I didn't know anything about computers and wanted to experiment in 1983. I purchased a Timex Z-81 here in the USA for $49.99. I learned programming through the very comprehensive Sinclair Basic manual provided with the computer. After playing around for a while I wanted to replicate a program that I saw demonstrated at the Seattle Worlds Fair in 1961 at the United States Science Pavilion. The operator would ask the visitor for an approach angle and velocity to determine an orbital trajectory for launching a satellite or space vehicle. Their computer would print out the trajectory on a printer coming from a telex machine. I was able to replicate that program and had a lot of fun with it. Fond memories of my introduction of computing.
My uncle gave me his ZX81 back in 82 (I was 11), it's in the garage and still works, though the keyboard membrane has several chewing gum foil wrappers acting as contacts. I remember being more interested in seeing how the basic code worked than I was in actualy playing games. As with the ZX-Spectrum later on, that keyboard and it's multi-keyword/key meant one could type code blisteringly fast once memorized and memorize it I did. Those were the days of taking days off of school as my dad read line after line of code out of countless magazines and books. The golden age of computing for sure, when computers still had soul :)
yes i had a book how to program your zx 81 was stuck in it more than the terrable games 1 was how to play sounds music well it was how to to emit a buzing noise from the screen !
I was born in 1981, and got my start with a secondhand Spectrum +2 at age 8, but in some ways I wish I'd been of age to get a ZX81 when it was new. No sound, no colour, RAM-pack wobble, but so much fascination and fun, and at a mass-market price. That early thrill of typing code in and seeing it do something before your eyes. No surprise that it launched so many careers.
The Sinclair ZX81 was my first computer as a kid. Dad ordered the kit version from England, and then we assembled it at the kitchen table. Dad then brought an old full-sized keyboard home from work, and wired it up to replace the pressure sensitive keys.
Just watched you pull out your ZX81 from its nice slide out box with a tear in my eye and remembering when I was robbed and the room trashed. My ZX81 survived having been thrown across the room but the box had been ripped up and the Styrofoam broken. Sad times but at least the micro lives on to this day.
I remember having one of these lying around the house when I was a kid in the early 90s, infinitely curious as to what it did or what you would even want it to do. But as I could not switch it on I gave up on it forever, but it found some use as a prop on my countless Jurassic Park re-enactments. Thanks to your video, I can now see what it was capable of!
Found my ZX81 earlier this year. Back in 1983 I used it to write programs that I submitted for my O Level Computer Studies. I had a third party 16k RAM but still needed Bluetack to stop it wobbling 😃
After graduating with an Associates Degree in Electronics in 1983, the local tech giants were laying people off. It was the confidence in writing code, gained from the ZX-81, that saved my career and started a path in software development.
Ha, our first home computer. I was 3 when we got ours and I remember playing on it. Being born in 78 I pretty much grew up alongside the home micro revolution, it really is amazing how far we've come. I had no idea that in 30 years we'd be using these things to anonymously tell eachother to kill ourselves over the information superhighway :) It was all so innocent back then you see ;) The only game I remember on the ZX81 is one called Road Runner, where you had to pilot a cent symbol down a scrolling road without touching the sides. Exciting stuff!
I still have mine and the tapes/ memory pack.Me and my brother used to spend hours typing programs in,then my mum would move the power cable and all the data gone in a flash, Happy days, loved the 80s
I remember my Dad coming home one day in 1981 with a small box and we all gathered round the dinner table to discover what was in the box...A brand new ZX81. Our new Family Computer 😄
The ZX81 was my first homecomputer and i learn programming on it. I buy it from my teacher including a 16 KByte-RAM expantion and a big keyboard, that connection he modded in the ZX81 for 150 DM from my chrismasgifts in 1984.
I had the official 16K expansion, which I kept in place with a rubber band that went all the way around the computer. It was $100 US assembled and $50 for the 16K. I bought it before the TI version was released. I learned assembly language on it by converting the assembly language into numbers by hand, then putting them into a string with a basic program. While the mnemonics are different, Z80 assembly language is pretty much the same as 6502, so it the move to the Atari 8 bit wasn't difficult.
The Sinclair ZX81 was my first ever computer and also gave me the skills I have today as a programmer, I started as one of the backroom programmers :D ... now 36 years on I am a professional software developer and it all started with just 1K and a dangerous heat plate that burnt my leg and melted the bottom of the ZX81 case! !!
Fella, just bought a used (boxed) ZX81 and ZX Spectrum, you have stirred my mood for retro gaming! cant wait to get them, first 2 computers i had back in the day! good on'ya for making me spend money! who says you cant buy happiness ... :)
I got given a boxed spectrum a few years ago, only just got round to fixing the keyboard (membrane connection was cracked) and have been loving playing some 8 bit classics
The ZX81 taught me programming and launched my career in IT. I eventually soldered the wobbly RAM pack to the main board and built a custom case and keyboard.
Nostalgia Nerd BTW, I recently acquired one of these systems and was planning to review it myself at some point. I learned a lot about it I didn't know here, so thanks!
Clive was awesome. I had his computers, microdrives, watch, mini tv, calculator, it was all amazing for its day. He was a god! On top of that, he was somewhat responsible for the formation Acorn and the Arm chips everyone uses today. Say what you like about his flops, you can't deny his inventiveness, boldness and inquisitiveness. A great Briton indeed.
