Corrections/updates: - Buy The Spectrum here (ships from Amazon UK) amzn.to/4i14r9Q - 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.
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.
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.
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!
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). ULA plus is a way of extending the palette beyond the 15 regular colors that the Spectrum supports (15 since bright black is still black)
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.
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.
Great video - thank you Noel. This is a great alternative for those that don't want the worry of maintaining a 40-year old original model but still want the fun of all those great games.
The membrane might be similar to the original spectrum, but it's not directly compatible. ribbons for the rows and columns on the original membrane are in entirely different locations on an original keyboard (and on the Plus, since you could do the rubber key to plus update yourself)
It is worth mentioning that ZX Spectrum Next is a Kickstarter project which had 2 stages and both are already ended, so you will pay significantly more than during Kickstarter campaign.
I still remember 80% of the Z80 assembly language I learned at 15 on this thing circa 1982/3. I wore out the stupid keytop labels in two weeks and had to use a Staedtler (Sharpie for my US friends) to fix it…😂
At that price, it's a no-brainer for anyone even remotely interested in the ZX Spectrum! I can see it coming in handy when I don't feel like unpacking and setting up my original Speccy, CRT TV, cassette recorder etc...
Good to see another video from you in my feed! The Sinclair Spectrum was one of those machines I was curious about, but, by that time, I was deeply into CP/M and lusting after much more expensive hardware. What a silly thing for me to do. Thanks for the link to Amazon UK.
2 часа назад
Thank you for The Spectrum video. I loved my Spectrum+2. I still have it and it is still working. With my father we have built several peripherals for it including a plotter. Recently I have got and fixed one of the clones (Didaktik M) and even built my very own Harlequin 128. I know, there were other computers with more features and more powerful as well, but Sinclair was my first and I have learned so much with it besides playing all the games on it :-)
The longest load time ANY Spectrum game took was just shy of 5 minutes. It was The Hobbit by Melbourne House and didn't use any speed loaders (speedlock) at the time and it used up all of the available 48k, including the screen memory (title screen). So no other game can possible have taken longer to load. Anyone who says there were load times of up to 20 minutes is either WILDLY misremembering or -outright lying- exaggerating. p.s.: Unless, of course, we are talking about loading a 128k game from tape, which might have taken longer than on a 48k model, but by then speed loading was long established, so it can't have taken 20 minutes either.
Looks interesting - not listed on Amazon AU and Australia is not mentioned on their 'Buy The Spectrum' web page . Now, when are they going to do the same thing for the Amstrad CPC range?
Hey! Glad to have you back! I was just about to suggest you plug the keyboard on a real spectrum to see if it worked, but the connectors look incompatible. Pity. Fantastic review!
Yes I think eveyone know the spectrum, the games etc. a more detailed look at what exactly these are is just what eveyone needs to know…. Our first mission should be…what can we do with it. I am horrified to see there’s no multiface emulation….no POKES….i wonder how easy it will be to load pokerama or the like
It's not public, but it's just one big microcontroller of some kind (maybe it's an FPGA but I doubt it). It's under the heat sink, so I can't tell, and it's even possible that it may be scratched out like some manufacturers do to keep things "secret".
I'm happy to see you again! And the product is better than I thought. Not for me. I already have enough Spectrums, Harlequins and N-GO Spectrum Next. But other than all the Minis this is a 1:1 sized thing with a working keyboard and offers a lot of use. And as you said it's a fair price compared to anything other. The downside that it is nothing more than a Linux Single Board Computer running an emulator is not that dominant here. The best alternative is probably an N-GO clone of the ZX Spectrum Next in a reproduction case, but while being much cheaper than getting an original Next (400-500€ on marketplaces) it is still double the price of this.
Welcome back! I'll check this out! I have an original Speccy, but I'm too old for the games (and don't have the nerves and patience for them anymore). I planned to get a DIVMMC but it costs more than this. Nice little machine :)
Amazing evaluation and conclusion! Sir Clive's designs till offers the best fit for a low cost retro system. Somehow it gives more and doesn't fall short of nothing compared to the original ....and this opinion comes from an Atari 8bit user.
The inclusion of the tape loading has to be the best part, cos how else are people going to know the joy of waiting for games to load in real time like they used to do (aside from the part where the game fails to load and you have to start all over again!)... :P
The art of the loading screen is often overlooked in these instant loading days - and lets not forget the animated loaders (Bobby Bearing, Ranarama, Technician Ted and Joe Blade 2 even had pacman to play) and so many more...
I remember waiting 4-5 minutes and then in the last second getting the back screen crash and the copyright 1982 sinclair research logo every blinking time!
I think it's great that the keyword entry in BASIC for the 48K model works as usual. How does BASIC work in 128K mode? In the original 128K you typed keywords letter by letter.
