my first zx spectrum

[Seob]

Today i went to a local thriftshop and i noticed a nice plastic case with a very destinctif rainbow patern on top.

I opened the case and there was a zx spectrum with interface 1, and a microdrive with 5 tapes inside. Picked it up for 45 euro.

[Newsdee]

Sweet! Great case.

[CatPix]

Nice lot!

A bit on the expensive side, but those days, there isn't much to complain about that price sadly.

 

Great find, especially the MicroDrives. What programs await to be seen on them? (hint : some BASIC games pulled from a magazine )

[carlsson]

I'm not sure that 45 Euros for a (supposedly) working ZX Spectrum with Interface 1, Microdrive, some cassettes and in particular the carrying case is on the expensive side. Was the printer also included?

 

I saw a similar lot sold on eBay in September 2015 for £34.67 ~= 43.60 Euros. That one had a different joystick interface and a speaker amplifier, but no Microdrives. It was also sold as untested, possibly busted after the seller plugged in a power adapter with unknown polarity.

[CatPix]

I don't see how in all reasonable ways, a computer that sold so well should be more expensive than an Amstrad CPC, but heh. In a normal market price I wouldn't pay more than 20€ for such a lot, but... Market is crazy.

[high voltage]

I remember the days you got 'em for 5 pound at the car boot (incl. microdrives (they were really hated) and a bunch of tapes), and they were still not sold by the evening.

 

In 95 I bought a boxed ZX81 & manual for GBP1, wow the good old days.......

Edited April 13, 2016 by high voltage

[carlsson]

Well, the grey lunchbox known as NES commands horrible prices on the open market, yet it probably was the biggest selling console of its generation (not counting the C64 as it was a home computer). So market price is as much recognition and demand as it is rarity or supply. But yes, the CPC series used to be dirt cheap some 5-10 years ago, together with the TI-99/4A. Perhaps not that extreme differences today though.

 

Also I think a lot of Speccys broke down in one way or another, if nothing else the membrane keyboard, so possibly a larger share of sold systems were dumped/recycled over the years compared with once more expensive, well built ones that would last longer.

[high voltage]

Tell me about it, in 2001 I got this NES set for GBP 10 (newspaper sale), plus 3 NES unboxed as spares.

 

 

I sold the NES set for GBP250,00

Edited April 13, 2016 by high voltage

[Seob]

45 is high for sure, but you don't see them that much. Here in the Netherlands you see a lot of c64 and msx stuff, hardly any cpc464 (my first computer). The speccy did oke, but you don't see them very much. I could have had a better deal, but shipping or gas to pick the stuff up would make the difference less. I thought the case would also be a nice bonus. Couldn't find any info on the web about this one.

The printer was included, the system works, looks like new. I think it is one of the 48ks with defective memory sold as a 16k. There is some poke test and the result of that test gives 127, a number related to those units.

The microdrives where brand new and empty. Typed in part of a program and saved it to the drive. And it works without problem.

 

I only have one problem. I was typing in a listing and there is a END statement that i have to type in, but i cannot find the right key combo. So any help with this is great.

[high voltage]

45 Euro is good, it's like GBP 35, that's the value I see in British pawn shops nowadays.

Edited April 13, 2016 by high voltage

[CatPix]

The microdrives where brand new and empty. Typed in part of a program and saved it to the drive. And it works without problem.

 

If they are brand new, reformat them a good dozen times.

The Microdrives were hated for a good reason; they were manufactured cheap, and the looping nature of the cheap band meant that they are extremely prone to stretching, enough to make recorded data unreadable after some loadings.

So if you plan to use them as storage, reformat them so the tape get stretched from the get go and avoid further problems.

 

[carlsson]

@Seob - There is no "END" on ZX computers. They just STOP with a break statement. Thus you need to replace END with STOP which you find on Symbol Shift + A.

Edited April 13, 2016 by carlsson

[+phoenixdownita]

Well, the grey lunchbox known as NES commands horrible prices on the open market, yet it probably was the biggest selling console of its generation (not counting the C64 as it was a home computer). So market price is as much recognition and demand as it is rarity or supply.

Top be fair the NES (and Famicom) sold 61M pieces while the C64 stopped at around 17M.

So even if the C64 is considered the best selling home computer when it comes to consoles the numbers are staggering:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_game_consoles#All_game_consoles

[carlsson]

Even worse... 61 million and yet you have a hard time finding a loose unit without games below $50.

[+phoenixdownita]

Even worse... 61 million and yet you have a hard time finding a loose unit without games below $50.

Likely because for each C64 seeker there's 5 NES seekers, especially once the various RGB/HDMI mods came about it went crazy.

 

I used to have a C64 when I grew up but I don't feel like going back to it ... I like MSX a little more but only because of Konami games so not so much an MSX thing per se, I don't have either atm btw ... I lived thru the computers of the 80s and for some reason now I have very moderate interest in going back to them .... a friend loaned me a ZX Spectrum in the mid-late 80s and I really enjoyed Outrun on it for what is worth

In the last couple of years I got myself an XEGS and it's no console (made me regret the purchase a little) .... the GX4000 is better in that regard but let's be honest the CPC(+) was never given a chance, its games were mostly ..... bad ... because very very few even tried to play on its strengths ... but I'm digressing here.

[high voltage]

Top be fair the NES (and Famicom) sold 61M pieces while the C64 stopped at around 17M.

So even if the C64 is considered the best selling home computer when it comes to consoles the numbers are staggering:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_game_consoles#All_game_consoles

Console and Computer sales are always doctored. Especially Sega and Nintendo inflated sales figures. (And Wikis, they are done by fanboys)

You can about read it in the book Game Over, endorsed by Yamauchi, Miyamoto, and other Japan and USA industry bigwigs.

 

C64 sales are kinda weird for 17 mill too, it seems quite a bit high.

Edited April 15, 2016 by high voltage

[carlsson]

This was not meant to be a discussion on whether sales figures are inflated, just that number of sold units isn't directly relative to demand and what people these days are willing to pay.

[TPA5]

Even worse... 61 million and yet you have a hard time finding a loose unit without games below $50.

 

I blame hipsters with more money than brains. Alas.

 

 

Nice Speccy, my dad had one when I was a kid but I never used it much before he sold it. It's a machine that I've always wanted to add to my collection, but just haven't come across the right setup yet.