My very first computer. I added an external keyboard, a 16K memory pack and a tape recorder. Games on cassette would take around 7-8 minutes to load. There was a remarkable flight simulator which worked on the 64x48 pixel display. I don't know if you came across this, but it was announced that some UK government departments were supplied with ZX81s because, for certain duties, they worked faster than PCs of the time.
I have my complete Timex Sinclair 1000 here in Ohio overseas! Purchased the complete set with a 16k expansion pack for just $75 on eBay! It came with the original box, styrofoam, cables, and manual! Still have them all years later and still working great! I even recorded a tape of 3D Monster Maze and played it!
"...essentially, we'd be behind the times like Bulgaria" Hahahahaha... No. While we might've not been getting the absolutely latest tech back in the 80s, the Bulgarian computer industry was thriving at the time and we got a whole bunch of office and home computers under the Pravetz brand (though a lot of the models were Apple II, IBM PC and even Oric Atmos equivalents). It's too bad that there aren't many English information sources on the topic, it would've made for an interesting episode.
The ZX81 was used as the brain for a hacked BigTrack my father built that you could truly program as a true robot... It was a much-loved control system for the DIY robotics scene in the 80s, also probably the reason so few of them survived, they were cheap for using in projects as the Raspberry Pie of its day.
I got one of these, seems like about 81. I remember it was a big deal because it was only $100. Back then there were computer magazines with code articles that you could type in if you wanted to experience what the author was talking about. There was one that said if you would type in this page of code on the sinclair you would see the skyline of Richmond Virginia. Since I lived there, I did it and lo and behold it was just like the area of town I was in... I remember being blown away by this. It was of course terrible resolution in 2D grey scale but very impressive. As been mentioned by other people it was really just for playing games and viewing graphics as far as I was concerned. My screen collapsed completely upon each key stroke. It would only be for a .5 second but that got old. When the Commodore 64 came out mine was history. About 10 years later I was at a Dr. office in Boston and I noticed the doc has one in his examining rooms. I asked him what he was doing with these old Sinclairs and he said the printer (can't remember if the printer was a Sinclair product or something else, small thing about 1/2 the size of the zx81) He said he was using Sinclairs zx81's with the attached printer to write out scripts for the patients??? Something about the printer paper was the same size the druggist used. Anyone else remember this? a little fuzzy.
The ZX81 manual was miles ahead of other manuals at the time (or even now). I've shown it to a number of modern school kids while talking about early computers and one thing that comes across is that it is clearly aimed at someone who has never even seen a computer before.
The admiration of the old BASIC manual does intrigue me. Would you say it's still a viable way of introducing yourself to basic programming? I know it's not going to have a massive relevance to modern programming but is it still a good introduction of sorts?
@@mr8I7 It introduced a new concept with each chapter with practice exercises. So things like subroutines, printing anywhere on the screen, using graphics. All the basic concepts are there even by modern computing standards.
The ZX81 was a great computer as Sinclaire Spectrum and BBC Acorn and along with the American Commodore 64 and Atari kickstarted the 1980s and bring the joys of computer technology to your living room. In my opinion these computers were better than the computers of today because they thought you programming and were a lot fun playing their games.
My dad won a ZX81 at a local lottery and it had no external memory. Turn off, all gone. I spent more time typing the programmes than using them but it was good initiation.
hook up a cassette and bingo you can save programmes and spend two or three hours listening to a pre digital style modem sound as you tried and tried and tried to load it .......happy days !!
Shockingly it's kinda coming round in a way. These 'e-bikes' are becoming more and more popular these days and with the increasing pedestrianisation of our towns and city they become an increasingly viable option between a car and a full on pedal bike.
I had a ZX81-clone called "Basic 2000" as a kid. Found it in my aunt's attic in the mid-nineties. Didn't have any software or even a tape deck for it, so couldn't really do anything with the thing.. Still, my family didn't have any other computer at the time, so I has some "fun" playing around with it. Typing mostly..
I just recently bought a Timex/Sinclair 1000 off eBay. My first microcomputer was a TS1000, wow is it small, really tiny. Even the stylish black and red packaging is minuscule.
This was my first computer. I was so clueless that I thought when you "read in" a program from tape, that meant the program moved from the tape into the computer, then you would have to write it back out when you were done or it would be gone. I've learned a thing or two since then.
Thank you for your wonderful videos on the u.k. Computers and consoles that I didn't get to play on because I'm in Canada and they never came to my city or country in most cases.
I cut my teeth as a programmer at age 6 on a 1k ZX-81...today, going down memory lane is easy, as we can get flawless emulators in quantity on the internet. Today, anyone with an internet capable PC has the equivalent of a supercomputer on their desktop. And in their pocket is they have a smartphone. Astonishing progress in a short lifetime.
I had a Timex Sinclair 1000 in 1984 or 85. JC Penney or SEARS had it for $19.95 and the same for the 16K RAM expansion. I was just a kid, but could afford that. I had a VIC-20 as well. I had alot of good times with the old ZX81/Timex Sinclair 1000. I got all the computer gaming magazines and remember typing programs into both. I also made a dungeon crawl type game from what I learned in computer class at school.
