GEEKDEX #0320
Sinclair ZX Spectrum 48K
Computers · Sinclair Research
The original rubber-keyed Spectrum — the machine that made 8-bit British home computing, and the one every later Spectrum traces back to.
The ZX Spectrum (1982) took the ZX81’s low-cost ULA-based design and built a real games machine on top of it: a 256×192 colour display (the attribute-based colour clash a direct consequence of keeping the ULA simple), a proper — if notoriously mushy — rubber keyboard, and BASIC in ROM. Launched at £125 for 16 KB and £175 for 48 KB, cassette loading via an external recorder, it became the dominant British 8-bit platform through the mid-1980s and the reason “Spectrum-compatible” was a category at all — the +2 in this collection is a 128K, Amstrad-era descendant of this machine.
Reference photo: Wikimedia Commons (“ZXSpectrum48k.jpg” by Bill Bertram), CC BY-SA 2.5.
- Identity
Category Computers Manufacturer Sinclair Research Architecture 8-bit Released 1982 Region United Kingdom Launch price £125 (16K) / £175 (48K) - Hardware
CPU Zilog Z80A @ 3.5 MHz GPU Ferranti ULA RAM 48 KB (16 KB variant also sold) VRAM 16 KB Storage 16 KB ROM Display 256×192, 15 colours (attribute-based) Audio Internal beeper, 1-channel Video out RF/UHF (later issues added composite) OS Sinclair BASIC Media Compact Cassette (external recorder — no built-in datacorder) Expansion Standard Spectrum expansion bus Keyboard 40-key rubber ('dead flesh')
- discovered
- researched
- seen
- wanted
- tested
- owned
Media
Compact Cassette (external recorder — no built-in datacorder)