I love Snake Escape (but have never managed to finish it) but have never heard the music as I have only a +48k. My main reason for getting a "The Spectrum" is to play all those 128k games and the 48k games with 128k-only soundtracks. The only downer so far is that I bought a nice blank teeny USB key in advance so I could sort out my games etc and have a nice bother-free experience when it arrived. They finally put up the instructions and it can't handle anything larger than a 32gb key and they aren't easy to get. SE doesn't use ULA plus - it gets its glorious colour from the Nirvana engine, which changes the 8x8 attribute blocks to 2X8 attribute oblongs. Another Nirvana game that I really dig is Multidude, a nice colourful puzzle platformer thing. I think the new-ish homebrew Buzzsaw is ULA plus and very nice for it.
I always found Speccy BASIC more friendly than Commodore BASICs. I hated that you had to print an inverse heart to clear the screen for instance instead of CLS like normal BASICs. But if you mean the editor then yes. But in those days we took things slow and read the manual and learned how to edit programs using shift 4, 5, 6, 7 from memory. After coming from AppleSoft BASIC and TRS-80 Level II BASIC I could jump straight into Speccy BASIC.
In fact I don't know how to efficiently edit BASIC on most old machines now, including ones I used to use in the '80s (-: On a Commodore 8-bit emulator I end up just typing the whole line in again when I want to change it, just like most C64 guys would on the rare occasion they use a Speccy emulator.
Can we switch to 128k mode for BASIC? That’s much more user friendly, ie. Proper typing, instant feedback if entering a line that contains an error, renumbering, and the PLAY command for making tunes with AY
Yeah. I had to use a mail forwarding service to get it in the USA. For some reason, Amazon UK would not ship to the USA. I found that odd. The UK version is the one to get because it has the special Crash magazine included.
They have a bit on their website that explains how to format a USB stick (under 32gb) so that you can put on your own game files. Beyond that I don't know.
FYI the reason that the BASIC entries worked the way they did WASN'T because of the shitty keyboard, it was because you were directly entering (and the Spectrum was directly storing) the BASIC tokens rather than the keywords themselves (they were expanded out for display but there was no processing to go the other way within the Spectrum BASIC implementation)
Yes, I'm aware those where BASIC tokens, but I still think that it was done that way to save on ROM and not force too much typing on that keyboard. The 128K versions switched to character input (with more ROM and better keyboards). But I don't know. I'd love to find out if the Sinclair design team ever commented on that.
@@NoelsRetroLab I think I've seen some commentary from them to that effect at some point but I don't recall where. Being that Sir Clive's biggest priority was cost I think it's probably a good bet that the reasons are more cost related than practical considerations ;)
Great video as usual, Noel. Is it normal that even owning a Spectrum Next KS2 I'm lusting for this machine??. It looks really great!. I have TheC64 Maxi and it's an awesome machine indeed. 100€ is not bad at all either.
A computer I grew up with here in the UK. I am definitely going to get one. I had 3 back in the day. The 16k, 48k, and 128k models. I disagree with you on the list of games they are truly terrible. Only about 4 of the games I would play. Not having Jet Set Willy, Attic Attack, or Bruce Lee is an insult. Especially Jet Set Willy. Luckily I have 7 versions of the game on my pc. I wish you could connect a cassette tape to it though. Again, another blaring oversight on this thing. I LOVED loading from cassette. It's so nostalgic to me. Especially 128k games. It's like having a Nintendo 64 with all games built in and no cartridges. Crazy. Still, I Iove the look of it and the ports on the back. Can't wait to get one. Great review. Ps, save states are for wimps. 😋
Did you have any issues with recognising the joysticks? Mine sometimes won't recognise the joystick settings and I have to reload the game. It's also pretty picky with roms - many don't work, but there is always a version of the game out there that does work. Overall, a great machine.
@@NoelsRetroLab Oh yeah I used The Gamepad (new improved one and old one) - I meant the software. I'd select "Kempston" under the game's settings and it wouldn't always work.
No, I realized after the fact that the membrane connectors aren't in the same location (these are close together, ZX Spectrum are on opposite ends), so it would take some adaptor. But I bet the signals are the same.
I'll tell you their response: _I understand your frustration. The couriour could not ship to your location. Sorry about that_ And thus closed the ticket. It's nonsense as DHL can perfectly well ship anything from the UK to my doorstep! Their shipping cost was £21 while a forewarder would cost me £18, including their handling fee.
To be fair it's not hard to get the look and feel right... Everyone and his dog are getting recreations of the old casing produced in China, so it won't have taken much to slightly modify it to suit this.
@NoelsRetroLab Yeah, that takes some getting used to. But the layout is quite cleverly done. Many BASIC tokens that are related to each other are located next to each other on the keyboard. And you get the hang of the shift keys to get them real quick. I did an extensive program, a trainer for Latin verb grammar, for school on the ZX Spectrum and entered several type-ins. Therefore I have some experience and I do like this iconic keyboard which is also great for overlays like those for Elite and Lords of Midnight.