+Arnie Mahns P.S. I got the 1000 (ZX81) and the 16k RAM and a new tape recorder for like $60 total. I don't even know what happened to it. Lots of stuff went missing when I went to the AirForce.
This computer is why I became an engineer and left poverty. I wrote a program on this for my dad's finances and they made at most $10k a year in 1983. The program was to figure out his business losses for taxes.
I wish I grew up in the UK and had been involved with the 8-bit micro explosion. When I was gaming in the US on an NES and then a Sega Genesis (Mega Drive), I always wanted to make my own games but it always felt out of reach. The UK micros of the 80's not only could support you making your own games but you could even release them yourself or send them to a publisher to possibly be published nationwide! The whole industry seems like it was much more open and accessible than really anywhere else.
My first home computer, 99 Dutch guilders at Vroom&Dreesman warehouse it was a risky decision to buy it from my household money, but my whole family helped when coding in hexadecimal machine language. First try was a shock because all lights went off, not only in my house but in the whole neighborhood!
It was my first computer (35 years ago...) I now sell them on Ebay USA with new video composite that works with HDTV, a switching voltage regulator (no more heat) and other upgrades. We ship worldwide. I loved monster maze but it's hard to find now. :o(
I ordered the kit and waited... and waited... and waited. Finally it arrived, and they had sent an assembled one.I added the 16K RAM pack, printer, and modified it so I could use a real keyboard. Even in those days I could type faster than that little machine could take it.
I has a Commodore Pet in 1978 so Commodore computers where everywhere before the 1980 release of the ZX series. I used a ZX 81 and put cold milk cartons on the memory expansion to keep it cool.
This was a step up from the Sinclair calculators, it was right on the bleeding edge. You could write programs to get your projections using loops, this was a massive step forwards. Lots of people bought it thinking you play games on it, which did come along, eventually. As many people have stated that Manual was the key to getting to grips with the BASIC language, and once you had that it was a valuable transferable skill, the rest is history......................
Dear god, a Renault 9 - I almost ended up with one of those things as my first car after passing my test! Can't say I've ever had any experience of the ZX81, but I would like to have a go of one - a 48K Spectrum was my first foray into retro computing after acquiring a rather well-used one at a jumble sale. Some of those games, created to use much less than 1K to fit the available memory or utilise the up to 16K of the add-on RAM pack, are marvels of programming. Flight Simulation? On a ZX81? Incredible!
My first computer was a ZX81. I've still got it and programmed the game "Masada Class" for it which you can run on emulators. A great machine for its day with Mazogs and 3D Monster maze as the standout games for it.
5:25 the keyword single key system (instead of typing each letter) was *not* to save space in a stored program as the CBM PET, Apple ][, Acorn BBC, Vic-20, C64 also stored the keywords as a single token byte which was a lookup into a table to access the ROM routine. All the latter computers had the user type the individual letters of the keywords which the system then parsed into tokens (the Apple ][ was particularly heavy handed with token conversion). The main reasons for the keyword system were it cuts out the need to parse the line entered for tokens, and syntax checking was implemented by only allowing valid keywords to be entered at any point removing the need to check syntax when running. The only micro of the time I know that didn't tokenadise the input was the Acorn Atom. However, it did allow you to abbreviated commands to the first few distinctive letters followed by a full stop. The BBC micro kept this abbreviation system for its tokenadisation code. The CBM machines used a feature of the way the tokenadisation code was written to allow abbreviations by shifting (thus setting the top bit) the input character (after enough to identify the token had been entered).
I was born in the 1985, but anyone born in the 1980s and under should be humble and patient about the computers now a days. Young folk born in the 1990s and beyond, will never, ever, ever, know the excitement of having a 26k dial-up modem and installing a brand new 56k dial-up modem. We were all excited that we were able to play games online like the original StarCraft game over the computer gaming service 'Game Spy'. Also, we were all excited that we were able to load adult images much much faster! ;)
I was already using a 16k Pet at school in 1980. I declined the zx80 but jumped at the 81. It was like having my own home Pet. Good Times, and as you correctly say, there was nothing to compare it with and you were happy to put up with foibles such as the ram 'falling out the back' . Even now I still use that phrase if I lose a file... 🤔😂
Ah the 80s. I had a zx81 AND a Renault 9 Turbo in bright red - E477VUS. The zx81 lead to an Electronics Degree in 1990 and 30+ years as a Software Engineer all over the world.
My dad got one of those when I was about 8yrs old or so. Two hours to program pong another hour to debug then get bored playing after 5mins. And those rubber keys were a nightmare to use. He also bought a printer that used rolls of this silver paper that has blue under is surface that the printer pin would melt and scrape images onto it.
still got a timex 1000 kickin around. making something in basic that even marginally resembles a game in the base ram is a pretty fun exercise in frugality.
I purchased the ZX-80 as my first computer and it wasn't the best in the world, but it worked for me and I was able to use Basic which was on it along with MS-Dos for that machine which was different than the other versions.
Im incredibly surprised about how clever they were in programming those games.... specially the maze and chess ones.... in a such tiny computer manage to create that is amazing...
when people talk about the ram packs they only mention the sinclair ones, but the 3rd party versions were twice the size for about the same money(datel electronics, romantic robot and kempston which had a joystick port on it, i had a sinclair one but also had a datel 96k one though never found anything software wise to use that much memory lol, another thing was they are stackable if you have the type with the pass through slot on the back, you can put another pack on the back and have 32k.
