Re: @Steve K
For loading without tape, you might be able to find the audio files and play them via phone or PC into the Oric
ZX Spectrum Vega+ blows a FUSE: It runs open-source emulator
The ZX Spectrum Vega+ is running open-source Spectrum emulator software FUSE, The Register has confirmed while carrying out a hands-on review of the handheld console. As regular readers know, the Vega+ is the flagship product of Retro Computers Ltd, the company which took £513,000 in crowdfunded cash from members of the public …
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Friday 10th August 2018 17:57 GMT Teiwaz
comes in a little SD card
When I saw my first CF Card, I was expecting that to roll along at some point.
We should be at the point where you can wander into a shop and buy a book/Music album/Movie on the same memory storage type.
But because the media publishers of all the above would rather sit in their trees collecting nuts until progress starts to pass them by then they panic.
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Thursday 16th August 2018 19:47 GMT heyrick
Re: comes in a little SD card
"We should be at the point where you can wander into a shop and buy a book/Music album/Movie on the same memory storage type."
This.
So very much this.
I hunt the bargain bins for cheap DVDs. Once in a while a full price one if it's something a really like. Then I rip them to watch on the device of my choice (my phone). Why are we not at the stage of getting films on little SD cards? Pop it into a card reader, that in the OTG adaptor and we're good to go, right?...
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Friday 10th August 2018 13:21 GMT David Nash
There was nothing to compare against
Yes there was, there was Sinclair's earlier effort for one, the Mk14, which was similarly priced and much more primitive, and there were home and business machines from the US, some of which may have been better but were much more expensive and less suited for home geekery.
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Thursday 9th August 2018 10:58 GMT Anonymous Coward
"If the ZX computers kickstarted the British home computer market and taught a generation in the early 80s, they couldn't have been that crap."
Oh they were. It was getting them to kind-of work that taught the 80s generation so much about computers. Kids today don't even know what an edge connector is, let alone how to keep them working.
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Thursday 16th August 2018 19:35 GMT heyrick
Tweaking IRQs in DOS
Oh my god... Modem or mouse, but not at the same time. Second printer port, no trouble. Just a dozen tiny fiddly headers on an unmarked circuit board and you're there, except the documentation doesn't match the board so you can print, only the chip is set to translate everything to four bit EBCDIC sent on the parallel cable using a weird unheard of protocol that is the electronic equivalent of semaphore. Adding a network card was pretty easy in comparison, but the moment you add a CD-ROM the network dies never to be seen again. Since this is 10-base-2, I mean the entire network dies thanks to the conflict causing the card to spew endless gibberish.
There was a day, once upon a time, when I got myself a crappy Pentium box with PCI expansion. It wasn't great, it probably couldn't divide by anything except zero, but expansion cards pretty much just worked as long as you had the drivers disc. I took some measure of satisfaction erasing that horrible horrible 486 box and those eternally damned ISA cards from reality with a very very large mallet. Apparently a mallet used for laying railways. I could barely lift it. But when I did, and dropped it right into the box with a lovely crunch....oh man, the grin on my face...
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Thursday 9th August 2018 15:12 GMT Anonymous Coward
Voyna i Mor: Kids today don't even know ......
...much, about anything. Hell, they think that "Love Island" is entertainment. But a worrying question is whether easy access to easy to use IT is a cause of this shallowness, and therefore it is OUR fault.
Here, have a Werthers whilst we contemplate that.
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Thursday 9th August 2018 22:09 GMT Martin-73
I can confirm that the original Sinclair computers were both shite, and awesome. Equally.
The concept was awesome. The manuals were amazing. The quality control was.... unknown. Literally, they didn't understand the concept.
My first Sinclair computer (a ZX spectrum+... the plus was 'plus something better than rubber keys but ONLY marginally) didn't work out of the box. Dixons diagnosed a dud power supply, and swapped it for one that only worked occasionally. Eventually my ham fisted attempts to put enough force on the connector to get the thing to start, caused the pin in the 9v connector to fall off. The second one (replacement after a screaming fit by my usually non demonstrative mother, who'd paid for it) worked flawlessly. And still works. Albeit with a few mods and a non-original PSU
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Sunday 12th August 2018 08:44 GMT Mike Pellatt
Notice I said Sinclair rather than ZX experience, I was more thinking of the QL.
To say nothing of the black watch and the IC12. And the calculator. Those are what I remember Sinclair for.
Travesties, all of them. As I've said before, Chief Dick Sinclair created the IC12 (rated 12W peak, hence the name) by taking a Plessey 10W peak rated IC amp and, errr, sticking a heatsink on it. That was his level of understanding of semiconductor thermal management. And how I learnt all about it the hard way, repeatedly blowing them up....
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Thursday 9th August 2018 14:01 GMT DrBed
If the ZX computers kickstarted the British home computer market and taught a generation in the early 80s, they couldn't have been that crap.
Actually, Samurai / Elan / Flan / Enterprise was been that crap. Great project on paper, but when it went to production... utter mess.
Guess who stands behind it? Same David "Vega+" Levy!
https://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/10/24/elan_flan_enterprise_micro_is_30_years_old/
If you missed it, here is the background (80's): "Micro Men" (Acorn vs Sinclair):
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1459467/
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Thursday 9th August 2018 15:10 GMT Rob Crawford
I owned a 128k Enterprise
Apart from the shit case, even shittier keyboard and the damn thing being slower than you could imagine it was great.
Oh except for the edge connectors for the monitor connection that meant most people blew up their Enterprises.
