Timex Sinclair 2068 - The American ZX Spectrum

I wonder about South American market for ZX clones... And ZX clones in general. In Eastern Europe of the 1980's the ZX Spectrum and its clones were an only affordable option for owning a personal computer at that time. The Soviet Block clones of ZX spectrum are a chapter by itself, it is interesting fact that in Poland the ELWRO computer plant had made a series of micros called Elwro 800 Junior, that were able to work as Spectrum compatible machine or boot into proprietary system (derivative of CP/M) designed to use at schools, with networking capabilities. The whole programme had fizzled due the budget overrun, shoddy quality, lack of software and obsolescence by 1989, when affordable PC had been available.

DoktorNo

Awesome video! I first started at 4 years old on a Timex Sinclair 1000 and remember that weird way of entering BASIC programs! I graduated quickly to a Commodore 64!

Thanks for giving the TS2068 some love and I learned a few things too. As an American child this was my second computer. I originally asked my parents for a ZX80 but the ZX81 came out so I got one of those ( I didn't even know the zx80 had been replaced so that was great ). Later I so wanted an actual Spectrum but had to get a TS2068. Of course there was no software in US stores but I didn't have any problem with the few Spectrum games I ordered. I loved my 2068. A ZX81 with color and a better keyboard :) Later moved to an Atari 800XL, then Amiga 500, and finally made the switch to Mac a few years before Jobs came back. And yes, I happily have a Spectrum Next!!!!

Awesome video, David!

Yeah plotting individual pixels on either platform is a right pain.

Carsten Elton Sorensen

Indeed. I knew about the layout. But it was too complex to explain to the viewer base and not really all that interesting. The C64 also has a strange layout for the video RAM in Bitmap mode, but in its case, incrementing the RAM value by 1 drops you down to the next line below. It's almost as if they had text in mind as well for bitmap mode.

The 8-Bit Guy

When I read the book "The ZX Spectrum Ula: How to Design a Microcomputer" I got the distinct impression that everything the ULA does is by design and thoroughly thought through. Perhaps you've already read it, but I would recommend it to anyone interested in digital design or even "just" Spectrum coders. Thorough explanations of what makes the Spectrum tick.

Carsten Elton Sorensen

First of all, super interesting video as always! I suspect the video layout is the way it is so you can plot characters faster. While it may appear odd at first, it means that, if you have the screen location in say register hl, you can move to the next line of the destination cell by simply doing "inc h", as there is 256 bytes between each line of graphics. If you want to move to the character to the right, do "inc l". Plotting a string is therefore not as slow as it may initially appear, and is probably as fast as it can be given a graphics mode.

Carsten Elton Sorensen

Yeah. Problem is my Gmail account does not always notify me of new Patreon emails, yet I always get notifications of all YouTube postings, so I only get informed of new 8-bit Guy videos once it comes on YT. So, I guess you can blame Gmail for my delay post. Ah well.

Yep. I've seen that pointed out a dozen times in the comments on YouTube already. I actually knew better but got it backwards. So yes, I too wish you had noticed this yesterday so I could have fixed it before release.

The 8-Bit Guy

Great video. Though I wish I saw this video yesterday because I wanted to point out something to you. You mentioned that the Sega Master System used an AY-3-8912 chip for sound, but that is incorrect. It used a SN76489 sound chip from TI - well actually, the console used a video display processor which Sega made that had the TI chip integrated into it.

I wish I had too. I made several requests for experts on some of the Sinclair forums. I chatted with a few people on the phone, who will go unnamed here, but safe to say they were not very knowledgable about the machine at all, and were no help at all. So basically this was all a result of my own research. But that's what always happens with every video. All of the experts come out of the woodworks after I release a video, but finding them before hand is often difficult.

The 8-Bit Guy

I don't think the US BBC Micros sold well - most were pulled back and repurposed for UK sales weren't they? They had a slightly modified BASIC ROM (you could type COLOR rather than COLOUR although not sure what else was different). Not sure what else was different (apart from the power supply and NTSC output obvs).

There were disk drives for the TS2068. We sold them at Zebra Systems. There were also third party drives as well as Stringy Floppies. That Emulator Cartridge doesn't fit in the TS2068. It was made for the TC2068 which had a taller cartridge slot. There were lots of peripherals like printers, modems, Koala Pad, Trackballs, and more. I wish you had taken the time to talk to me before filming this.

Albert Hartman

I'm not sure how common they were in the US but Acorn did release a US version of the BBC Model B. Again NTSC and PAL compatibility were issues I believe 🤷‍♂️

Simon Zerafa

I've never heard of that, and I've had an Amstrad CPC since 1988. This is *so* much in character for Sir Alan Sugar though!

George Schizas

The Opus Discovery +1? If that is the case, then I would almost give up my left hand for one of those.

Johan Petur Klüver Dam

The Amstrad CPC would also be a great system to review. Amstrad saw it as a competitor to the BBC Micro, ZX Spectrum, and the Commodore 64 and Plus/4, the development name of which was the 264 and 364. This is why they named the first CPC model the 464, in order to one-up Commodore.

Indeed. I knew about the lack of disk drives for commodore machines in the UK. I’d love to play with a BBC micro someday. But it’s unlikely I’ll ever do a video on one.

The 8-Bit Guy

Not any time soon. They are pretty hard to find over here so I’d have to import one from the UK and I don’t know too much about them. It’s probably best to let other people make videos about those.

The 8-Bit Guy

Brilliant video - from a UK viewer! It's a shame you're not going to continue this series. The later Amstrad-built Spectrums dealt with most of the issues you raise, including offering a decent keyboard, built in joystick ports, disk drive options and an updated BASIC where you can type normally. I didn't get quite the reason for the haters in the previous video, but as a UK viewer there is a slight difference this side of the pond which maybe some people took too far. In the very early 80's the Sinclair machines were the only affordable computers on the market, everything from the US be it Commodore, Apple, Atari, IBM or anything else came with hugely inflated prices and this took some time to change. Therefore these machines weren't seen as a joke over here (even if people were jealous of better machines they couldn't afford). Lack of (straightforward) disk drive support compared to a Commodore wasn't much of an issue either - even into the 90's almost everyone was still using tape with a C64 in the UK as the disk drives cost 4-5 times that of the computer and then even if you got one you'd find there was a very limited library of software on disk due to the small installed base which caused a vicious circle preventing them from being taken up in greater numbers to lower the price. Really enjoyable and informative video though - as was the ZX80/81 video! If you want a serious and competent British computer though, maybe consider doing a BBC Micro video? Would love to see it!

Coming from the UK, I know very little about the Timex machines, I found this fascinating, would love to own one at some point =) Are you planning to look at the spectrum next at any point? Looking forward to the C5 video =)

Paul Jacobson

There was an aftermarket industry for the ZX Spectrum 48: I used to have a two-minicassette drive that was waaay faster than a cassette player, and finally a disc drive interface for 3 1/2 disc drives.

Staffan Ahlstrom

Very nice video! Liked it a lot and will watch it again and again. One little notice: when you are moving camera over the units from 7:04 to 7:10, there is too noticable shadow from your hands and camera. I don't remember such problem in your other videos, so may be some problem with light, which you could fix.

Cyber

This was my first computer! I was 3 when I got my 2068 and have programmed ever since. The worst part of it was the location of the power switch. The number of times I bumped my cassette deck into the power switch and lost my work :( I've been waiting for this video for a LONG time. :D My system only had a single cartridge my father either got with it or bought separately, it was called Budgeter. I had the thermal printer as well, and it's usage was extremely limited.