I had one. I mainly recall severe anxiety due to the crappy power cord connection. I wrote millions of lines of code, and that damn computer was just like Lucy holding the football for Charlie Brown, every time I got close to being able to save it to the cassette it would go POOF. ARRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH! Start over. Good times in retrospect.
My very first. Tought me BASIC and life was never the same again. So many nights nearding away on - and swearing over - the keyboard. I even managed to make a payroll program to help me in my job. Could hold 50 pay slips. Not bad for the time.
My parents bought a Timex 1000 for me but I really wanted the Radio Shack TRS-80 because that is what we used in 8th grade in 1982. I had no idea what to do with it. lol 🤓
MY FIRST COMPUTER! Yep, I have fond memories of the ZX81 and its many eccentricities. The games were quite good too: I didn't play any of the ones in this video, but I remember "Avenger" by Abacus Programs, and a few that came with the ZX81 I had. However, tape loading was a bit of a problem, and I had endless issues with the wobbly 16K RAM pack, as did many others. I do remember impressing my parents with an octopus animation I made on the ZX81, however. I think they encouraged me from then on.
I bought a Vic-20 in the first part of the 80s, and my best friend bought a ZX81. It was so primative compared to the vic, but I was fascinated by it anyway.
The Apple II was sold as an expensive premium product just as Apple products are today. This worked in the US market but didn't stand a chance in the UK. Besides, there was nothing particularly powerful about the Apple II except for the slots. It was a 1MHz machine made out of standard TTL parts just like most of what was in the UK market.
The ZX80 was my first computer. We tried to buy a kit for $100. The fully assembled was $200. The kits sold out so Sinclair sent us a fully assembled for $100.
I was tempted to save money and buy the kit, but I thought to myself, what happens when I solder it all together, and it doesn't work? This was before Timex branded it as their own. I remember mailing away to Nashua, New Hampshire for one of these. It was not long before I also ordered the 16K RAM pack. I also remember basically learning Z80 assembly from the manual, because of the table they had, for each 8-bit number, listing the decimal, hex, character, and opcode nmemonic. Heck, I hand assembled some programs from that table, then sat there POKEing the code into a (dummy) REM statement.
![Lp. Сердце Вселенной #60 РОЖДЕНИЕ ЛОЛОЛОШКИ [Финал] • Майнкрафт](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/YoR0pAV9FVQ/mqdefault.jpg)
I didn't know anything about computers and wanted to experiment in 1983. I purchased a Timex Z-81 here in the USA for $49.99. I learned programming through the very comprehensive Sinclair Basic manual provided with the computer. After playing around for a while I wanted to replicate a program that I saw demonstrated at the Seattle Worlds Fair in 1961 at the United States Science Pavilion. The operator would ask the visitor for an approach angle and velocity to determine an orbital trajectory for launching a satellite or space vehicle. Their computer would print out the trajectory on a printer coming from a telex machine. I was able to replicate that program and had a lot of fun with it. Fond memories of my introduction of computing.
wow
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I forgot the Timex price was $49 I thought it was $99. I only knew one person who owned one.
@@jC-kc4si By 1983 the system was well past it's time, so was probably reduced to get rid of it.
Nice!
Definitely time for more ZX/Sinclair content, Clive was such a gem and the world is far worse off without him.
My uncle gave me his ZX81 back in 82 (I was 11), it's in the garage and still works, though the keyboard membrane has several chewing gum foil wrappers acting as contacts.
I remember being more interested in seeing how the basic code worked than I was in actualy playing games. As with the ZX-Spectrum later on, that keyboard and it's multi-keyword/key meant one could type code blisteringly fast once memorized and memorize it I did. Those were the days of taking days off of school as my dad read line after line of code out of countless magazines and books. The golden age of computing for sure, when computers still had soul :)
yes i had a book how to program your zx 81 was stuck in it more than the terrable games 1 was how to play sounds music well it was how to to emit a buzing noise from the screen !
❤❤❤
My interest in computers started at age fifteen when my grandpa introduced me to his ZX81...
The funny part is that it was only three years ago :)
Mine started with the TRS-80 just a few months ago.
Had one as a kid! Spent my time making my name repeat down the TV screen. Great video, keep them coming.
10 print "insert name"
20 goto 10
I was born in 1981, and got my start with a secondhand Spectrum +2 at age 8, but in some ways I wish I'd been of age to get a ZX81 when it was new. No sound, no colour, RAM-pack wobble, but so much fascination and fun, and at a mass-market price. That early thrill of typing code in and seeing it do something before your eyes. No surprise that it launched so many careers.
Like many others I started programming on the ZX81 and went on to be a lead programmer at EA many years later. What a great machine.
Do you still work at EA to this day?
@@bonusmemez2739 I still make games as a freelancer, not at EA.
The Sinclair ZX81 was my first computer as a kid. Dad ordered the kit version from England, and then we assembled it at the kitchen table. Dad then brought an old full-sized keyboard home from work, and wired it up to replace the pressure sensitive keys.
