Timex Sinclair 1000

[~llama]

Turns out I have one of these complete in the box, which I found when I was sorting my computer collection this weekend.

 

Anybody know of any good games for this thing? (IIRC, it's just a rebadged Sinclair ZX-81, right?) I think I've only had it hooked up once, and since I have it, and it's in good shape, I might as well play with it, right?

[The_Laird]

Yeah its the same as a ZX81

 

There are a few ok games like Scramble, Frogger, 3D Monster Maze, Kong and Invaders but nothing great. All in black & white with no sound and it uses characters for graphics.

Edited November 29, 2010 by The_Laird

[Tempest]

Merchant of Venus isn't bad.

 

Tempest

[~llama]

Yeah its the same as a ZX81

 

There are a few ok games like Scramble, Frogger, 3D Monster Maze, Kong and Invaders but nothing great. All in black & white with no sound and it uses characters for graphics.

 

Yeah, I didn't expect the graphics to be very good. I hooked it up yesterday and was, shall we say, considerably underwhelmed. Also, the keyboard isn't very good. Seems like a system better suited for text-based work than for games.

[akator]

For me, the ZX-81/TS-1000 is one of those nostalgia computers... great fun to play around with it if you had one back in the day, but otherwise underwhelming. Mine doesn't get much use, mainly because emulating it is significantly easier than dealing with the flaky connection to the 16K RAM expansion, which has a tendency to wiggle just by using the keyboard when typing something in. That isn't an just an issue of it being old, I remember that happening often when entering programs in 1982.

[Tempest]

It's cute for what it is, but you wouldn't want to play with it for long, that's for sure. It would be interesting if they could port the Infocom interpreter to it, but I think that needs a minimum of 32K and I've only seen 16K upgrades.

 

Tempest

[jaybird3rd]

I used a T/S 1000 for a few years in the mid-80s, attached to a 5" black-and-white portable TV (how's that for hardcore?). I used to keep the computer in the refrigerator if I was planning to use it non-stop for a long time, which helped it to hold out for a bit longer before it locked up from overheating (that pathetic aluminum plate attached to the voltage regulator was not a sufficient cooling solution). I still remember that all the programming books advised you to use one-letter variable names and to do math in unusual ways in order to make the most of the 1K of onboard RAM that was available; the 16K "wobble packs" were so unreliable that I never used them.

 

I agree about the nostalgia factor: it's fun to play around with for about five minutes if you were lucky(?) enough to have one "back in the day," but except for morbid curiosity, there's really no other reason to use it today (except possibly as a doorstop).

[barnieg]

There is a port of Manic Miner out there somewhere and you might want to check out Virus. Although I agree on the novelty factor. It's a case of "wow!" they can do that on a ZX-81 then moving on to something with colour!

 

 

Barnie

[~llama]

I didn't have one "back in the day;" I actually started out on an Apple //e, which is about thirty times the computer that the T/S 1000 is from the looks of things. Sounds like it's almost too much trouble to actually try to get things to run on it--especially since I don't have the RAM upgrade for it. Seems like the same sort of scenario as the TRS-80 MC-10, except for that one the keys are actually buttons and I do have the RAM expansion

 

I guess I'll keep it for the vintage factor, but man, it's sort of a bummer that it's not really useful/fun for anything when you have any other computer that's (even just slightly) less crappy.

[+save2600]

I velcro'd mine to the wall as part of a display once. Gotta be one of of the worst vintage computers ever. Simply amazing what some companies had the gall to release back then. Heck, even the Aquarius made more sense as a computer. lol

 

About an Infocom interpreter... even if it did exist, good luck typing for very long it!

 

 

[nathanallan]

There's a Timex 1000 here, but it sits in the collection, there is a problem with the video output and who knows what else, so it stays there awaiting repair-- I want to give it AV out and a different keyboard, make it a bit more user friendly. One of these days.

[Tursi]

The T/S1000 had 3k RAM, though, where the ZX81 had only 1k. I've got quite a nostalgia for the little beast, and it was the first machine released in the US for under $100, IIRC.

 

Lost mine though, over too many moves. :/ Not that I ever saw anyone else's software, but I played with it a lot. The 16k RAM pack is definately valuable for performance's sake, though.

[barnieg]

I remember seeing the adverts for the ZX-81 way back when and wanting one purely because it was a computer! My first computer was actually an Aquarius which I still have good memories off as I learned to program on it, even then I saw it as a colour ZX-81 (that was a good thing!). When I can afford it I would like a Z80 based computer and when looking into spectrum add-ons came across this http://www.rwapsoftware.co.uk/zx81/zx81_projects.html

 

Barnie

[mimo]

There are a few fun homebrew games here

[Cobra Commander]

Just posted mine in the marketplace. I don't have room for it.

