GEEKDEX #0323
Timex Sinclair 2068
Computers · Timex Corporation
Timex's US take on the Spectrum — enhanced hardware and a cartridge slot, at the cost of not being fully software-compatible with the UK original.
Rather than simply rebadge the UK Spectrum, Timex reworked it for the US market: a different ROM and memory map, extra graphics modes, a ROM cartridge slot, and — notably, years before the UK’s own 128K Spectrum — the AY-3-8912 sound chip built in. The catch was compatibility: those hardware differences meant a meaningful slice of UK Spectrum software didn’t run correctly on it. It launched into the same collapsing early-80s US home computer price war that killed off the rest of Timex’s computer line not long after.
Reference photo: Wikimedia Commons (“Timex sinclair 2068 (2).jpg” by Gregory F. Maxwell), GNU Free Documentation License 1.2.
- Identity
Category Computers Manufacturer Timex Corporation Family ZX Spectrum Architecture 8-bit Released 1983 Region United States - Hardware
CPU Zilog Z80A @ 3.58 MHz RAM 48 KB Audio General Instrument AY-3-8912, 3-channel OS Sinclair BASIC (Timex ROM — not identical to the UK Spectrum's) Controllers 2× built-in joystick ports Expansion ROM cartridge slot
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- owned