What I couldn’t see from inside….where is the firmware…. Is it in an sd card or do we think a chip has it? If it’s same as VIC20 I’m wondering whether possible to flash these (or image if it’s SD) the other emulators…. If only playing the games then hey why not have one that can switch between a cbm, Amiga etc. the box is just for show really…
The firmware is in the microcontroller (that chip under the heat sink). You may be able to hack it and re-flash it, but I don't think that's exposed. The box is more than for show though: It's the physical interface of the device! That's why I love this but I don't care as much for The500 or the Atari Mini.
No reviews were to be uploaded online until the 22nd seeing as that’s the official release date of the console. I’m annoyed that Retro Games released this console to the Americans before British people could receive their own pre orders.
I have the same set of original ZX Spectrums as in the photo, but for use I prefer the Sizif-512 with additional multisound card in the case from the original Spectrum Plus. This is a cheap alternative to the Spectrum Next. In the near future I'm going to assemble a ZX Evolution. Most likely, it will become the main my Spectrum compatible computer. Computers like the ones in this video are of no interest to me at all. No difference from the emulator on RasberyPi.
everyone needs to load a game this way! I'll pass thanks. lol I've never used a tape for anything except creating backups at my last job.....and I didn't even know if they worked. I didn't know how to restore them. I begged us to replace them with external hard drives. This was approved and I haven't used a tape since. Even my C64 I have the U2+ with the tape adapter. I only got the adapter because it was an extra $5. I've never used it. lol
Si se elige como modelo alguno de los otros (+/2/2A), al arrancar con el menú clásico, ¿aparece el menú de estos ordenadores? El editor de BASIC es mucho más agradecido.
Mine is coming tomorrow. I also have a CD of a few thousand games which I bought about 20 years ago. The Spectrum 48k was my second computer (after the Dragon 32), so it's going to be a real nostalgia trip for me. I did a bit of programming on it, and made a few simple games. I might try my hand at machine code or assembly language. I also compose my own music, so it will be interesting having a go a using the 128k sound chip with the basic PLAY command. I remember trying it as a kid, but my understanding of music theory is a lot better these days, as I didn't take up playing synthesizers until I had left school.
Can you fill out the whole screen with the games? Bit limited if it has margins only. The online emulator F.U.S.E is full screen. And that's the difference between liking it and loving it for me.
@@NoelsRetroLab I know there are adapters but it's not an elegant solution. Adapters are fine when I use them in a PC. I have a few adapters and I don't want to ruin the look of The Spectrum with such devices. I think I'd rather buy a case + keyboard and a PCB for Raspberry Pi Zero with a DB9 socket. I've seen such a project on RUclips.
@@NoelsRetroLab I have two DB9 to USB adapters that work with THEC64 mini, THEC64, and THEVIC20, and use them with e.g. TAC2. They probably work with The Spectrum.
It would be impossible to make it look good. All that text, all those graphics, all with the Spectrum limitations? It would be fun for us, but I bet it would put a lot of people off.
I think the main thing stopping me from getting this is the keyboard. If they had modeled one of the later spectrums with a better keyboard, I would have jumped on it.
I get it. The other keyboards wouldn't have been nearly as iconic though :-) But in all seriousness, the Plus keyboard isn't as great as it sounds. So many times keys get kind of stuck if you hit them off-center. I'm not sure it's much of an improvement (the +2/+3 ones are great though).
Only people over 50 and absolute fake nerds (you known the type) think the rubber keys are good, eveyone else in the world traded their speccy in for a spectrum+ (those that didn’t, out their speccy in the cupboard in 83 and never used it again). From 84 to 1992 spectrums were sold with real keys…the real market share….when the spectrum next was announced they boasted it would be a design like the 128k spectrum because that’s what people want and eveyone remembers hating the rubber keys. It’s very strange why people get rose tinted glasses over something that really was never popular….
and of course they didn't make it available in the US, typical, lets make retro computers, and completely ignore a market that has fans who would love to have a Spectrum, , ,
The latest system on a chip emulation device. Sorry but the input lag makes these nothing more than a novelty toy. Fpga is where it's at for cycle accuracy
I didn't measure it this time, but I did with The Vic 20 and there was no noticeable lag. Emulation is fast enough that it can have under 1/50th second lag so it's the same frame (just like a real Speccy).
17:30 Retro Games wanted users to enjoy full experience to the extent of mounting this shitty membrane keyboards :D i remember how much i have cursed when i tried to solder it together back in the day when these "ancient ribbons" were notorious for flexing and cracking xD Just a share they didn't put that much effort to The A500 Mini where keyboard is actualy a prop... But this product... if i were just bit more inclined into Speccy i would beg them to rob me out of my money already :D
It's NOT a Sinclair Spectrum. If you can't plug a microdrive into it, then it's just another game console. Totally misses the point of what the Sinclair Spectrum was. You can play the games on a PC or your phone. A simple Arduino could do this.
I love the Spectrum (I have several) but I am not a fan of the rewind feature and that's the reason i'm not buying one of these. If I rewind each time I make a mistake in a game then I have no sense of achievement when I beat the game because I will have cheated. (that said, this is only my personal opinion and I hope a lot of people buy this and have fun with it!)
