ZX Spectrum 128

ZX Spectrum 128 tech specs

Released: 1985 (Spain), 1986 (UK)
Company: Sinclair
Type: Home computer
RAM: 128 KB
Storage: Cassette tape (bring your own tape recorder), Microdrive (optional)
Display: 32×24 character / 256×192 pixel / 15 colour via CRT TV set

The ZX Spectrum 128 was a significantly overhauled version of the ZX Spectrum.

In addition to its titular 128 KB of RAM and more sensible QL-style keyboard, it featured better sound, and added ports for RGB video, RS-232, and MIDI out (but not in). Alas, the latter didn't use the standard DIN socket, and according to popular magazine Crash, it didn't come with the adapter lead it was supposed to — the firm apparently tasked with making them, it turned out, hadn't even heard of MIDI.^[1]

In Spain, it came with an external number pad. In the UK, that was an optional extra.

Accessories

Beta 128 Disk Interface

As with the original Spectrum, Technology Research made a peripheral that added a disk drive port, the Beta 128 Disk Interface.

Also as with the original one, it was relatively obscure in the UK. In the Soviet Union, however, it was widely cloned as a standard fixture of the computer itself.