I wanted the KIT, but no. My ZX81 was already assembled. I was grateful tho!!!! It was fun..
Just watched you pull out your ZX81 from its nice slide out box with a tear in my eye and remembering when I was robbed and the room trashed. My ZX81 survived having been thrown across the room but the box had been ripped up and the Styrofoam broken. Sad times but at least the micro lives on to this day.
not even thieves want it, speaks volumes to its usability
@@AllGamingStarred They had no use for a door stop
I remember having one of these lying around the house when I was a kid in the early 90s, infinitely curious as to what it did or what you would even want it to do. But as I could not switch it on I gave up on it forever, but it found some use as a prop on my countless Jurassic Park re-enactments. Thanks to your video, I can now see what it was capable of!
I bought a ZX81 in 1982, still have it, still works. 16K memory and prnter
Found my ZX81 earlier this year. Back in 1983 I used it to write programs that I submitted for my O Level Computer Studies.
I had a third party 16k RAM but still needed Bluetack to stop it wobbling 😃
After graduating with an Associates Degree in Electronics in 1983, the local tech giants were laying people off. It was the confidence in writing code, gained from the ZX-81, that saved my career and started a path in software development.
Ha, our first home computer. I was 3 when we got ours and I remember playing on it. Being born in 78 I pretty much grew up alongside the home micro revolution, it really is amazing how far we've come. I had no idea that in 30 years we'd be using these things to anonymously tell eachother to kill ourselves over the information superhighway :) It was all so innocent back then you see ;) The only game I remember on the ZX81 is one called Road Runner, where you had to pilot a cent symbol down a scrolling road without touching the sides. Exciting stuff!
I still have mine and the tapes/ memory pack.Me and my brother used to spend hours typing programs in,then my mum would move the power cable and all the data gone in a flash, Happy days, loved the 80s
I remember my Dad coming home one day in 1981 with a small box and we all gathered round the dinner table to discover what was in the box...A brand new ZX81. Our new Family Computer 😄
RIP Sir Clive Sinclair
Got one for Christmas in 82 when I was little. Still have it, still works last time I checked. Learned to program on it.
The ZX81 was my first homecomputer and i learn programming on it. I buy it from my teacher including a 16 KByte-RAM expantion and a big keyboard, that connection he modded in the ZX81 for 150 DM from my chrismasgifts in 1984.
I had the official 16K expansion, which I kept in place with a rubber band that went all the way around the computer. It was $100 US assembled and $50 for the 16K. I bought it before the TI version was released.
I learned assembly language on it by converting the assembly language into numbers by hand, then putting them into a string with a basic program.
While the mnemonics are different, Z80 assembly language is pretty much the same as 6502, so it the move to the Atari 8 bit wasn't difficult.
The Sinclair ZX81 was my first ever computer and also gave me the skills I have today as a programmer, I started as one of the backroom programmers :D ... now 36 years on I am a professional software developer and it all started with just 1K and a dangerous heat plate that burnt my leg and melted the bottom of the ZX81 case! !!
Fella, just bought a used (boxed) ZX81 and ZX Spectrum, you have stirred my mood for retro gaming! cant wait to get them, first 2 computers i had back in the day! good on'ya for making me spend money! who says you cant buy happiness ... :)
I got given a boxed spectrum a few years ago, only just got round to fixing the keyboard (membrane connection was cracked) and have been loving playing some 8 bit classics
The ZX81 taught me programming and launched my career in IT. I eventually soldered the wobbly RAM pack to the main board and built a custom case and keyboard.
I only recently discovered your channel and I LOVE IT!!! Keep it up man!!!
Well thanks very much :)
Nostalgia Nerd You are very welcome!!!
Nostalgia Nerd BTW, I recently acquired one of these systems and was planning to review it myself at some point. I learned a lot about it I didn't know here, so thanks!
I agree your videos are really interesting and informative.
I find myself increasingly wanting one of these.
3D Monster Maze = The Grandaddy of Doom
Doom 1982 :-) still better that half the crap on steam greenlight.
mazogs (big spiders) a maze but 2d was fun i thought well beats other junk!
Akalabeth would like a word with you
It's not
@@mikkkeh It is.
Clive was awesome. I had his computers, microdrives, watch, mini tv, calculator, it was all amazing for its day. He was a god! On top of that, he was somewhat responsible for the formation Acorn and the Arm chips everyone uses today. Say what you like about his flops, you can't deny his inventiveness, boldness and inquisitiveness. A great Briton indeed.
I trialled a ZX80 for a week and jumped straight to getting a ZX81 with 16k RAM pack. I loved it, for gaming and writing my own stuff too.
Sigh. I can still remember recieving a birthday invitation printed on a spark printer...way back in 1982...good memories
My very first computer. I added an external keyboard, a 16K memory pack and a tape recorder. Games on cassette would take around 7-8 minutes to load. There was a remarkable flight simulator which worked on the 64x48 pixel display. I don't know if you came across this, but it was announced that some UK government departments were supplied with ZX81s because, for certain duties, they worked faster than PCs of the time.
Lovely job sir. We had ours second hand in a carrier bag and we never looked back.
Rocket Man!
That was excellent! Those games are impressive, looking back, especially the flight sim and the Scramble clone. Great memories.
