# Sinclair ZX81

18 Hacker News commenters recommended Sinclair ZX81 and 4 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 8 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** A cheap 1k home computer that imposed no artificial limits and got many people started in programming. Critics find its keyboard hard to use and its tape loading unreliable.

## Why people recommend it

- Started people in computing (3 comments): "Untold hours with it started me on my journey to solutions architect and senior engineer today" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45781842)) "Although I sneer a bit at its capabilities, it kicked off an interest in computing" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47986095)) "that I learned to code on" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46570286))
- Cheap and free of limits (3 comments): "The 1k Sinclair can't do much, but doesn't impose any artificial limits or proscriptions either." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50253065)) "a marvel of cost-benefit at the time" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48299356)) "let's go back to the ZX80 (or 81) because we can all afford 1kb RAM" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48299872))
- Clever programs despite tiny memory (3 comments): "The ZX81's 1k chess - actually 672 bytes - was, and still is, legendary." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48953566)) "you could make this thing do.. well.. anything!" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50270412)) "people did crazy things on it" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46132675))
- Fondly remembered classic machine (5 comments): "I had fun times around 1985 with zx81, ZX spectrum, Commodore 64, and Amiga 500." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48257376)) "Zx81 still is one of my favourite machines!" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50269334)) "he said he loved the architecture of it." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47986953))

## What people warn about

- Keyboard hard to use (2 comments): "The keyboard itself, er, takes some getting used to. But they are a little cheaper." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46843777)) "the most unusable keyboard on earth" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47129889))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Commodore 64](https://hackerapproved.com/p/commodore-64.md): 121 recommend
- [Commodore Amiga](https://hackerapproved.com/p/amiga.md): 60 recommend
- [ZX Spectrum](https://hackerapproved.com/p/zx-spectrum.md): 31 recommend
- [TI-99/4A](https://hackerapproved.com/p/ti-99-4a.md): 26 recommend
- [Commodore Amiga 500](https://hackerapproved.com/p/amiga-500.md): 20 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Sinclair+ZX81+computer&tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Sinclair ZX81", https://hackerapproved.com/p/sinclair-zx81/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).