Oh and the overheating problem, I never knew a heatsink that go so hot until pentium processors turned up.
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Saturday 11th August 2018 21:39 GMT Stuart Castle
Oh, they were. I actually think it made the British better coders. How hard they had to work just to get the computers to do what they wanted.
I think everyone who learns coding should learn it on an 8 bit micro. The lack of hardware power certainly forces you to code efficiently.
That's not say I hated my spectrum. On the contrary, I loved it.
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Friday 10th August 2018 20:03 GMT Ashley_Pomeroy
In Sinclair's defence, the original 16/48kb Spectrum was released in more-or-less finished form. I can't remember if it was on time, or not, and the key matrices tended to fail, but otherwise the original Spectrum was surprisingly polished for a Sinclair product. Presumably because there wasn't much to go wrong and the hardware was simple.
It was the later QL and Spectrum+ that had problems, the former because development was rushed - which meant that the machine was released unfinished, and much later than promised - and the latter because the keys used to fall off!
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Thursday 9th August 2018 10:41 GMT Dan 55
Why Sir Clive Sinclair’s corporate shareholder in RCL, Sinclair Research Ltd, has not intervened is a source of ongoing confusion
If SRL voted with Andrews and Smith to kick Levy & Co. out and take their place, that would mean they have to spend money winding RCL up and become responsible for the debt while trading insolvent and possibly whatever else Levy's done in everyone's absence.
I guess Clive couldn't be arsed with that.
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Thursday 9th August 2018 10:55 GMT ArrZarr
I tried writing a justification for why I thought 4/10 was too high, but the more I thought about it, the more I agreed - the software works on a basic level (because it was ripped off, most likely) so the primary issue is the crap case. Knock a point off for having to remap keys to get some games to work and you have 4/10.
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Thursday 9th August 2018 13:45 GMT Khaptain
Regardless of the score, it must be one of the most scathing reviews that I have read on El Reg. Even thought the device is crap, the review made me laugh, so at least it will end my otherwise boring day on a good note...
I agree that 4/10 appears to be a little over generous...
Crappy feedback on the buttons : he he.
Overall look : Ha ha ha ha ha.
Painted buttons : Hey guys come over and see this article, its a killer...
Thinking about those who invested in this : Rolls on floor, splutters, coughs, tears roll down cheeks and belly starts to ache...
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Thursday 9th August 2018 10:47 GMT andy gibson
Sir Clive's health
"Why Sir Clive Sinclair’s corporate shareholder in RCL, Sinclair Research Ltd, has not intervened is a source of ongoing confusion"
According to RCL:
"It is no secret that Sir Clive Sinclair has been in poor health for some considerable time. Over this extended period, the current board of Retro Computers Limited have sought to support him at every opportunity in both his professional and private life. Having shared a personal friendship with some of the current board spanning several decades. It is with much sadness that we announce that it has reached a point where Sir Clive no longer looks after his own day to day affairs, and as his advisors have pointed out he has not been "doing much directing lately"."
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Friday 10th August 2018 14:50 GMT I ain't Spartacus
Re: Sir Clive's health
Yes. The C5 electric motor could only go relatively slowly. If you wanted more speed, or if you hit a particularly steep hill, it also had pedals. I don't think it was actually powered by a washing machine motor, but I think it was a similar size/output.
They were actually terrifying. You'd have thought that something that low to the ground would be stable, but even cornering at a brisk walking pace had it leaning over. And because there was no wheel, but steering levers behind your seat - you were in a very unatural position and felt horribly unbalanced. Being so low and so off balance on a road with real cars must have been horrifying. I've only driven one round a carpark. You'd have to offer me serious money to dare take one on a road.
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Thursday 9th August 2018 12:58 GMT Anonymous Coward
Re: Sir Clive's health
That was so transparently a partisan smear attempt against a former ally wrapped up in false concern that it's laughable. You wonder whether we were supposed to believe it or whether it was intentional mockery.
You also wonder whether RCL are under the (mistaken) impression that they got away with that with their professionalism intact, or whether they just don't care any more.
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Thursday 9th August 2018 10:49 GMT BRYN
FUSE?
I thought it was common knowledge that it was using FUSE.
I wanted this to be a success and I was more than happy to have parted with good money to buy this once the device was released. I was so excited I nearly backed but a little voice at the back of my head said to hold off. I'm so glad I did.
I feel for the backers, who if they have received this have gotten a turd, and the ones that decided to hold off on the "blankety-blank" they look like they're not going to even get a turd.
I suspect this maybe the last nail in anything Sinclair and hardware related ever happening again.
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Thursday 9th August 2018 10:59 GMT Dan 55
Re: FUSE?
It was originally planned to custom firmware, this video, from eleven minutes onwards.
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Thursday 9th August 2018 10:59 GMT ItsMeDammit
Re: FUSE?
Indeed - I thought its use on the Vega+ was common knowledge as well. It came up in the comments section of the Indiegogo page some time past and I mentioned it here myself only a couple of days ago in another Vega+ thread.
To be fair, if they are reporting on it then El Reg probably has to confirm it for themselves. Other bugs not mentioned include the games on microSD card keymapping issue and the TV out not working. I am not sure what The Register's thoughts are on me cross-linking to the bug list that is widely available so I will just say that it's out there and makes for a worrying read if you find it. Many of the bugs have been known about for so long that sending out units like this should be an embarrassment for RCL.
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Biting the hand that feeds IT
