coinciding with a move of production facilities from Hong Kong to Taiwan. It was basically a +3 (in terms of circuitry) but with the datacorder and in a black case. The +2B can be identified not only by the colour of its case, but also because the datacorder button decals are printed above the buttons not on the buttons themselves. On the rear, it has a printer port and the power supply socket is a DIN-type connector.