"Not nearly as friendly as the Commodore BASIC?"... HA HA HA! You made me laugh =) When did any BASIC interpreter in the 8 bit computers was friendly? We see that Noel didn't had a Speccy as the membrane is not the same as the original, is similar to the one in the "The Recreated ZX Spectrum Bluetooth keyboard" and frankly is a pain. You cannot replace the membrane with a micro switches one or install a chiclet face plate (I just bought one!) instead of the rubber mat to have a better keyboard. Here "the spectrum" is a fail. The Spectrum NEXT is the way to go, you have the N-GO clone which is made in Spain, cheaper than the NEXT and with a waaaaaay better keyboard. If you want a budget Spectrum NEXT just bu a Xberry Pi which is around 100 USD. This "the spectrum" is just a cheap emulator with a crap keyboard. Doesn't worth it, there are lot of better alternatives out there!
Commodore BASIC is crap, but its one redeeming thing is that the full screen editor is actually great. So yeah, it might be a crappy dialect, but it's way more user friendly than the others.
Yeah, I was referring to the editing part of the C64 BASIC, not the implementation itself. And you're right about the membrane connectors being in a different place. Missed that.
This rubber keyboard is supported to be crap, to experience the real deal! Is this "The Spectrum" had a different (maybe better) keyboard, it simply wouldn't be a Spectrum! People are already upset by the fact that it is called a "The Spectrum" instead of *ZX Spectrum" and "Retro" instead of "Sinclair". And you expect them to accept a whole different keyboard? No way!
Corrections/updates:
- Buy The Spectrum here (ships from Amazon UK) amzn.to/4i14r9Q
- 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.
Wonderful review! Could you tell what processor or FPGA this is using?
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.
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.
Hi Noel, I have a video with lots of cheap alternatives using PI ZERO, Pi Pico and ESP32 boards that will fit a 48k case and use the keyboard too.
I'm a grown up man with a grown up time schedule, but boy, do I want to have one of these!
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!
A great review - so glad you liked it. Mine arrives tomorrow (fingers crossed) and I can't wait!
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). ULA plus is a way of extending the palette beyond the 15 regular colors that the Spectrum supports (15 since bright black is still black)
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.
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.
I have a spectrum 48k, a Plus, a +2 and a Spectrum Next. And I just ordered this. Couldn't resist!
Great video - thank you Noel. This is a great alternative for those that don't want the worry of maintaining a 40-year old original model but still want the fun of all those great games.
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.
We appreciate your support so much, Noel!
Noel. You're alive! Good to see you back.
The membrane might be similar to the original spectrum, but it's not directly compatible. ribbons for the rows and columns on the original membrane are in entirely different locations on an original keyboard (and on the Plus, since you could do the rubber key to plus update yourself)
Yes, you're right of course. You can tell it's been a while since I've been inside a Speccy, so I didn't realize that at first.
I have a spectrum 16k that my dad in 1984 got it upgraded to a 48k 😮 still have it in the loft has a box to make the spectrum speak 😂
Welcome back, Noel!
E: Removed the note about a typo :D
Thanks. Fixed!
It is worth mentioning that ZX Spectrum Next is a Kickstarter project which had 2 stages and both are already ended, so you will pay significantly more than during Kickstarter campaign.
The only time you liked the tape loading time was on the ocean loaders for c64
Fantástico verte de vuelta, Noel.
Glücklich zu sehen. Je suis enchanté. Oh, we're not doing Cabaret? But yes, it's great to see the Retro Lab again.
I still remember 80% of the Z80 assembly language I learned at 15 on this thing circa 1982/3. I wore out the stupid keytop labels in two weeks and had to use a Staedtler (Sharpie for my US friends) to fix it…😂
At that price, it's a no-brainer for anyone even remotely interested in the ZX Spectrum! I can see it coming in handy when I don't feel like unpacking and setting up my original Speccy, CRT TV, cassette recorder etc...
Can't wait until mine arrives - it'll be like Christmas 1983 all over again!
Good to see another video from you in my feed! The Sinclair Spectrum was one of those machines I was curious about, but, by that time, I was deeply into CP/M and lusting after much more expensive hardware. What a silly thing for me to do. Thanks for the link to Amazon UK.
Thank you for The Spectrum video. I loved my Spectrum+2. I still have it and it is still working. With my father we have built several peripherals for it including a plotter. Recently I have got and fixed one of the clones (Didaktik M) and even built my very own Harlequin 128. I know, there were other computers with more features and more powerful as well, but Sinclair was my first and I have learned so much with it besides playing all the games on it :-)
The longest load time ANY Spectrum game took was just shy of 5 minutes. It was The Hobbit by Melbourne House and didn't use any speed loaders (speedlock) at the time and it used up all of the available 48k, including the screen memory (title screen). So no other game can possible have taken longer to load. Anyone who says there were load times of up to 20 minutes is either WILDLY misremembering or -outright lying- exaggerating.
p.s.: Unless, of course, we are talking about loading a 128k game from tape, which might have taken longer than on a 48k model, but by then speed loading was long established, so it can't have taken 20 minutes either.
