Sinclair ZX81

A Sinclair ZX81.

The Sinclair ZX81 is an 8-bit home computer produced by Sinclair Research, manufactured by Timex, and first sold in the UK in March 1981. It is the successor to the Sinclair ZX80 and was followed up by the ZX Spectrum. Timex later produced its own version called the Sinclair 1000 and Sinclair 1500. The computer was designed with simplicity and affordability in mind, so it lacks such frills as graphics, color, or sound and could even be purchased as a kit computer at a discounter price. The computer runs on an NEC Z80A CPU clocked at 3.25 MHz. It produces a PAL signal with composite output and uses a custom ZX81 character set with a 32x24 resolution. The computer boots into Sinclair BASIC and its built-in membrane keyboard has all the BASIC commands as alternate functions. Software can be loaded from a ROM cartridge, through a cassette recorder.

Personal

Although I made an effort to learn about various computers, I hadn't heard about the Sinclair ZX81 until I was around 40 years old and saw a video by The 8-Bit Guy where he reviewed the computer. After seeing how limited the computer was, I understood why it flew under my radar for so long. Afterward, I tried to use some of the software for it, but found it to be quite dull.

Games

Although the computer could technically run arbitrary software, it was primarily used for games, of which around 250 titles were released when the platform was still popular.

See all ZX81 Games.