ZX Spectrum 48k

My first computer was the ZX Spectrum 48k and despite its humble processor and meagre amount of RAM it managed to run a full featured flight simulator and some pretty cool arcade games.

Who can forget the rubber keyboard, the screeching sounds and flashing colours as you loaded games by cassette tape, the "R tape loading error" message when you had just spent ten minutes trying to load Horace Goes Skiing.

Comments




i remember how i used to treasure my old speccy
going to super drugs the high street chemist who for some reason had a selection of zx spectrum games for sale basic cheap graphics or text only games but they were still games and only 99p
what fun it was setting up the thing to tune it in to the tv then put in a tape into your own tape recorder you connected through leads at the side of the computer as the tape went round you had that glorious screaching squeeking whistling computer programme noise it went on for ages untill all those sqelches etc actually produced a game unless for some reason between the tape deck and zx a bleep or two had been missed which meant it didnt load and you had to do it all over again
n3llyo30-Jun-2010, 02:01:45 PM

remember playing dailey thomson decathlon on my mate johnny monaghons zx spectrum, my first experience of computers!
thebhoywonder06-Apr-2010, 03:18:58 PM

My folks used to own a newsagents and when ever Your Sinclair / Crash came out with its tape on I used to copy it and go round to my friends house to try the demos. I remember we spent days typing in an adventure programme and upon finishing it and running it it had an a$ error. No matter how much we went through the lines of programming and trying different things we could not get it to work. Its one thing I remember to this day. 'if a$="y" then gosub' cant remember the rest. Best game was Geoff Crammonds Stunt Car Racer
Haizum18-Jul-2008, 12:06:05 PM

i had 1 wen i was little and they were well out of date by then, but i loved it (especially manic minor!). i remember coming home one day and trying to find it only to be be told that my mum had sold it for £5 at the boot fair!!!!! nooooooooo! how i miss u spectrum!
thunercats_hooo21-Dec-2007, 08:20:03 PM

Right I remember it when it was the popular computer around the 80 and 90s I've got a 48k one at home on my desk along with a datacorder and a tv for it plus some programs on tape for it
Megan Appleby29-Jun-2007, 03:19:49 PM

The Joy! The Frustration!! The B****y annoying noise that Firebird games made as they loaded!!! I consider myself blessed to have seen the home computer revolution go from the humble zx 48k to wiis and massively powerful PCs yet i still feel that some of the best and most addictive games ever squeezed into a pitifully small amount of memory were made for the speccy 48. Got hold of an emulator and a bunch of the old favourites and the nostalgia of reading "Morkin was slain by wolves. He thinks again" almost overpowered me! The only annoying thing is that there are many great games (like carrier command) available on emulator but without the manual which you need to get into the game in the first place. Arrgghh!!! Can anyone help with this one by the way?
Manic Major26-Apr-2007, 03:52:52 PM

The 23rd of April 2007 is the 25th anniversary of the ZX Spectrum's launch. I doubt Sir Clive Sinclair ever imagined it would become the biggest games machine of the 1980s, at least in the UK. Even today plenty of new games are being produced for this machine.
Jonathan15-Apr-2007, 03:23:00 PM

my first computer it was timex2048: it's a wersion of zx48. i remember that the first game i ever played was JET SET WILLY, amazing game, and amazing computer
toudik12-Apr-2007, 09:31:50 AM

I had a speccy back in the rubber key days. I knocked up a few games and utils one of which was "Gallows", a hangman variant, which was downloadable from a buletin board "The Hole" which was hosted by Paul Jenkinson. I went to deliver a presentation at Ilkley college and was praised by a number of the attendees for the production of "Gallows".
Ohmaid20-Feb-2007, 12:05:29 PM

I got the 48K version one xmas with Booty, Horace Goes Skiing, Jetset Willy and loads of other "Horizons" tapes! Before that xmas I sneakily found it in my folk's cupboard when they were out and set it up and played some of the games while my bro played his new stereo. What attribute clash? ;0)
Mulletino20-Feb-2007, 06:12:32 AM

The spectrum 48k was the very first computer i ever had and I loved it. I still remember bashing down the z & x buttons for track and field and waiting half an hour for the game to load. The best game ever was called Jason's Gem and I must of played it to death. It was and still is the only game I ever completed and I don't care if that is sad it was a great achievement for me.
James Carter17-Jan-2007, 06:54:57 PM

What about the earlier ZX80 and ZX81, anyone remember those? I had a ZX81 with the 16k RAM Pack and that horrible little printer that used a silvered heat sensitive paper!
Dave Ackrill04-May-2006, 09:10:23 AM

I remember a game where characters from Mythology would walk arround the screen and you had to talk to them and fight some of them. If you got killed you went to the underworld, and if you used a 'rude' word a little figure of Mary Whitehouse came out and hit you. If I remember, the newspapers made out that it was a 'video nasty' because of this feature.
Dave Ackrill04-May-2006, 09:07:13 AM

Memories? I STILL play these. I was 8 when Dad brought in the Spectrum! Some of my funniest memories are from when I first say Eugene's Layer in Manic Miner - just the sight of these deadly man-eating toilets sent me into hysterics. Also the absolute chaos one could cause in The Hobbit - causing an almighty fracas between Elrond, Gandalf and Thorin! And doing daft things like trying to kill the Wood Elf with the Map!
Antarro09-Nov-2005, 10:59:59 AM

Ive still got my ZX Spectrum, though none of the bits to go with it...used to ahve to have a separate tape deck (usually stacked ona few books or nothing would load) an interface, a joystick. Games sued to take forever to load and would crash at the last minute...ones I particularly remember being Minder, Survival, Ghosts and Goblins, Gauntlet and California Games. i also remember having a manual which listed instructions so you could 'program' the computer youself..i remember spending hourse typing in lists and lists of 'computer speak' in order to show am image of a flag on screen and a walking stick man...was well proud of myself!!!
Linds03-Oct-2005, 11:55:08 PM

Get yourself an emulator nicky. I used to play Match Day 2 all the time when I had my speccy in the late 80's. Almost 20 years on and I'm addicted to it again thanks to my spectrum emulator. They don't make games like that anymore!
steve forsyth23-Sep-2005, 12:34:07 PM

just by utter memory i thought to type into google spectrum 48k, when to my amazement up popped the stunning pictures of that most treasured keybord.could not believe my eyes as the memories of "manic minor" and "chuccy egg" came flooding back.an absolutely cracking piece of software ever invented and should never be forgoten. just only wish i still had it,a good 19 years on for the life of me i cant remember what lucky little git ended up with it. will never forget though the many many hours of joy i got from playing it,the squeeling high pitched noise of the tape loading up ,what i give to be able to sit and play those young and nieve moments again.
nicky07-Aug-2005, 12:35:55 AM

I still have my Spectrum, but this model is the 128/48k Amstrad/Sinclair one. I got my first chance by simulation power to drive a train. I also used to go on Chequred flag How many readers remember this simulation? I also got that R tape loading error. So I just rewound the tape and looked for the faults then reloaded it.
paul Squires04-May-2005, 08:08:57 PM

eBay

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