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Winner Announcement: Ben Heck's Portable ZX Spectrum!

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element14's The Ben Heck Show

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Congratulations to and !

 

You have been selected as winners of Ben's ZX Spectrum Portable!

 

 

 

 

We're giving away two Portable ZX Spectrum builds from the Ben Heck Show.  Tell us what the ZX Spectrum means to you in the comments below for a chance to win.

 

The ZX Spectrum, an 8-bit personal computer from Sinclair Research Ltd., is a beloved retro computer from the 80s. While it didn't gain a lot of traction outside of the UK, especially in places where it was undercut by the Commodore 64, it did more to define British gaming culture than any dedicated gaming console. Much like the color used in Apple's old logo, the word Spectrum highlights the machine's color display.

 

Since launch, over 24,000 software titles have been released for the ZX. Not including clones, it sold in excess of 5 million units worldwide.

 

 

 

{gallery} ZX Spectrum Slideshow

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In 1983, the video game bubble formed during the golden age of gaming burst as the market became flooded with too many consoles and poorly designed games. Atari, the most popular video game console before the crash, reported $537 million in losses for 1983. Atari had the dubious distinction of releasing the poster child for this era when it rushed to market the highly anticipated E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial game. It's widely regarded as one of the worst games ever and is frequently cited as a contributing factor to the video game crash of 1983. The game was so bad, all remaining unsold versions of it got buried in the New Mexico desert.

 

Around the time dedicated gaming consoles became widely regarded as a passing fad, home computer gaming continued to thrive. Low cost machines like the Commodore 64 and the ZX Spectrum proved to be popular alternatives to dedicated gaming consoles.  While it didn't have the same impact outside the UK, its influence on gaming in the UK is undeniable. In its day, a British game publisher would develop for the ZX Spectrum and begrudgingly port to other machines later.

 

 

The low cost of the machine, a catalog including thousands of games, and cheap distribution of games thanks to cassette tapes factored into its continuous popularity in the UK. The ZX Spectrum was widely adopted as a gaming platform despite its lack of built-in joystick ports, primitive sound generation, and color support that was not optimized for text display.

 

Ben Heck's ZX Spectrum Part 1
Ben Heck's Portable ZX Spectrum Part 2
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Enjoy games on the ZX Spectrum? 

 

Tell us what the ZX Spectrum means to you.

 

If you were influenced by the ZX Spectrum let us know what makes the ZX Spectrum special.  Tell us about what games you enjoyed or what made the system stand out. Feel free to share images, an achievement such as a high score, or anything you can think of related to the ZX Spectrum.

 

If you haven't had a chance to experience the ZX Spectrum then feel free talk about a rival system such as the Commodore 64 instead.

 

 

Directions:

Step 1:  Log in or register on element14, it's easy and free.

Step 2: Post in the comments section below and share your experience with the ZX Spectrum. Videos, pictures and text are all welcomed forms of submission.

Step 3:  Sit back, relax, and enjoy the show!  We will accept entries until 3:00pm CDT Aug 1st, 2016 and announce our winner August 5th 2016. If you need something to do between now and then make sure to check out what is happening This week on element14 Community, or watch more Ben at element14.com/TBHS.

Attachments:
imageGiveaway_TC.pdf

  • I have unfortunantly never played with the zx-spectrum, But I really want to.
    Maybe it would be possible to get the schemaitcs and drawings to make my own?

     

    Christopher

  • I never heard of the ZX Spectrum, but would like to give it a try image

  • Oh, the good old days - the tape cassettes that had 3 digit numbers pointing the address of a game and the feeling of anticipation, while the screen wash showing the mysterious stripe patterns.

     

    Some time later I've dug into the emulation scene for the speccy and found that it was still getting new games and demos in the late nighties and there have been people that managed to build something that looked impressive on the speccy even in the age of PC's, Windows, TrueColor screens and browser wars.

  • I was 10y/o...

    It was a cold long winter...

    I had a book on beginners basic programming

    and i was let loose on dads ZX spectrum!

    The feel of the rubber keys, the instability of the power connector (ours was a little loose, you had to be careful not to nudge the computer and loose power / 2 hours of typing in code)

    but it was great fun, most of its time it was hooked up to a b&w portable TV, but on special occasions it was plugged into the "big tv" in the centre of the lounge.... Loved every min of it, and it defiantly set me up for a life in computing and technology (I'm now a digital forensics expert working for the police, protecting the public as best i can)

    Long live the spectrum!

  • I had my first ZX Spectrum back in 1983. It was an issue 3, if I well remember, 16kb (later extended to 48kb)  I was 11 yerrs old, and my father (a physicist with passion for computer and electronics) passed away few months earlier, so I guess my mother though we would have enjoyed play with it togheter. I remember I spent hours typing on that rubbery keyboard. I owe to the speccy my love for computer and mainly my passion for computer graphic (I know it may sounds strange, but I've created some stunny screen with "the artist II" ...using a joystick too!) and my best friend, he was the only other guy with a zx in my classroom so we started sharing tape and later doing small projects with the sinclair, after 33 years he is still my best friend.

  • The ZX Spectrum meant the first touch with both programming and videogames. Having a portable version of it, with full keyboard would be a dream and return to childhood.

     

    Thanks!

  • I can honestly say that the ZX changed my life. My mother had found one at a yardsale when I was 8 years old and brought it home to me. It had all kinds of books and instructions with it and within a few months I was writing little text adventures and programs. It sparked a lifelong obsession with computers, code, and games. I played Nether Earth for hours on end. I have been trying to gather parts to build my own ZX but this would save me so much time and I know that Ben Heck could make it 100 times better than I could.

  • I always wanted one of these since they were advertised in BYTE magazine and Popular Computing. Never did get one although I did have a commodore 64, Vic-20, TRS-80, Macintosh, etc. Maybe I had too many computers? Shut your mouth!

  • this really takes me back to my first computer c-64

  • I'm new to this kind of stuff as i was born in '02 and have an odd fascination with old computer systems. i was looking to acquire a zx spectrum in any form or condition. i'm hoping to win one to archive and use as i collect old tech and consider myself a student computer engineer (despite being 14). i want to get my hands on a "specy" and learn more about old computer units. thanks to Ben I've learned a lot about building computers and i'm about to begin making pi zero tablets to learn more about my passion building computers and consumer electronics. thanks in advance Ben for considering a 14 year old as an entry for your contest.