Spectrum Next

[StarBegotten]

I am slightly surprised nobody has posted about the Spectrum Next?

The kickstarter launched yesterday but has already succeed in hitting its £250,000 funding goal.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/18 ... ctrum-next

The big plus here is that the hardware is already designed and up and running (as the KS video shows) and is 100% compatible with the original software and most of the hardware.

Folks involved are Victor Trucco, Jim Bagley, Henrique Olifiers and Rick Dickinson (he of the original ZX speccy design) so it seems (unlike the 'other' speccy projects) to be in good hands.

Thoughts?

[Misfit]

It looks very impressive and a much better put together project than the infamous Vega+ project that rumbles on. The Vega raised a lot of cash whilst giving no useful information, and so far no useful product, so it's not surprising this is doing so well. It does seem like there is quite an appetite for Spectrum stuff.

Does nothing for me though, as I went the Vic 20/BBC Micro route and £185 to £225 delivered seems a lot for a Spectrum however cool it is. (I do understand why prices are high due to relatively low potential sales and the price of new production.)

[Firefox]

I'm a lot more sanguine about this one than the Vega+: They started from having fully working electronics, then worked out how to turn it into a product. A lot more reassuring than having a render (or a plastic mock-up, in the case of that C64 one) and getting all hand-wavey about what's actually going to be inside.

I see there's an option to buy the board on its own for £99, which is kind of tempting for something to have a mess about with.

(I've just noticed a mistake in the renderings: the zero key has a second right parenthesis on it instead of an underline.)

[Barney]

I'd be happy with just the case tbh, and a Pi3 bunged inside.

[gravy]

An average SoC stuck in a spectrum like case running an emulator?

Wouldn't RCL sue for copyright infringement?

[Barney]

An average SoC stuck in a spectrum like case running an emulator?

Wouldn't RCL sue for copyright infringement?

HA! That made me giggle. Yeah, they might...

Pi3 is what, more than triple the power of the SOC in the Vega and multi-core to boot. From an emulation POV it's pretty handy, but I was thinking more of having a dedicated SpecBAS machine. I'd love that.

[gravy]

I ordered the board without the case on the assumption I'll be able to fuck around with FPGA

[Kelloggs]

For someone (such as myself) who might be interested in getting one (probably the expensive one - in for a penny...) is there any means by which one may be able to place a pre-order at this time? I've looked around the website, quite extensively, drooling over the technical bits, and (unsurprisingly) the Shop section says "Out Of Stock" on everything... but, blow me, I can't find anything that says either "Pre-Order Now!" or "Pre-Orders Now Closed" or "Taking Orders Again In February 2018" or even "No More Will Ever Be Made - You Can't Have One" or... well, anything, really.

Anyone any ideas? (I yearn for a curvy Speccy with better sound...)

[Firefox]

Here's a rather nice hand-held that somebody's done based on the Spectrum Next (but using their own PCBs):



Here's the original project page:
https://www.dorchester3d.com/printing/b ... t-handheld

A slightly smaller version (3.5" screen instead of 5"):
https://www.dorchester3d.com/printing/b ... t-handheld

Very impressive stuff! I'd really like one of those because it's self-contained, rather than something you have to plug into a monitor and speakers.

[Space Cowboy]

I ordered the board without the case on the assumption I'll be able to fuck around with FPGA

So did you get the board and have you managed to do anything with it?

I'm an Accelerated Next backer so I'm hoping to get the email this week to let me know mine is on the way - but I've been following the ZX Spectrum Next group on Facebook, a lot of people have got theirs already (the normal and plus variants) and while there have been a few minor issues it seems, in general, people are really happy with it. I'm certainly looking forward to getting mine and getting to grips with Z80 asm - something I never managed to do 'back in the day', and hopefully there'll be a nice community around the Next going forward (seems to be one already).

[Loada]

Got my Plus last week. Really quite impressed how well it's turned out - I had a 48k+ back in the day and it feels very similar!

[Space Cowboy]

Still waiting here. Sigh. I think some accelerated Nexts have been delivered but still waiting for the email here. (Quickly goes and checks ... nope, still nothing.)

[Kelloggs]

Just a heads-up - the Second Kickstarter kicked off at 9pm last night, should anyone want to order one (like I did).

I am pleased to note that it hit its goal within minutes.

[Kelloggs]

And, having hit its goal within minutes and gone on to quite heady heights - eighteen months ago, now, mind - latest news is that it'll be another at least 12, probably longer (56 weeks, give or take).

Damn this pandemic. Damn it all to hell. Well, at least it'll be shiny when it arrives...