ZX Spectrum

What hackers pick instead

• Commodore 64Remembered as an affordable home computer whose built-in BASIC, manual, graphics and sound got a generation programming and gaming; critics note a weak CPU and new-model firmware lock-down attempts.121recommend
• Commodore AmigaLoved for its graphics, multitasking and video features; critics say it cost too much at launch and its custom chips limited it.60recommend
• TI-99/4ARecommended for nostalgia, a well-written BASIC manual and a first taste of programming; critics say its cost-optimised design hobbled performance and its 16KB of memory is very limiting.26recommend
• Commodore Amiga 500Recommended for responsive multitasking, a large software library and good value in its era, with many fond memories. Critics say windows redraw slowly and the 50Hz display flickers.20recommend
• Sinclair ZX81A 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.18recommend

Every quote

The 36 most detailed of 43 comments. Each links to the original.

1. with its huge 48K of RAM was night and day. The programs were so much more complicated.

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2. I had fun times around 1985 with zx81, ZX spectrum, Commodore 64, and Amiga 500.

   Recommends · May 2026 · in “Childhood Computing”

3. the Sinclair BASIC interpreter was a work of minimalist art, as was the hardware

   Recommends · Dec 2025 · in “Efficient Basic Coding for the ZX Spectrum (2020)”

4. I'd already been "forced" to play with BASIC and I never really stopped

   Recommends · Jul 2026 · in “I Owe My Life to the Commodore 64”

5. you will see color-bleeding artifacts where two sprites overlap

   Mixed · Nov 2025 · in “Why do we need dithering?”

6. the Speccie is one of the greatest ways to spend an afternoon

   Recommends · Feb 2026 · in “The complete Manic Miner disassembly”

7. The only thing I hate about the Speccy is the color palette.

   Mixed · Aug 2026 · in “ZX Spectrum System Tour: Text Mode – Bumbershoot Software”

8. They are quite repairable and even upgradable machines.

   Recommends · Aug 2026 · in “Nobody Told Me People Still Code New Games for a 1982 Computer”

9. it was incredible to play them and see them "for real"

   Recommends · Oct 2026 · in “Jokes for the ZX81”

10. Their through-hole circuit boards are very repairable

    Recommends · Aug 2026 · in “ZX Spectrum System Tour: Sound”

11. my entire life/career changed the day I plugged it in

    Mixed · Sep 2026 · in “Commodore 64 released September 1, 1982”

12. these beauties that launched me into computer science

    Recommends · Sep 2026 · in “ZX Spectrum: Experimenting with 1-Bit Sound”

13. Knight Lore on the ZX Spectrum (the tiny rubber one)

    Mixed · Oct 2026 · in “Sabre Wulf Remastered”

14. a fantastic system for recreational programming

    Recommends · Sep 2026 · in “Digital Audio on the ZX Spectrum's 1-Bit Beeper”

15. the rubber key ones give me great nostalgic joy

    Recommends · Dec 2025 · in “Load ZX Spectrum – first Museum dedicated to our first personal computer”

16. man did they have crappy keyboards

    Mixed · Dec 2025 · in “Load ZX Spectrum – first Museum dedicated to our first personal computer”

17. I was jealous of the speccy basic

    Recommends · Sep 2026 · in “Commodore 64 released September 1, 1982”

18. The rubber keys were an abomination.

    Criticizes · Oct 2026 · in “ZX Spectrum Next Laptop”

19. the only non vectrex retro console from that era that I find interesting

    Recommends · Aug 2026 · in “ZX Spectrum System Tour: Text Mode – Bumbershoot Software”

20. I thought it was magical that the Spectrum could "speak with my voice"

    Recommends · Sep 2026 · in “ZX Spectrum: Experimenting with 1-Bit Sound”

21. we had a real cpu in the Speccy - not the joke that 6502 was!

    Mixed · Sep 2026 · in “Commodore 64 released September 1, 1982”

22. made them interesting but still possible to fully understand

    Recommends · May 2026 · in “Childhood Computing”

23. treating the beeper like a 1-bit DAC, with amazing results

    Recommends · May 2026 · in “Playing Atari ST Music on the Amiga with Zero CPU”

24. it was lovely to finally touch an authentic Spectrum

    Recommends · Dec 2025 · in “Load ZX Spectrum – first Museum dedicated to our first personal computer”

25. I believe more successful was the Sinclair Spectrum

    Recommends · Jul 2026 · in “I Owe My Life to the Commodore 64”

26. The ZX Spectrum was a quirky ball of low-cost hacks

    Mixed · May 2026 · in “Boriel BASIC”

27. the Spectrum was way more quirky and British

    Recommends · Sep 2026 · in “Commodore 64 released September 1, 1982”

28. The Spectrum did feel slightly better

    Recommends · Dec 2025 · in “Load ZX Spectrum – first Museum dedicated to our first personal computer”

29. it was a bit slow on a ZX Spectrum

    Mixed · Mar 2026 · in “Conway's Game of Life, in real life”

30. It was the VW Beetle of computers.

    Recommends · Sep 2026 · in “Commodore 64 released September 1, 1982”

31. there is an common fault where something, perhaps a capacitor, has failed over the years and if you plug it in something major gets fried

    Criticizes · Aug 2026 · in “ZX Spectrum System Tour: Sound”

32. ZX's audio and video systems are two things that I never missed.

    Criticizes · Sep 2026 · in “Digital Audio on the ZX Spectrum's 1-Bit Beeper”

33. Totally Unacceptable on the Sinclair ZX Spectrum+ and QL

    Criticizes · Mar 2026 · in “What Happened to Gem?”

34. C64 and Speccy not really, they were unstructured

    Criticizes · Apr 2026 · in “The 1987 Game "The Last Ninja" was 40 kilobytes”

35. My spectrum crashed all the time

    Criticizes · Feb 2026 · in “Ghosts'n Goblins – "Worse danger is ahead"”

36. Spectrum's were just laughed at

    Criticizes · Jul 2026 · in “I Owe My Life to the Commodore 64”