ScuzzBlog: Diaries July 2020
Entry 8th July 2020: Post 1: Sinclair ZXSpectrum +3 - 128K.
Sinclair ZXSpectrum +3 - 128K.
By the time 1987 had swung around I utterly believed that a TV
based computer had had its day. I had purchased and dumped the
Sinclair ZXSpectrum+2 in favour of a PCW9512 cus I wanted a
dedicated monitor with crisp images. The Sinclair was anything
but that and the display was truly very poor.
I never really bothered to look at the +3 as an option although
like the PCW9512 it had the 3" drive and was made by Amstrad.
The +3 may have sounded on paper to be a good follow through
given the amount of stuff I had for the Spectrum, but in truth
it wasn't that compatible with its earlier models. Consequently
I decided to plump for a dedicated word processor with built in
monitor and dedicated printer. I guess I should have opted for
the Amstrad 6128 or even a CPC464. I think by the time of the
launch of the +3 pretty well every other major computer on the
market was better than the ZXSpectrum. It really had had its day.
So what am I doing with these two machines. I am simply checking
to see that the 3" drives are working along with keyboards. The
+3 is a pig to tune in on my black and white and I am forever
fiddling with the actual aerial connector to get a good signal.
Both these computers were broken when they arrived and it was
only in 2017 that I repaired them. I have another but that is
truly broken.
I did buy the connector to try and get this machine working with
a tape cassette but failed. Kinda summed up the end of the range
for Sinclair computers. Once a great name, and somewhat unstoppable
but sadly just went from bad to worse. I hung on for as long as I
could but really by 1987 the game was up. I mean by that time you
could buy an Amiga.
On the plus side this was pretty much the only Spectrum that could
run CP/M. On the negative side, have you seen the size of the PSU?
The ZXSpectrum +3 was manufactured up until Dec 1990.
Sinclair ZXSpectrum +3 - 128K.
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