Spectrum next

[bonehead]

So I’m thinking about getting the spectrum next plus on the 2nd run.
Is it worth the £325?.

I have never done a kickstarter, do you pay for it now and wait till August next year for it to be delivered?

Also which is he best one suited to a casual gamer? Looks to me like the £325 version.

Anyone have an opinion on this? I already have 5 different original spectrums but this looks cool and modern at the same time.

Thanks

 

[K1ngarth3r]

What puts me off is the first kickstart for it was about £175, so now is more than double I'm not sure if it's worth it or not. It makes it harder to justify for sure.

 

[strykr]

£325 for a spectrum?

 

[pobtastic]

Cheaper than it was originally

The original ZX Spectrum is remembered for its rubber keyboard, diminutive size and distinctive rainbow motif. It was originally released on 23 April 1982 with 16 KB of RAM for £125 (equivalent to £348.92 in 2019) or with 48 KB for £175 (equivalent to £488.48 in 2019)

 

[Flinnster]

It's not just an old Spectrum..... it's the very last true Sinclair computer designed by Rick Dickinson.

While it can run old Spectrum software from the 80's, it has 3x the audio capabilites of the original Spectrum 128k, and the graphics are more like the SNES (320x256 resolution and 512 colours).

It is Wifi enabled, and can access the internet (in a fashion!).

Kickstarter 1 models shipped with 1Mb memory, Kickstarter 2 models have 2Mb memory as standard.

It's an FPGA computer too, so can run multiple cores.

Multiple developments continue by the community.. so this week saw full C64 SID chip emulation on the internal AY chips for instance. Lots more to come on that front!

https://twitter.com/Paradise_Games/status/1254246380480212993/photo/1

And yes, that's how kickstarter works. It's just a big group buy effectively. You pays your moneys, you wait, you get your items.

Flinnster2020-08-17 10:35:34

 

[Flinnster]

Flinnster2020-08-17 11:10:10

 

[RygarR]

£325 for a spectrum?

I know!

It's got a very nice looking keyboard and all....

But if it does all that extra stuff, it isn't really a Spectrum.

And if costs £325+, it's a tad underpowered for a modern emulation station, especially by Pi4 standards.

As others have said, however, you pays your money...

 

[tb2000]

I'm quite tempted myself, amongst all the other stuff it can do, I like the way it can run TZX's straight from the file. If my Zaxon SD interface (or my older DivIDE) for my Speccy +3 did that though I wouldn't be that bothered about the Next. I think you'd need quite a large FPGA to run tzx files from a Speccy SD/IDE card interface though (if it's possible at all).

 

[Flinnster]

But if it does all that extra stuff, it isn't really a Spectrum.

I'll be honest, without the new stuff, I'd not have backed it. I have a 48k and a 128k already.

The only benefit it would have given me would have been connection to HDMI in that case.

I backed this because I enjoy being part of a scene that's rather like the Amiga back in the day.

People making games, demos and interesting projects

 

[bonehead]

I will sell w couple of pcbs to fund it I think. I also have 48k a s 128k ones so no real need for it but like the look of it and with so many arcade cabs sitting around me I don’t use why not add to the pile??????

 

[big10p]

It is pretty sexy looking and is unlikely to every lose value, so can't go wrong, really.

 

[tb2000]

I will sell w couple of pcbs to fund it I think. I also have 48k a s 128k ones so no real need for it but like the look of it and with so many arcade cabs sitting around me I don’t use why not add to the pile??????

 

[strykr]

I was an amstrad 464 man, so i may be tempted if it was £3.25

strykr2020-08-17 13:01:17

 

[tb2000]

I was an amstrad 464 man, so i may be tempted if it was £3.25

Pffft Amstrad!

Actually I bought a faulty 6128 a while ago I need to get working and also got hold of a proper Amstrad colour monitor that needs repairing, I was pretty impressed recently with the new version of R-Type and the Pinball Dreams conversion. That said, be nice to see what's in store in the future for the Spectrum Next.

 

[Flinnster]

Some stuff I've been helping / working on:

Flinnster2020-08-17 15:11:31