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The Timex Sinclair 1000 (TS1000)"Computer 1982"

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All items139613 of 24199946 gr. TUBO GAS/GAS PIPE Gold BRACELET(18K) Old Bible, needing info
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    Posted 9 years ago

    Alan2310
    (915 items)

    Hi
    Everyone.
    This is one of my first computer i use as a teenager, my father buy this as a Christmas present.
    I have the main CPU, with a huge 2K memory(2028 Kylo Octet) few week later i buy me the expansion memory module (16K)additional.
    6"1/2 by 6"3/4, very thin 1"3/8, the module was 3" by 3" by 1"1/2, you insert on the back of the unit and reboot it.
    It's became very useless after few years, and ask my father to but me another one with more gaming feature, and later buy me a TRS 80 By Tandy Corporation(RadioShack)post later today.

    Thanks for Viewing
    Alan

    The Timex Sinclair 1000 (TS1000) was the first computer produced by Timex Sinclair, a joint-venture between Timex Corporation and Sinclair Research. It was launched in July 1982.

    The TS1000 was a slightly-modified Sinclair ZX81 with an NTSC RF modulator instead of a UK PAL (Units sold in Portugal have a PAL RF modulator) device and the onboard RAM doubled to 2K. The TS1000's casing had slightly more internal shielding but remained the same as Sinclair's, including the membrane keyboard. It had black-and-white graphics and no sound. It was followed by an improved version, the Timex Sinclair 1500.

    Like the Sinclair ZX81, the TS1000 used a form of BASIC as its primary interface and programming language. To make the membrane keyboard less cumbersome for program entry, the TS1000 used a shortcut system of one-letter "keywords" for most commands (e.g. pressing "P" while the cursor was in "keyword mode" would generate the keyword "PRINT"). Some keywords required a short sequence of keystrokes (e.g. SHIFT-ENTER S would generate the keyword "LPRINT"). The TS1000 clued the user in on what to expect by changing the cursor to reflect the current input mode.

    The TS1000 sold for $99.95 in the US when it debuted, making it the cheapest home computer to date at the time of its launch (its advertising angle was "the first computer under $100".) This pricing initiated a price war with Commodore International, who quickly reduced the price of its VIC-20 to match and later announced a trade-in program offering $100 for any competing computer toward the purchase of a Commodore 64. Since the TS1000 was selling for $49 by this time, many customers bought them for the sole purpose of trading it in to Commodore.

    The black-and-white display showed 32 columns and 24 lines, 22 of which were normally accessible for display, with 2 reserved for data entry and error messages. The limited graphics were based on geometric shapes contained within the operating system's non-ASCII character set. The only form of long-term storage was a home tape cassette recorder. The 16K memory expansion sold for $49.95. A shortage of the memory expansions coupled with a lack of software that would run within 2K meant that the system had little use for anything other than an introduction to programming. Home computer magazines of the era such as Compute! showed enthusiasts how to interface the computer with various kinds of equipment, providing the opportunity for learning about early speech synthesis technology through a Speak & Spell, robotics control through the memory port, and scrolling text displays for advertising.

    Over time, the TS1000 spawned a cottage industry of third-party add-ons designed to help remedy its limitations. Full-size keyboards, speech synthesizers, sound generators, disk drives, and memory expansions (up to 64K) were a few of the options available. Languages such as Forth and Pascal, as well as BASIC compilers and assemblers augmented the TS1000's programming possibilities. Microcomputing magazine published an article in April 1983 decrying the membrane keyboard ("The designers of the Timex-Sinclair 1000 ... reduced this important programming tool to a fraction of the required size") and describing how to wire up external full-size keyboards.

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    Comments

    1. Digitali5, 9 years ago
      Good history and I love this item....D
    2. racer4four racer4four, 9 years ago
      Wow Alan. I bet few people have their first computer - it's amazing really and a great piece of history.
      I worked in a large office in the early 80s and our first office mainframe had an enormous HDD stack that stored 40mb!
    3. Alan2310 Alan2310, 9 years ago
      Hi
      racer4four
      Many thanks for the love and comment
      Yes, computer as go crazy for the 25 years
      I have one hard drive like that to post later.
      I wish you will love it
      Regards
      Alan
    4. glassmadshaz glassmadshaz, 9 years ago
      oh my goodness i have a zx81 in my shed in the box it was bought as an xmas pressie from my grandad i spent many hours on it and remember the very square graphics that blocky i couldn't see the dinosaur coming as it looked like the wall lol brings back memories :)
    5. glassmadshaz glassmadshaz, 9 years ago
      never thought will have to put a photo up for you all :)
    6. Alan2310 Alan2310, 9 years ago
      Many thanks for the love, and nice comment, i do appreciated.
      glassmadshaz
      CindB
      Regards

      Alan

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