The Spectrum is here

Let's have an in-depth look at The Spectrum from RetroGames. How does this modern version of the Sinclair ZX Spectrum stack up? Is it worth it? Who should get one?

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Links:

Chapters:
00:00 Intro
00:25 Outside
02:34 Preinstalled games
05:18 Saves
05:39 Rewind
06:26 Models
08:18 Adding more games
09:21 Ultimate games
10:13 Loading from tape
11:23 BASIC
13:27 Joystick/gamepad
14:22 ULAPlus
15:27 Teardown
17:43 Where to buy?
18:31 Alternatives
21:11 Final thoughts

Music tracks:

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#thespectrum #zxspectrum #sinclair

[NoelsRetroLab]

Corrections/updates:
- The keyboard membrane is NOT exactly like the ZX Spectrum one. It's probably the same connections, but the location is very different, so you can't just swap them out.
- The +2 mode of BASIC is still keyword-based and without an initial menu, like the normal +2/+3 ROMs.

[little_fluffy_clouds]

A 48K Speccy was my first ever computer at the tender age of 8 and it’s the reason why I learned programming and eventually had a successful career in IT. I loved my Speccy and spent many an hour happily entranced playing a game or programming in BASIC. Thank you Sir Clive and Rick, RIP.

[wakeywarrior]

As a 53 year old this is one of the iconic things from my childhood. This has been made by people who have great respect for the source material, good job.

[meneerjansen]

You're the only reviewer who mentions that the added value of a full size ZX Spectrum is that you can program in BASIC on it.

[YARC-]

Good to see you again; welcome back! Loved the review. I don't have the same kind of nostalgia for the Speccy, growing up in America and all, but I can certainly appreciate how you and everyone else who grew up with them feel. I have a genuine 48K Spectrum and I can see the attention to detail they put into it. Nice.

[dlarge]

I live in Kempston in the UK, where the Spectrum Kempston interface was created. I actually live just a short walk away from where the company was based, in a residential flat!

[widearchshark]

Back in the days when the graphics on the cassette cover were 1000 times better than the actual game!

[GramboStorm]

Great Video as usual - One comment is that the games you mentioned don't use ULAPlus. They use the Nirvana Engine which allows for different paper/ink for each line within a character attribute (rather than just one combination per character attribute) but still use the same 15 regular colors that the Spectrum supports (15 since bright black is still black) but at the expense of many CPU cycles. ULAplus is a way of extending the palette beyond the the standard 15 and doesn't use CPU cycles to do it.

[SomePeopleCallMeWulfman]

I'm a grown up man with a grown up time schedule, but boy, do I want to have one of these!

[spinnetti]

Very nicely done. I'm from the US - a TS1000 was my first computer (2068 the second) and I dreamed of a Spectrum back then (I saw in a computer magazine). I have all the US models (1000, 1500, 2068) and now all the UK models as well as the Spectrum Next KS2 lol. That Microdrive USB stick is awesome - icing on the cake.

[bummers]

Wow ... this is amazing!! While I never owned one, ZX Spectrum was the model that Fred Harris used in the BBC tv series Me & My Micro, so I learnt BASIC programming on Sinclair BASIC but had to convert to GWBASIC and BASICA. Oh boy ... like almost 40 years back.

[MarcKloos]

I have _all_ Spectrum models and still had to order this.

(Yes, that includes a Spectrum+ with Spanish keyboard and ROM, a Spanish toastrack, Spanish versions of the Amstrad models (+2, +2A and +3) and of course the Inves Spectrum!

[stephenlamb]

A great review - so glad you liked it. Mine arrives tomorrow (fingers crossed) and I can't wait!

[barryellison]

My favourite Speccy game was Elite. A space trading game where you could update your craft by trading goods for profit. You also had to shoot the bad guys before they got you first. There were different levels to work through from beginner to Elite.

[Reverieru]

Obscure fact about ZX Spectrum: It was used in 1985 to overlay freedom messages over the National TV signal in the City of Torun in Poland.

[mr.pavone]

A couple years ago The 8 Bit Guy went on this crusade to make an 8bit inspired retro aesthetic computer and it turned into a mess with plenty of feature creep and bloat.
This is exactly the kind of thing he should have designed. A simple little toaster with modern I/O ports.
I'm impressed with the Spectrum retro machine. I might even get one to take a shot at programming one.

[kRAMkROM]

My first hardware hack was my 16K Spectum. I piggy backed the RAM chips, lifting the CAS (Column Address Strobe) pin on each RAM chip and wiring them over to the address multiplexer chip. Buying the 48K version was too expensive in NZ, especially as this was my third computer (after ZX80 and ZX81).

[gluon]

My first computer was a ZX Spectrum, which I no longer own. Getting a refurbished one was never an option because I don't want to risk getting a brick, nor having to maintain it. Emulating on a PC is not the same, so this is the perfect solution! Just ordered one and I'll come back to thank you later once it arrives. :)

[sonicgr]

I have a spectrum 48k, a Plus, a +2 and a Spectrum Next. And I just ordered this. Couldn't resist!

[MrUSFT]

I was one of the few in the US with a zx-80 back in the day. I have always been impressed by the unconventional thinking that went into Sir Clive's machines. Thanks for this video