No way. There were definitely longer load times: 128KB games with multiload? Those took forever! Maybe not quite 20 minutes, but at least 15?
Looks interesting - not listed on Amazon AU and Australia is not mentioned on their 'Buy The Spectrum' web page . Now, when are they going to do the same thing for the Amstrad CPC range?
Hey! Glad to have you back! I was just about to suggest you plug the keyboard on a real spectrum to see if it worked, but the connectors look incompatible. Pity. Fantastic review!
Yes, at first I thought it was identical, but the spacing is off. Definitely something you can fix with an adapter though.
Nice to have you back Noel. Can we have a more detailed description of the hardware? I'm curious about what processor (FPGA?) they are using, etc.
Yes I think eveyone know the spectrum, the games etc. a more detailed look at what exactly these are is just what eveyone needs to know…. Our first mission should be…what can we do with it.
I am horrified to see there’s no multiface emulation….no POKES….i wonder how easy it will be to load pokerama or the like
It's not public, but it's just one big microcontroller of some kind (maybe it's an FPGA but I doubt it). It's under the heat sink, so I can't tell, and it's even possible that it may be scratched out like some manufacturers do to keep things "secret".
@@NoelsRetroLab Ah I see. Too bad. Thanks!
I'm happy to see you again! And the product is better than I thought. Not for me. I already have enough Spectrums, Harlequins and N-GO Spectrum Next. But other than all the Minis this is a 1:1 sized thing with a working keyboard and offers a lot of use. And as you said it's a fair price compared to anything other. The downside that it is nothing more than a Linux Single Board Computer running an emulator is not that dominant here. The best alternative is probably an N-GO clone of the ZX Spectrum Next in a reproduction case, but while being much cheaper than getting an original Next (400-500€ on marketplaces) it is still double the price of this.
Welcome back!
I'll check this out! I have an original Speccy, but I'm too old for the games (and don't have the nerves and patience for them anymore). I planned to get a DIVMMC but it costs more than this.
Nice little machine :)
Thank you. Yes, this makes all the difference with the saves and rewind. Go for it!
Great to have you back! 🖖
Amazing evaluation and conclusion! Sir Clive's designs till offers the best fit for a low cost retro system. Somehow it gives more and doesn't fall short of nothing compared to the original ....and this opinion comes from an Atari 8bit user.
The inclusion of the tape loading has to be the best part, cos how else are people going to know the joy of waiting for games to load in real time like they used to do (aside from the part where the game fails to load and you have to start all over again!)... :P
The art of the loading screen is often overlooked in these instant loading days - and lets not forget the animated loaders (Bobby Bearing, Ranarama, Technician Ted and Joe Blade 2 even had pacman to play) and so many more...
time to make toast and tea!
I remember waiting 4-5 minutes and then in the last second getting the back screen crash and the copyright 1982 sinclair research logo every blinking time!
Great to see you back ... where have you been?
I think it's great that the keyword entry in BASIC for the 48K model works as usual. How does BASIC work in 128K mode? In the original 128K you typed keywords letter by letter.
Not in this one! I meant to comment that but I ended up leaving out of the video. It's still keyword-based and no menu at startup. Weird.
I hope they reconsider and make it available in Canada.
Email them! Seriously.
Great to see you back Noel!!!
I love Snake Escape (but have never managed to finish it) but have never heard the music as I have only a +48k. My main reason for getting a "The Spectrum" is to play all those 128k games and the 48k games with 128k-only soundtracks. The only downer so far is that I bought a nice blank teeny USB key in advance so I could sort out my games etc and have a nice bother-free experience when it arrived. They finally put up the instructions and it can't handle anything larger than a 32gb key and they aren't easy to get.
SE doesn't use ULA plus - it gets its glorious colour from the Nirvana engine, which changes the 8x8 attribute blocks to 2X8 attribute oblongs. Another Nirvana game that I really dig is Multidude, a nice colourful puzzle platformer thing. I think the new-ish homebrew Buzzsaw is ULA plus and very nice for it.
I always found Speccy BASIC more friendly than Commodore BASICs. I hated that you had to print an inverse heart to clear the screen for instance instead of CLS like normal BASICs. But if you mean the editor then yes. But in those days we took things slow and read the manual and learned how to edit programs using shift 4, 5, 6, 7 from memory. After coming from AppleSoft BASIC and TRS-80 Level II BASIC I could jump straight into Speccy BASIC.
Adding to this: in 128k mode, there is a full-screen editor and one can types commands letter for letter.
In fact I don't know how to efficiently edit BASIC on most old machines now, including ones I used to use in the '80s (-: On a Commodore 8-bit emulator I end up just typing the whole line in again when I want to change it, just like most C64 guys would on the rare occasion they use a Speccy emulator.
Can we switch to 128k mode for BASIC? That’s much more user friendly, ie. Proper typing, instant feedback if entering a line that contains an error, renumbering, and the PLAY command for making tunes with AY
Not in The Spectrum! But hopefully we can drop in the Sinclair ROMs and that might work? Maybe?
