scuzzBlog: Diaries September 2019
Entry 14th September 2019: Post 01: Sinclair Spectrum +2 and +3.
Sinclair Spectrum +2 and +3.
Grinding on to the completion of my 3" disk review in terms of my
active computers using the format. And today we have the Sinclair
Spectrum+3 which I guess technically is an Amstrad, hence the 3".
I also feature the Spectrum+2 cus the unit was designed with the
3" floppy in mind.
I commented yesterday about how wonderful the CPC was cus of the
lack of PSU cluttering up the place. Well, no such luck with the
+2 and +3 as they really couldn't make their mind up which PSU
to use. And with each iteration they just got bigger and bigger.
The Spectrum+2 came in both grey and black. The latter which had
the bigger brick was powered with a 3" floppy in mind. The grey
has the more modest earlier style PSU.
Not sure how many of these units in total I have cus some are in
boxes. I keep these out cus I have had issues with them in the
past and like to check them over. Fortunately they all worked
today so I was able to simply place back on their respective
shelves.
The +2 marked the end of the road for me and Sinclair. I finally
had had enough with poor build quality and bleeding graphics. The
+2 was simply dreadful when played through a TV. The truth was
that I needed a far more serious machine, and the Sinclair just
wasn't able to provide that. And so from ZX81 to +2 but no more
and so I moved over to Amstrad who by this time had taken over
Sinclair. Whilst the +3 was definitely an Amstrad product it kinda
signalled the end of Sinclair as a range. I also think it also
signalled the end of a type of home computer strapped by economical
constraints that gave us really poor machines.
So after all the years of makeshift solutions to data storage and
video displays we entered the era of floppy drives as standard and
monitor screen resolutions that could produce high quality images
that were easy to read and use as a desktop. Prior to 1986-87 there
were literally dozens and dozens of home computers providing a many
varied range of system for usage. Most piggy backed onto TVs and
tape drives for support. Whilst some serious work was undertaken,
for the most part they were simply games machines.
And so 1987 as the home computer world lurched toward serious kit
I too decided to move over to a more office standard of computer.
In a very short time it seemed the home computer range of machines
began to outpace the office range. For a good time I was able to
boast a much better machine at home than the one I used at work.
This trend persisted for me right up until 2014 and beyond. It
seemed I was always one jump ahead of office machines, specifically
because of graphics cards and drive capacities.
Anyhoo ... that ends this little adventure into the retro world
of the 3" floppy disk or should I say FDD or disc drive. I kinda
feel uncomfortable using the term disc as I reserve that for CD,
hard drives and DVD ... mostly cus they are shiny.
Sinclair Spectrum +2 and +3.
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