The Spectrum - does anybody have one?

[rubber_jonnie]

I was wondering if anybody has got The Spectrum and what your opinion is of it.

I'm in kind of two minds because I have 2 fully working Spectrum 48Ks and a Spectrum +2 (Grey model) and I'm thinking that it really isn't necessary, but it would go nicely with my Atari 400 Mini.

So if you have one, I'd be interested in your opinion of it and if you think it's a worthwhile buy.

Not that I can buy one right now as they seem to be out of stock everywhere!!!

[alexh]

The feedback seems to be that it's overpowered for accurate spectrum emulation and underpowered for later systems (N64 onwards) but they said the same thing about C64 Mini, TheA500Mini and Atari 400 Mini. Doesn't have any integrated wireless connectivity like the others (so no WiFi nor Bluetooth workout a USB dongle).

From the teardown videos I believe the keyboard is not compatible with normal Spectrum 48K membranes so when it breaks getting a replacement will be hard / impossible.

I tried to buy one but they were sold out everywhere

[rubber_jonnie]

The feedback seems to be that it's overpowered for accurate spectrum emulation and underpowered for later systems (N64 onwards) but they said the same thing about C64 Mini, TheA500Mini and Atari 400 Mini. Doesn't have any integrated wireless connectivity like the others (so no WiFi nor Bluetooth workout a USB dongle).

From the teardown videos I believe the keyboard is not compatible with normal Spectrum 48K membranes so when it breaks getting a replacement will be hard / impossible.

I tried to buy one but they were sold out everywhere

Yeah that's what I found, plus there was a big disparity in price. with some as much as £169.99 and some as low as £89.99. I'll probably have a look in the new year.

[alexh]

£89.99 delivered at Smyth's toys. Pre-order today for next batch.

[stephen_usher]

The high priced ones will be scalpers.

From those who I know have one, the games work as they should and you can program in Basic. What else do you need?

[rubber_jonnie]

£89.99 delivered at Smyth's toys. Pre-order today for next batch.

Cool, thanks I'll have a look.

EDIT - Looks like stock is due March 2025, so I'll leave it whilst I'm away. I'm home at the weekend and I can't imagine they'll be in stock anywhere that soon.

I can only assume that they have been super popular, especially in the run up to xmas, I bet a lot of gen Xers like me had one under the xmas tree :)

[rubber_jonnie]

The high priced ones will be scalpers.

Indeed, and Amazon seems to be the worst.

From those who I know have one, the games work as they should and you can program in Basic. What else do you need?

That's my take too, I'm just trying to decide if I need one :)

[Dan1975]

Got one for Christmas :D

Not had a chance to play it yet but by all accounts it will be perfect for what I want. Never had one growing up but fondly remember playing certain games on my cousin's. As I knew I was getting it, I have already bought a fully loaded USB stick too

[rubber_jonnie]

Got one for Christmas :D

Not had a chance to play it yet but by all accounts it will be perfect for what I want. Never had one growing up but fondly remember playing certain games on my cousin's. As I knew I was getting it, I have already bought a fully loaded USB stick too

Ahh, nice pressie :)

My concern is that I have 2 48K models and a 128K model, so is it really necessary. It was a bit different with The 400 Mini as though I have several Atari's, I don't have a 400 or 5200 so it made more sense.

I'm still flip flopping :)

[stephen_usher]

The only real benefits over an original machine I see is that it's HDMI and can pretend to be any of the original machine types to run games which need/can use the extra facilities... oh and the nice graphical menu system. Getting one of the joysticks, as supplied with TheC64 etc. would be useful for menu navigation too, but that's extra.

It's a nice product at a reasonable price.