Yeah. I had to use a mail forwarding service to get it in the USA. For some reason, Amazon UK would not ship to the USA. I found that odd.
The UK version is the one to get because it has the special Crash magazine included.
3:55 Ultimate Play the Game = Rare = Microsoft
Que alegría verte de nuevo Noel!!!! Muy buen video como siempre!!!!
Gracias Noel.
Estaba en duda si comprarlo o no cuando se anunció, ahora ya estoy totalmente convencido. Auto regalo para Reyes 😜.
Mine arrives tomorrow!!!
Thanks for the review! I wish it included any of the games I worked on, but well, I suppose it can run external games?
They have a bit on their website that explains how to format a USB stick (under 32gb) so that you can put on your own game files. Beyond that I don't know.
@@Metal_Maxine I'll check that, thanks!
FYI the reason that the BASIC entries worked the way they did WASN'T because of the shitty keyboard, it was because you were directly entering (and the Spectrum was directly storing) the BASIC tokens rather than the keywords themselves (they were expanded out for display but there was no processing to go the other way within the Spectrum BASIC implementation)
Yes, I'm aware those where BASIC tokens, but I still think that it was done that way to save on ROM and not force too much typing on that keyboard. The 128K versions switched to character input (with more ROM and better keyboards). But I don't know. I'd love to find out if the Sinclair design team ever commented on that.
@@NoelsRetroLab I think I've seen some commentary from them to that effect at some point but I don't recall where.
Being that Sir Clive's biggest priority was cost I think it's probably a good bet that the reasons are more cost related than practical considerations ;)
Lets hope the ribbon cables hold up over time.
Great video as usual, Noel. Is it normal that even owning a Spectrum Next KS2 I'm lusting for this machine??. It looks really great!. I have TheC64 Maxi and it's an awesome machine indeed. 100€ is not bad at all either.
It might be a bit redundant with a Next but don't let me stop you :-)
I can replace the roms? So I can get the (C) Sinclair in the BASIC boot screen back?
You can but I haven't tried it. I may do a followup on the second channel about stuff like that.
A computer I grew up with here in the UK. I am definitely going to get one. I had 3 back in the day. The 16k, 48k, and 128k models. I disagree with you on the list of games they are truly terrible. Only about 4 of the games I would play. Not having Jet Set Willy, Attic Attack, or Bruce Lee is an insult. Especially Jet Set Willy. Luckily I have 7 versions of the game on my pc. I wish you could connect a cassette tape to it though. Again, another blaring oversight on this thing. I LOVED loading from cassette. It's so nostalgic to me. Especially 128k games. It's like having a Nintendo 64 with all games built in and no cartridges. Crazy. Still, I Iove the look of it and the ports on the back. Can't wait to get one. Great review. Ps, save states are for wimps. 😋
Atic Atac is an Ultimate game, so its inclusion would be completely impossible.
@Zeem4 sorry. I don't believe 40 year old games can still be cared about by anyone. But that doesn't explain Jet Set Willy.
It amazes me how these devices run the emulator on such a tiny board. It seems like it me that you can totally program games with it.
If you can't get hold of a Next then go for the N-go this is 100% compatable with the next.
Did you have any issues with recognising the joysticks? Mine sometimes won't recognise the joystick settings and I have to reload the game. It's also pretty picky with roms - many don't work, but there is always a version of the game out there that does work. Overall, a great machine.
I tried plugging in an 8BitDo Pro and it didn't recognize it (I didn't mess too much with settings though). The Gamepad worked flawlessly.
@@NoelsRetroLab Oh yeah I used The Gamepad (new improved one and old one) - I meant the software. I'd select "Kempston" under the game's settings and it wouldn't always work.
Great video and review
Hang on... you connected the joystick to the Interface. So there was a place for peripherals.
It was a USB gamepad. You have 5 USB connectors in the back.
I am getting one just to use for games with the save slots it will make playing Elite 128K better and others.
I have the Omni spectrum. has all that this includes , paid about 125 canadian shipped
"Go buy one right now, before they run out" (6 hours after the video is released) -- Too late. They've run out.
Very good review,Noel!Can you try the keyboard with a real spectrum motherboard?
No, I realized after the fact that the membrane connectors aren't in the same location (these are close together, ZX Spectrum are on opposite ends), so it would take some adaptor. But I bet the signals are the same.
Doesn't appear to be available for shipping to the US from Amazon UK and ShopTo is cancelling the pre-orders they have for the US.
That's a real bummer. Email RetroGames and ask them. If enough people do it they might make it available here.
I can tell you that StopTo has not only cancelled all shipping to the US, but other (European) countries as well 😡
@@MarcKloos Saw your comment on FB. I don't have an account with ShopTo to enter a ticket so I'm waiting for their response to my message.
I'll tell you their response:
_I understand your frustration. The couriour could not ship to your location. Sorry about that_
And thus closed the ticket.
It's nonsense as DHL can perfectly well ship anything from the UK to my doorstep!
Their shipping cost was £21 while a forewarder would cost me £18, including their handling fee.
