Sinclair Computers

Sinclair, initially known as Science of Cambridge Ltd, was a microcomputer company in the United Kingdom. It produced the first £100 (approximately $210) computer to hit the British markets. It was Sinclair that began filling up the wide gap between the hobbyist world and consumer electronics by designing low cost computers. Here are a handful of now vintage computers produced by Sinclair.

Sinclair ZX80: ZX80 was so popular that customers had to be put on waiting lists. Sinclair did not try anything revolutionary with this computer; their aim was a low cost machine. ZX80 had 3.25 MHz of processing power, 1 KB of static RAM and 4 KB of ROM. It was equipped with a membrane keyboard that made touch typing impossible. Many tech-savvy people tweaked the hardware so as to be able to attach their own separate keyboard.

Sinclair ZX81: ZX81 can be looked at as an improved version of ZX80. It turned out to be even cheaper than its predecessor. The programming language, BASIC, used in ZX81 was much simpler and therefore this computer was able to work much faster. It had an NEC Z-80A, 3.25MHz CPU and the whole device weighed in at just 12 ounces. In the United States ZX81 was marketed as Timex Sinclair 1000.

Sinclair ZX Spectrum: Nicknamed ‘Speccy’, Spectrum was the third computer to be produced by Sinclair, after ZX80 and ZX81. It reached the market in 1982. Speccy was loaded with an improved Zilog Z80A CPU that had a speed of 3.5 MHz. It had three ports; memory, cassette and TV. Approximately 60,000 units were produced.

Sinclair QL (Quantum Leap): QL was introduced in 1984. It was the size of a keyboard that we use nowadays. QL was aimed at the business world. It had a powerful 7.5 MHz CPU with 128 KB of RAM. It also had a couple of built-in micro drives that enable faster access to data. QL was sold for $570 each.

With an impressive product line, Sinclair turned out to be one of the most successful computer producing companies of its time. Since Sinclair was always pursuing a low priced product, it had made compromises on performance. It is for this reason that its computers faded out quite quickly. Today, some Sinclair systems are highly sought after by vintage computer historians.