For me, you have made a fanstastic job. Zx81 was nice machine. Sinclair always money with his machines.
Namaste.
That was the first and only pc of our school. 2 of us were using it to learn Basic. French elementary/secondary school back in early 80s. Really cool
Timex/Sinclair 1000 was the first computer I laid hands on as a child in the 80s :).
I have my complete Timex Sinclair 1000 here in Ohio overseas! Purchased the complete set with a 16k expansion pack for just $75 on eBay! It came with the original box, styrofoam, cables, and manual! Still have them all years later and still working great! I even recorded a tape of 3D Monster Maze and played it!
"...essentially, we'd be behind the times like Bulgaria"
Hahahahaha... No. While we might've not been getting the absolutely latest tech back in the 80s, the Bulgarian computer industry was thriving at the time and we got a whole bunch of office and home computers under the Pravetz brand (though a lot of the models were Apple II, IBM PC and even Oric Atmos equivalents). It's too bad that there aren't many English information sources on the topic, it would've made for an interesting episode.
yup, Bulgaria was basically the sillicon valley of the eastern bloc, he just randomly chose the worst country he could :)
Wasn't the name "Pravets" chosen because it was the home town of the country's Communist leader at the time of the 1980's?
The ZX81 was used as the brain for a hacked BigTrack my father built that you could truly program as a true robot... It was a much-loved control system for the DIY robotics scene in the 80s, also probably the reason so few of them survived, they were cheap for using in projects as the Raspberry Pie of its day.
I got one of these, seems like about 81. I remember it was a big deal because it was only $100. Back then there were computer magazines with code articles that you could type in if you wanted to experience what the author was talking about. There was one that said if you would type in this page of code on the sinclair you would see the skyline of Richmond Virginia. Since I lived there, I did it and lo and behold it was just like the area of town I was in... I remember being blown away by this. It was of course terrible resolution in 2D grey scale but very impressive.
As been mentioned by other people it was really just for playing games and viewing graphics as far as I was concerned. My screen collapsed completely upon each key stroke. It would only be for a .5 second but that got old. When the Commodore 64 came out mine was history. About 10 years later I was at a Dr. office in Boston and I noticed the doc has one in his examining rooms. I asked him what he was doing with these old Sinclairs and he said the printer (can't remember if the printer was a Sinclair product or something else, small thing about 1/2 the size of the zx81) He said he was using Sinclairs zx81's with the attached printer to write out scripts for the patients??? Something about the printer paper was the same size the druggist used. Anyone else remember this? a little fuzzy.
The ZX81 manual was miles ahead of other manuals at the time (or even now). I've shown it to a number of modern school kids while talking about early computers and one thing that comes across is that it is clearly aimed at someone who has never even seen a computer before.
The admiration of the old BASIC manual does intrigue me. Would you say it's still a viable way of introducing yourself to basic programming?
I know it's not going to have a massive relevance to modern programming but is it still a good introduction of sorts?
@@mr8I7 It introduced a new concept with each chapter with practice exercises. So things like subroutines, printing anywhere on the screen, using graphics. All the basic concepts are there even by modern computing standards.
The ZX81 was a great computer as Sinclaire Spectrum and BBC Acorn and along with the American Commodore 64 and Atari kickstarted the 1980s and bring the joys of computer technology to your living room. In my opinion these computers were better than the computers of today because they thought you programming and were a lot fun playing their games.
Great vid! I was given one in 1987 and a bunch of cassettes. 3D Monster Maze. Wow! What memories
My dad won a ZX81 at a local lottery and it had no external memory. Turn off, all gone. I spent more time typing the programmes than using them but it was good initiation.
so he won a computer with no onboard ram? sounds like he got "Bit" lol
hook up a cassette and bingo you can save programmes and spend two or three hours listening to a pre digital style modem sound as you tried and tried and tried to load it .......happy days !!
Took me weeks before I got a working cassette recorder.
I remember the Sinclair C5. The future of urban transport. Could get you to the end of road between charges. Visionary.
Shockingly it's kinda coming round in a way. These 'e-bikes' are becoming more and more popular these days and with the increasing pedestrianisation of our towns and city they become an increasingly viable option between a car and a full on pedal bike.
I had a ZX81-clone called "Basic 2000" as a kid. Found it in my aunt's attic in the mid-nineties. Didn't have any software or even a tape deck for it, so couldn't really do anything with the thing.. Still, my family didn't have any other computer at the time, so I has some "fun" playing around with it. Typing mostly..
I just recently bought a Timex/Sinclair 1000 off eBay. My first microcomputer was a TS1000, wow is it small, really tiny. Even the stylish black and red packaging is minuscule.
Most important machine of my life.
This was my first computer. I was so clueless that I thought when you "read in" a program from tape, that meant the program moved from the tape into the computer, then you would have to write it back out when you were done or it would be gone. I've learned a thing or two since then.
Thank you for your wonderful videos on the u.k. Computers and consoles that I didn't get to play on because I'm in Canada and they never came to my city or country in most cases.
I cut my teeth as a programmer at age 6 on a 1k ZX-81...today, going down memory lane is easy, as we can get flawless emulators in quantity on the internet. Today, anyone with an internet capable PC has the equivalent of a supercomputer on their desktop. And in their pocket is they have a smartphone. Astonishing progress in a short lifetime.