@@MarcKloos My receipt included £46 for shipping through DHL. I have had DHL ship products to the US from the UK so I know it was something else.
Good review 👏🏻
Where is the Microdrive USB stick from? That looks awesome.
That was a little perk that RetroGames included in the review package. It does not come with The Spectrum (pity!).
To be fair it's not hard to get the look and feel right... Everyone and his dog are getting recreations of the old casing produced in China, so it won't have taken much to slightly modify it to suit this.
Fantastic review and video! Glad to see you have a new video!
Atic Atac was Ultimate.
The Commodore BASIC is called friendly?
That rudimentary excuse of a BASIC that forces you to poke colours. 😅
I know, I know. I was referring to the editing part :-)
@NoelsRetroLab Yeah, that takes some getting used to.
But the layout is quite cleverly done. Many BASIC tokens that are related to each other are located next to each other on the keyboard.
And you get the hang of the shift keys to get them real quick.
I did an extensive program, a trainer for Latin verb grammar, for school on the ZX Spectrum and entered several type-ins.
Therefore I have some experience and I do like this iconic keyboard which is also great for overlays like those for Elite and Lords of Midnight.
Looks nice. Mine is in the mail now. Maybe it arrives tomorrow :) Great video Noel!
What I couldn’t see from inside….where is the firmware…. Is it in an sd card or do we think a chip has it? If it’s same as VIC20 I’m wondering whether possible to flash these (or image if it’s SD) the other emulators…. If only playing the games then hey why not have one that can switch between a cbm, Amiga etc. the box is just for show really…
The firmware is in the microcontroller (that chip under the heat sink). You may be able to hack it and re-flash it, but I don't think that's exposed. The box is more than for show though: It's the physical interface of the device! That's why I love this but I don't care as much for The500 or the Atari Mini.
This looks great, but I couldn't justify it given I have a Next. I do know some people I might suggest it to though!
Right. If you have a Next I think it's completely redundant.
No reviews were to be uploaded online until the 22nd seeing as that’s the official release date of the console. I’m annoyed that Retro Games released this console to the Americans before British people could receive their own pre orders.
They were very clear it was OK to release them today (21st at 2pm GMT). I guess they wanted the reviews 24 hours before people got their hands on it?
I have the same set of original ZX Spectrums as in the photo, but for use I prefer the Sizif-512 with additional multisound card in the case from the original Spectrum Plus. This is a cheap alternative to the Spectrum Next. In the near future I'm going to assemble a ZX Evolution. Most likely, it will become the main my Spectrum compatible computer.
Computers like the ones in this video are of no interest to me at all. No difference from the emulator on RasberyPi.
everyone needs to load a game this way!
I'll pass thanks. lol I've never used a tape for anything except creating backups at my last job.....and I didn't even know if they worked. I didn't know how to restore them. I begged us to replace them with external hard drives. This was approved and I haven't used a tape since. Even my C64 I have the U2+ with the tape adapter. I only got the adapter because it was an extra $5. I've never used it. lol
Where to buy in USA ?
You might want to order from Amazon.uk and have it shipped. Also, email RetroGames and tell them you want it in the US.
Love sir Clive tribute inside the speccy!
Great review btw👍
Si se elige como modelo alguno de los otros (+/2/2A), al arrancar con el menú clásico, ¿aparece el menú de estos ordenadores? El editor de BASIC es mucho más agradecido.
No! Se me olvidó comentar eso. Muy curioso, pero seguramente puedes poner tú la ROM que quieras y tener eso (tendr'e que comprobarlo).
SOO GLAD YOUR BACK! Missed ya dude! Awesome review, I've just ordered one arriving tomorrow :)...
The original Spectrum keyboard would not fit - the connectors are further apart.
So long no see. Te echabamos de menos !!!
Mine is coming tomorrow. I also have a CD of a few thousand games which I bought about 20 years ago. The Spectrum 48k was my second computer (after the Dragon 32), so it's going to be a real nostalgia trip for me. I did a bit of programming on it, and made a few simple games. I might try my hand at machine code or assembly language.
I also compose my own music, so it will be interesting having a go a using the 128k sound chip with the basic PLAY command. I remember trying it as a kid, but my understanding of music theory is a lot better these days, as I didn't take up playing synthesizers until I had left school.
Can you fill out the whole screen with the games? Bit limited if it has margins only. The online emulator F.U.S.E is full screen. And that's the difference between liking it and loving it for me.
Not 16x9 because it would be scretched, but you can set border to 0 and fill the screen top to bottom, yes.
Ok. I am not liking that the old Rare games are not working. I hope they get a firmware patch for that.
The lack of DB9 is for me the only but also the biggest minus of this computer.
I wonder if you can use some kind of DB9 to USB adaptor. I guess the problem is that most of them are the other way around (USB -> DB9).
If it can support a USB or Bluetooth controller, that's a lot better than fumbling with old joysticks.
@@NoelsRetroLab I know there are adapters but it's not an elegant solution. Adapters are fine when I use them in a PC. I have a few adapters and I don't want to ruin the look of The Spectrum with such devices.
