The [[c64|Commodore 64]], BBC Microcomputer and later the [[CPC|Amstrad CPC]] range were major rivals to the Spectrum in the UK market during the early 1980s. The ZX Spectrum has enjoyed a resurgence in popularity thanks to the accessibility of ZX Spectrum emulators, allowing 1980s video game enthusiasts to enjoy classic titles without the long loading times associated with data cassettes. Over 20,000 titles have been released since the Spectrum's launch and new titles continue to be released, with over 90 new ones in 2010.
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==Hardware==
Sound output is through a beeper on the machine itself. This is capable of producing one channel with 10 octaves. The machine also includes an expansion bus edge connector and audio in/out ports for the connection of a cassette recorder for loading and saving programs and data.
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==Firmware==
The BASIC was developed from that used on the ZX81 and a ZX81 BASIC program can be typed into a Spectrum largely unmodified, but Spectrum BASIC included many extra features making it easier to use. The ZX Spectrum character set was expanded from that of the ZX81, which did not feature lower-case letters. Spectrum BASIC included extra keywords for the more advanced display and sound, and also supported multi-statement lines. The cassette interface was also much more advanced, saving and loading around four times faster than the ZX81, and much more reliably. As well as being able to save programs, the Spectrum could in addition save the contents of arrays, the contents of the screen memory, and the contents of any defined range of memory addresses.
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==Sinclair Research models==
"General Sound" (GS) is a sound card for ZX-Spectrum 48/128/etc... developed by X-Trade in 1997 as a commercial product. It is a 4 channel, 8-bit sound board with similar capabilities as the [[Amiga]] Paula chip. It has its own Z80 CPU onboard running at 12MHz, and 128KB of memory (16KB ROM and 112KB of RAM). The GS was very popular in Eastern Europe. [https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/1000171/Hardware/General_Sound Source]
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== Links ==
* [https://www.sinclaircollection.site/ Sinclair Collection Site] [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ZX_Spectrum_clones List of ZX Spectrum clones]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JfZ77Ltkols&list=PLIX9fyYxV0k_VOgMOIxseJH1c91KKcxKB ZX Spectrum vs Amstrad CPC] [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wce82Q54dpA&list=PLIX9fyYxV0k_CanGbwkXdtlhmdtO62ZRW ZX Spectrum vs C64]
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[[Category: Non CPC Computers]] [[Category:Amstrad Products|*]] [[Category:CPC History]]
[[Category:CP/M]]