I had a Timex Sinclair 1000 in 1984 or 85. JC Penney or SEARS had it for $19.95 and the same for the 16K RAM expansion. I was just a kid, but could afford that. I had a VIC-20 as well. I had alot of good times with the old ZX81/Timex Sinclair 1000. I got all the computer gaming magazines and remember typing programs into both. I also made a dungeon crawl type game from what I learned in computer class at school.
+Arnie Mahns P.S. I got the 1000 (ZX81) and the 16k RAM and a new tape recorder for like $60 total. I don't even know what happened to it. Lots of stuff went missing when I went to the AirForce.
what are some good games? i just got one and frogger 😎
@@jonniefast You are probably better off watching a video on best ZX81 games. I only typed things in from magazines and wrote my own little programs.
I bought a zx81. what a pain in the ass. lesson learned. went on to c64 which was absolutely great!
This kept you busy during the crash. We did not get these. We had some good ones, but I would have loved this little system.
I did get a ZX81 with 16k memory expansion, printer plus games for about 90 euros. I did learn to program basic on that one. Fun memories :)
11:00 OMG. I haven’t seen that flight sim in over 40 years! I played the heck out of that as a kid.
This computer is why I became an engineer and left poverty. I wrote a program on this for my dad's finances and they made at most $10k a year in 1983. The program was to figure out his business losses for taxes.
I wish I grew up in the UK and had been involved with the 8-bit micro explosion. When I was gaming in the US on an NES and then a Sega Genesis (Mega Drive), I always wanted to make my own games but it always felt out of reach. The UK micros of the 80's not only could support you making your own games but you could even release them yourself or send them to a publisher to possibly be published nationwide! The whole industry seems like it was much more open and accessible than really anywhere else.
My first home computer, 99 Dutch guilders at Vroom&Dreesman warehouse it was a risky decision to buy it from my household money, but my whole family helped when coding in hexadecimal machine language. First try was a shock because all lights went off, not only in my house but in the whole neighborhood!
It was my first computer (35 years ago...)
I now sell them on Ebay USA with new video composite that works with HDTV, a switching voltage regulator (no more heat) and other upgrades.
We ship worldwide.
I loved monster maze but it's hard to find now.
:o(
I ordered the kit and waited... and waited... and waited. Finally it arrived, and they had sent an assembled one.I added the 16K RAM pack, printer, and modified it so I could use a real keyboard. Even in those days I could type faster than that little machine could take it.
I has a Commodore Pet in 1978 so Commodore computers where everywhere before the 1980 release of the ZX series. I used a ZX 81 and put cold milk cartons on the memory expansion to keep it cool.
This was a step up from the Sinclair calculators, it was right on the bleeding edge. You could write programs to get your projections using loops, this was a massive step forwards. Lots of people bought it thinking you play games on it, which did come along, eventually. As many people have stated that Manual was the key to getting to grips with the BASIC language, and once you had that it was a valuable transferable skill, the rest is history......................
I've still got mine and it still works. It's amazing what they can do if you give them a chance.
Dear god, a Renault 9 - I almost ended up with one of those things as my first car after passing my test! Can't say I've ever had any experience of the ZX81, but I would like to have a go of one - a 48K Spectrum was my first foray into retro computing after acquiring a rather well-used one at a jumble sale. Some of those games, created to use much less than 1K to fit the available memory or utilise the up to 16K of the add-on RAM pack, are marvels of programming. Flight Simulation? On a ZX81? Incredible!
"Mic socket" ....LOL. Bless you mate. Subscribed.
My first computer was a ZX81. I've still got it and programmed the game "Masada Class" for it which you can run on emulators. A great machine for its day with Mazogs and 3D Monster maze as the standout games for it.
5:25 the keyword single key system (instead of typing each letter) was *not* to save space in a stored program as the CBM PET, Apple ][, Acorn BBC, Vic-20, C64 also stored the keywords as a single token byte which was a lookup into a table to access the ROM routine. All the latter computers had the user type the individual letters of the keywords which the system then parsed into tokens (the Apple ][ was particularly heavy handed with token conversion).
The main reasons for the keyword system were it cuts out the need to parse the line entered for tokens, and syntax checking was implemented by only allowing valid keywords to be entered at any point removing the need to check syntax when running.
The only micro of the time I know that didn't tokenadise the input was the Acorn Atom. However, it did allow you to abbreviated commands to the first few distinctive letters followed by a full stop. The BBC micro kept this abbreviation system for its tokenadisation code. The CBM machines used a feature of the way the tokenadisation code was written to allow abbreviations by shifting (thus setting the top bit) the input character (after enough to identify the token had been entered).
I was born in the 1985, but anyone born in the 1980s and under should be humble and patient about the computers now a days. Young folk born in the 1990s and beyond, will never, ever, ever, know the excitement of having a 26k dial-up modem and installing a brand new 56k dial-up modem. We were all excited that we were able to play games online like the original StarCraft game over the computer gaming service 'Game Spy'. Also, we were all excited that we were able to load adult images much much faster! ;)
Great content. Thank you.
£250 by today's prices. Thank you to my parents, that was quite the Christmas gift.
