The Spectrum Reboot is Packed with Surprises

The Spectrum is a new 2024 reboot of the classic Sinclair ZX Spectrum. With a superb recreation of the original’s style and look, it is compatible with classic games from the 80s, packed full of modern conveniences, and includes some very interesting surprises!

▬ Contents of this video ▬

00:00 - Introduction to The Spectrum
02:07 - PCBWay Sponsor Slot
02:09 - The Spectrum Unboxing
04:59 - The Spectrum Hardware Overview
06:02 - Comparing The Spectrum To Original
07:52 - Included Games & Features
12:56 - Loading Your Own Games & Tape Mode
14:08 - ULAplus Emulation & Demos
14:52 - BASIC Programming The Spectrum
16:28 - Testing Controllers
17:42 Conclusion

**Sources used in this video (with permission or under fair use):

[TheCatBilbo]

I emailed Rick Dickinson, designer of the ZX-81, Spectrum, QL, Z88 & lots of other things. I wanted to tell him how the ZX-81 & Spectrum were my first computers & what an impact they had.

He took the time to email back, bless him! Said that he got lots of similar feedback from people who were growing up at the time. It wasn't that long afterwards that he died, which was very sad. I was so grateful to have had that connection with him.

[crogger]

I'll never understand why they don't sell these "deluxe" bundles they they send to reviewers to the general public. I'm sure people would pay for it, especially the paper manual.

[sdemey]

I was 11 when our ZX Spectrum came into the living room. The Kempston joystick, Psssst, Hungry Horace, Horace and the spiders, Horace goes skiing, attic attack, Jetpac, … ah… those great times….

[DSnr]

I remember as a child my uncle had a spectrum. He used to be able to buy cassette games down at our local cornershop. Back them the spectrum was revolutionary. Then when i started going to primary school, one of my friends had one. This was around 1991. I would call for him on the way to school and as his mother had left for work, we would play a game on the Spectrum before walking to school. Those were good childhood memories.

[LCFREETH]

Nice touch saying RIP to sir Clive Sinclair and rick Dickinson great memories

[RichardHallas]

When demoing programming… you do NOT need to press Space. The Spectrum’s keyword system does all the formatting for you. If you insert extra spaces yourself, you just mess up the formatting and waste a small amount of memory.

[RichardHallas]

When programming, DO NOT press Space after line numbers and between keywords. It’s inexplicable that all YouTubers reviewing the Spectrum seem to explicitly talk about pressing Space! The whole point about the Spectrum’s keyword system is that it does all the hard work of formatting for you. By inserting extra spaces, all you do is mess up the standard formatting and waste a small amount of memory. The ONLY time you need to press Space when programming a Spectrum is within quotation marks (i.e. strings that you want to print etc.) and in REM statements (comments). Otherwise just leave the addition of spaces to the Spectrum itself and it’ll get it right for you. Add them yourself and you mess up the standard formatting, waste a byte of memory each time and slow the system down very slightly.

[Tony-qwmo]

Bloody hell. Can you old buggers remember typing them basic games in from those old computer mags?

BBC should definitely put "Micro Men" from 2009 on air once again. It's a great fact based story about the beginning of the ZX Spectrum and sir Clive Sinclair competing against Chris Curry and his BBC Micro.

[ianmeredith]

Crash magazine was fantastic. They were based in Ludlow in Shropshire. I did a couple of weeks work experience when I was young, and even got my pic in one issue!

[AndyFirebladeMuza]

Got mine on Saturday 23/11/2024 and I absolutely love it. Looks and feels exactly how I remember, even the rubber keys felt as good as the original. Enjoyed a few of the included game but I was a little disappointed with the included games so I soon got loading the better ones via USB. Overall I rate this highly, especially the ability to programme it.

[Pyjamarama]

in 2024 wearing a tee with 'Spectrum" on the front, has different connotations ;-P

[garethsnaim]

Jet Set Willy, what a bastard of a game!

[AnthonyPatterson-qpbx]

Got one chrimbo 1983 and immediately became addicted to horris goes Happy days.

[RobFarley]

The reason behind the keywords is that the language was tokenised so each command only uses 1 byte to store rather than a byte per letter

[Tom_YouTube_stole_my_handle]

I remember learning BASIC on a Vax 11/750 at uni in 1982. I also had access to a Spectrum and I preferred the Spectrum's keyword entry system.

[ChrispyOriginalGlazed]

The reason for pressing the key for the keyword was because they were tokenised to save space, when you listed the program it simply converted the code back into the token word like PRINT. So each command took the same space.

[spidericemidasiosmusicprod]

Today I completed Highway Encounter and Atic Atac on the new Speccy. Haven't done that since 1985! 😍

[Pedro_MVS_Lima]

Just a couple of things regarding the original ZX Spectrum:
I've never seen a program taking 10 to 15 minutes to load. It was more like 5 minutes on a 48k.
Secondly, the BASIC instructions were written completed at the keyboard because they equated to a single byte, thus saving lots of memory (and it was also more easily parsed at interpret/run time).
I even seem to recall that if you wrote a BASIC program line like 10<space><instruction> you'd be wasting a byte with that space, you only needed 10<instruction> for the same effect.
One last thing, I bought my The Spectrum from xtralife, and it did come with the printed manual. Normal packaging and no magazine though.

[peterf]

This looks superb, and a truly fantastic review of a reboot of something that really changed my life. The first money I earned was for writing a program for Sinclair programs magazine, £50 for a morning’s work when my mates were on £2.50 a week doing a paper round! Happy days.👍