As a kid, I always had this strange fascination for the ZX Spectrum. It was not the most popular machine in France, but you could see it in many places, and I could Spectrum game sin magazines because of the funky color palette that the machine uses. There is a tech reason why colors have to clash like they do, and boy to they clash.
I remember the first time I heard about this computer, my mom was telling me how this cool new thing "like a typewriter but you can connect to a tv and do more" that she was discussing at work. I never got one as I choose the TI 99/4A as a first machine, another one with not so super color palette.
The problem with these is that (at least the first version of it, the iconic one, connects to a PAL tv set via the antenna, and that it is almost impossible to find a PAL compatible TV set in the US. So using one in the US is challenging, and very rare. I got this modified machine off ebay UK, with a composite TV modification so I could plug it easily But even with this it is not great, because out of the 3 screen I tried, I was not able to get any color, just plain B/W. And what good is this when you want to see the funky colors ??
So not so good experience so far, I will stick to emulator, but a great little machine, and cool toy nonetheless.
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| Sinclair ZX Spectrum |
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| Cool close up on Sinclair ZX Spectrum keyboard. 6 instructions per key ftw |
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| Sinclair ZX Spectrum rainbow |
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| 9V DC, aka use your Megadrive / Genesis adapter |
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| TV out, the problem to use a Sinclair ZX Spectrum in the US |
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| 48K the most common version, I guess |
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| Sinclair ZX Spectrum badge |