I was already using a 16k Pet at school in 1980. I declined the zx80 but jumped at the 81. It was like having my own home Pet. Good Times, and as you correctly say, there was nothing to compare it with and you were happy to put up with foibles such as the ram 'falling out the back' . Even now I still use that phrase if I lose a file... 🤔😂
To say that the touch sensitive keyboard was a pain to use would be an understatement.
Ah the 80s. I had a zx81 AND a Renault 9 Turbo in bright red - E477VUS.
The zx81 lead to an Electronics Degree in 1990 and 30+ years as a Software Engineer all over the world.
I have one of these... got it with a bunch of Atari 5200 and 7800 stuff at a yard sale. Interesting to learn about it.
keep up the great work! love the hardware docos
I loved my ZX81.
Great video as always. I still have an microdigital tk85, an Brazilian clone of the z81with 48k of ram. Always wanted to put my hands on a true z81.
At 2:05 I'm blown away by that tiny television or computer? Either way, that just seems way ahead of its time and I seriously want one!
Happy Birthday ZX81 !! Whoop Whoop!!
I had this computer in 1981 as timex 1000 (zx81) as child in Germany my 2nd computwr was MSX Sony Hit Bit 3th and last was Atari 800XL
My dad got one of those when I was about 8yrs old or so. Two hours to program pong another hour to debug then get bored playing after 5mins. And those rubber keys were a nightmare to use. He also bought a printer that used rolls of this silver paper that has blue under is surface that the printer pin would melt and scrape images onto it.
still got a timex 1000 kickin around. making something in basic that even marginally resembles a game in the base ram is a pretty fun exercise in frugality.
Back when coders could actually code.
I purchased the ZX-80 as my first computer and it wasn't the best in the world, but it worked for me and I was able to use Basic which was on it along with MS-Dos for that machine which was different than the other versions.
Im incredibly surprised about how clever they were in programming those games.... specially the maze and chess ones.... in a such tiny computer manage to create that is amazing...
Great documentary. Very informative.
when people talk about the ram packs they only mention the sinclair ones, but the 3rd party versions were twice the size for about the same money(datel electronics, romantic robot and kempston which had a joystick port on it, i had a sinclair one but also had a datel 96k one though never found anything software wise to use that much memory lol, another thing was they are stackable if you have the type with the pass through slot on the back, you can put another pack on the back and have 32k.
3D Monster Maze and 3D Defender are both stunning when you consider the hardware it is running on.
3D Monster Maze is fun even today. It has stood the test of time.
and there's still something creepy about it
Don't forget MAZOGS!
I remember the first time i saw it at my friend's house; i was flabbergasted by the speed of the fight animations hehe
I had one. I mainly recall severe anxiety due to the crappy power cord connection. I wrote millions of lines of code, and that damn computer was just like Lucy holding the football for Charlie Brown, every time I got close to being able to save it to the cassette it would go POOF.
ARRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH! Start over.
Good times in retrospect.
My very first. Tought me BASIC and life was never the same again. So many nights nearding away on - and swearing over - the keyboard. I even managed to make a payroll program to help me in my job. Could hold 50 pay slips. Not bad for the time.
My parents bought a Timex 1000 for me but I really wanted the Radio Shack TRS-80 because that is what we used in 8th grade in 1982.
I had no idea what to do with it. lol 🤓
Fligth simulation made me laugh, but being a "boy" from the '70s I feelt the excitement of a kid (of any age) seeing that on his brand new ZX81 :)
MY FIRST COMPUTER! Yep, I have fond memories of the ZX81 and its many eccentricities. The games were quite good too: I didn't play any of the ones in this video, but I remember "Avenger" by Abacus Programs, and a few that came with the ZX81 I had. However, tape loading was a bit of a problem, and I had endless issues with the wobbly 16K RAM pack, as did many others. I do remember impressing my parents with an octopus animation I made on the ZX81, however. I think they encouraged me from then on.
What’s the background music that kicks in at 6:57? It’s the same music used by Coding Secrets. What is it?
RIP Sir Clive Sinclair 1940-2021
This was my first PC. My dad bought one. I used to try to write programs in basic. It was very frustrating to try to debug.
I bought a Vic-20 in the first part of the 80s, and my best friend bought a ZX81. It was so primative compared to the vic, but I was fascinated by it anyway.
The Apple II was sold as an expensive premium product just as Apple products are today. This worked in the US market but didn't stand a chance in the UK. Besides, there was nothing particularly powerful about the Apple II except for the slots. It was a 1MHz machine made out of standard TTL parts just like most of what was in the UK market.
The ZX80 was my first computer. We tried to buy a kit for $100. The fully assembled was $200. The kits sold out so Sinclair sent us a fully assembled for $100.
I was tempted to save money and buy the kit, but I thought to myself, what happens when I solder it all together, and it doesn't work? This was before Timex branded it as their own. I remember mailing away to Nashua, New Hampshire for one of these. It was not long before I also ordered the 16K RAM pack. I also remember basically learning Z80 assembly from the manual, because of the table they had, for each 8-bit number, listing the decimal, hex, character, and opcode nmemonic. Heck, I hand assembled some programs from that table, then sat there POKEing the code into a (dummy) REM statement.
06:08 Is that an AMSTRAD CPC sitting there on the left at the factory?