I think I'd rather buy a case + keyboard and a PCB for Raspberry Pi Zero with a DB9 socket. I've seen such a project on RUclips.
@@NoelsRetroLab I have two DB9 to USB adapters that work with THEC64 mini, THEC64, and THEVIC20, and use them with e.g. TAC2. They probably work with The Spectrum.
Carousel should definitely have run on the emulator and not outside of it..ruins it a bit
It would be impossible to make it look good. All that text, all those graphics, all with the Spectrum limitations? It would be fun for us, but I bet it would put a lot of people off.
I enjoyed your video of The Spectrum possibly one of the better reviews I have watched TBH.
Mine will be with me tomorrow. Cheers.
👍👍👍
Thanks so much!
@NoelsRetroLab your welcome, I have shared with Facebook 👍🏻
Se lo pido a los Reyes Magos, qué bueno verte de nuevo Noel.
I think the main thing stopping me from getting this is the keyboard. If they had modeled one of the later spectrums with a better keyboard, I would have jumped on it.
I get it. The other keyboards wouldn't have been nearly as iconic though :-) But in all seriousness, the Plus keyboard isn't as great as it sounds. So many times keys get kind of stuck if you hit them off-center. I'm not sure it's much of an improvement (the +2/+3 ones are great though).
Only people over 50 and absolute fake nerds (you known the type) think the rubber keys are good, eveyone else in the world traded their speccy in for a spectrum+ (those that didn’t, out their speccy in the cupboard in 83 and never used it again). From 84 to 1992 spectrums were sold with real keys…the real market share….when the spectrum next was announced they boasted it would be a design like the 128k spectrum because that’s what people want and eveyone remembers hating the rubber keys. It’s very strange why people get rose tinted glasses over something that really was never popular….
Temporarily out of stock.
Bueno, en modo 128k no tienes que utilizar combinaciones de teclas...
Me temo que en esta máquina no :-(
and of course they didn't make it available in the US, typical, lets make retro computers, and completely ignore a market that has fans who would love to have a Spectrum, , ,
Finally you are back again!!!
The latest system on a chip emulation device. Sorry but the input lag makes these nothing more than a novelty toy. Fpga is where it's at for cycle accuracy
I didn't measure it this time, but I did with The Vic 20 and there was no noticeable lag. Emulation is fast enough that it can have under 1/50th second lag so it's the same frame (just like a real Speccy).
17:30 Retro Games wanted users to enjoy full experience to the extent of mounting this shitty membrane keyboards :D i remember how much i have cursed when i tried to solder it together back in the day when these "ancient ribbons" were notorious for flexing and cracking xD
Just a share they didn't put that much effort to The A500 Mini where keyboard is actualy a prop... But this product... if i were just bit more inclined into Speccy i would beg them to rob me out of my money already :D
It's NOT a Sinclair Spectrum. If you can't plug a microdrive into it, then it's just another game console. Totally misses the point of what the Sinclair Spectrum was. You can play the games on a PC or your phone. A simple Arduino could do this.
no thanks not as
good as the real thing
I love the Spectrum (I have several) but I am not a fan of the rewind feature and that's the reason i'm not buying one of these. If I rewind each time I make a mistake in a game then I have no sense of achievement when I beat the game because I will have cheated. (that said, this is only my personal opinion and I hope a lot of people buy this and have fun with it!)
Or, you just never use / disable the feature.....
The worst device ever.
But the English love it.
Understands whoever wants.
"Not nearly as friendly as the Commodore BASIC?"... HA HA HA! You made me laugh =) When did any BASIC interpreter in the 8 bit computers was friendly? We see that Noel didn't had a Speccy as the membrane is not the same as the original, is similar to the one in the "The Recreated ZX Spectrum Bluetooth keyboard" and frankly is a pain. You cannot replace the membrane with a micro switches one or install a chiclet face plate (I just bought one!) instead of the rubber mat to have a better keyboard. Here "the spectrum" is a fail. The Spectrum NEXT is the way to go, you have the N-GO clone which is made in Spain, cheaper than the NEXT and with a waaaaaay better keyboard. If you want a budget Spectrum NEXT just bu a Xberry Pi which is around 100 USD. This "the spectrum" is just a cheap emulator with a crap keyboard. Doesn't worth it, there are lot of better alternatives out there!
Commodore BASIC is crap, but its one redeeming thing is that the full screen editor is actually great. So yeah, it might be a crappy dialect, but it's way more user friendly than the others.
Yeah, I was referring to the editing part of the C64 BASIC, not the implementation itself. And you're right about the membrane connectors being in a different place. Missed that.
This rubber keyboard is supported to be crap, to experience the real deal! Is this "The Spectrum" had a different (maybe better) keyboard, it simply wouldn't be a Spectrum! People are already upset by the fact that it is called a "The Spectrum" instead of *ZX Spectrum" and "Retro" instead of "Sinclair". And you expect them to accept a whole different keyboard? No way!
So close to first!! 😆