sinclair zx spectrum interface 2 minidisc

#Sinclair zx spectrum interface 2 minidisc plus

As long as you use them as intended they last forever :) I couldn''t live without mine it''s like my childhood never left me These are solid machines considering the fun people made of companies like Amstrad same goes for Sinclair. I''m prepared to change the tape drive belt if it were to perish and snap there isn''t much to worry about as far as repairs go. The built in cassette deck worked fine back then and does now, I haven''t had to twiddle the Azymuth screw as yet like I did back in the day but I think that was more down to recording methods rather than any fault of the tape head.

#Sinclair zx spectrum interface 2 minidisc plus

I own a reasonably mint +2(grey) same as the one I owned back in 1986 I have all my old games plus many more I got cheaper in the 90''s and will continue to use it I got a lovely scart lead and a refurbed Quickshot 1 joystick plus the joystick converters for both ports(a must) I do have an SJS1 joystick but keeping that intact as they snap easily as most of you will remember. Please consider donating your old computer / videogame system to or one of our partners from anywhere in the world (Europe, America, Asia, etc.). They also removed the keypad scanning routines of the Spectrum 128 and +2 (remember the keypad sold with the Spanish Spectrum 128k ?). When Amstrad conceived the +2A/B and the +3 they redesigned the motherboard and made some internal changes on the bus. Note that the first ROMs developed by Amstrad for the +2 model caused compatibility problems with the old Spectrum software, so they changed a few things in later ROMs. The difference between the +2A and +2B was mainly due to a move in production from Hong Kong to Taiwan. It means that their motherboards were quite similar to that of the +3. There were several models of the Spectrum +2 : the Spectrum +2 (grey case) which had a motherboard nearly identical to that of the 128, and the Spectrum +2A and +2B (black case) which were simply Spectrum +3 computers with a tape-recorder instead of the disk drive. There was still a calculator mode in the start-menu but the « Tape tester » option of the 128 had been removed since the tape-recorder was built-in.Īs with the other 128k models, and due to the limitations of the Z80 CPU which can only address 65536 bytes, the 128kb RAM was not directly usable (unless with bank-switching routines), but could be used as a RAM disk. It was the most popular sound chip at the time.Īs on the Spectrum 128, two BASIC versions were implemented : the 48k BASIC to remain compatible with the original Sinclair Spectrum, and the 128k BASIC which was already introduced with the Spectrum 128. Thus, the sound chip used is still the well-known Yamaha AY-3-8912 which is the sound chip of the MSX computers, Oric computers, Atari ST series) and many other computers of the 80’s. It was a kind of mix between the Spectrum 128 and the CPC-464 !Įven though it used several features of the CPC-464, such as the built-in tape recorder and a good full-stroke keyboard (at last!), it is above all an improved Spectrum 128. Thus, it is not suprising that the Spectrum +2 is very similar in shape and functionality to the Amstrad CPC-464. If you would like to get hold of your very own copy of Freeze64 Issue 23 then take a look here.The Sinclair Spectrum +2 was the first Sinclair computer made by Amstrad after they bought the rights of the Sinclair computers products. This fanzine/magazine continues to go from strength to strength and really deserves your support. Most of the regular features make a welcome return including Zzapback and a look at new and upcoming games in the Commodore 64 scene. The fact that they were able to do this with just a few kilobytes of memory still amazes me to this day! Designed as and add-on for their popular home computer (the ZX Spectrum, it was not compatible the ZX81 or ZX80 from Sinclair) it was released in September of 1983. I always used to love games with speech – it was just so cool to hear your 64 talk, no matter how scratchy or poor quality it may have been. The ZX Interface 2 was a hardware peripheral by the manufacturers of one of our favourite retro computers (the ZX Spectrum ), Sinclair Research Ltd. In case you are not aware he was a legend in the C64 music scene and composed some amazing music for many great games including The Last Ninja.Īs always there’s plenty to read inside including my personal favourite, a ‘Talkies’ article looking at games that featured speech.

This one features a photo of the late Ben Daglish on the cover rather than the pixel game art that I’ve become so accustomed to. The latest Freeze64 Issue 23 dropped through my letterbox yesterday.