[jd_1138]

I had one way back in the early 80's. It was ok to learn BASIC on, but I should have bought some accessories for it. I didn't have a data recorder, printer, extra RAM, software. Nothing. It would have been a more pleasant computing experience if I had bought some peripherals. They even had better keyboards that you could add.

 

They have a beautiful form factor/styling.

Edited November 30, 2010 by gps_trekker

[Tempest]

I don't have room for it.

I find that statement ironic since it has to be one of the smallest computers I've ever seen.

 

Tempest

[~llama]

I had one way back in the early 80's. It was ok to learn BASIC on, but I should have bought some accessories for it. I didn't have a data recorder, printer, extra RAM, software. Nothing. It would have been a more pleasant computing experience if I had bought some peripherals. They even had better keyboards that you could add.

 

They have a beautiful form factor/styling.

 

It really is a shame it's sort of a crappy computer, because I agree with you; it's a beautiful piece of hardware.

Edited November 30, 2010 by ~llama

[barnieg]

It was a very limited computer I believe due to making sure it reached a particular price point and correcting some of major problems with the ZX-80.

 

 

Barnie

[The_Laird]

I found a mint 16k ZX81 double game cassette amongst my stuff and have no need for it so if anyone wants it then let me know. I wouldn't want alot for it.

 

Its Backgammon & Dice, I have attached a photo.

[Seob]

I velcro'd mine to the wall as part of a display once. Gotta be one of of the worst vintage computers ever. Simply amazing what some companies had the gall to release back then. Heck, even the Aquarius made more sense as a computer. lol

 

About an Infocom interpreter... even if it did exist, good luck typing for very long it!

I think you miss the point of why it was release. It was the affordable computer for home use back in the day. Because it had only 4 integrated circuits it was very cheap to built, and therefore the first computer for the UK home market that cost less then 100 pounds (arround 51 dollars in 1981). That is a lot of computer for little money.

 

Other titles that are worth checking:

Mazogs

3D defender

Black crystal

Gauntlet

Flight Simulation

Galaxians

Dictator

Astral Convoy

Battlestar Galactica

Edited December 1, 2010 by Seob

[nathanallan]

Wait, 3D Defender?? I'm going to go see if I can find a video of its gameplay.

 

/edit Okay, nothing like Defender the 2600 title but still looks interesting. Steve Benway has a vid up at his channel and I didn't even know it.

Edited December 1, 2010 by nathanallan

[jaybird3rd]

I think you miss the point of why it was release. It was the affordable computer for home use back in the day. Because it had only 4 integrated circuits it was very cheap to built, and therefore the first computer for the UK home market that cost less then 100 pounds (arround 51 dollars in 1981). That is a lot of computer for little money.

Yes. That's a market segment that seems to have gone out of existence around 1984 or so. By that time, the slightly higher-grade home computers like the C64 had become cheap enough (and plentiful enough in the used market) to replace the ones that were originally designed to be "low-budget machines." The Mattel Aquarius was probably one of the last computers to specifically target that market, and it's actually not that bad of a machine if you understand it in that context. But, by the time it came out, the technology was advancing so quickly that its intended price point was gone before it was even released, and it was infamously short-lived as a result.

[the-topdog]

The Timex Sinclair is kind of an unsung hero in my opinion. It bridged the much needed gap between the unobtainable and the average person. Allowing a lot of people to touch the world of computing that would never have been able to afford it until a couple years later when prices on more capable machines were lowered to a more affordable level.

 

As a baseline computer it wasn't actually a bad system and was capable of a lot more than people gave it credit for. The two biggest limitations, no sound and tiny membrane keyboard, were actually non-issues as there were plenty of third party, bus expansion accessories that could overcome the shortcomings... like sound generators and full sized keyboards.

 

Some of the games were pretty fun, like Scramble and 3d Monster Maze!

 

But like the Aquarius, it doesn't get much respect in modern times. Where the Aqaurius was an instance of "too little, too late", the Sinclair served its purpose in the short bridging gap between affordability and accessibility.

 

Ummm... hey... what the hell am I standing on? Oh crap, a soapbox... sorry everyone, I'll get off my soapbox now.

[nathanallan]

A full sized keyboard sure would be nice for this thing. I am tempted to make a thing to use a PS2 keyboard and just stick the whole computer to the underside of it. Hey, zero footprint! I have to fix the video out first, though. I got no picture.

Edited December 1, 2010 by nathanallan