Re: zx80
I owned sinclair computers and that is precisely how I could afford my first computer. But the quality was incredibly poor. I was only 14 at the time and I was really upset at having to wait 3 or 4 months for the sodding zx81 to arrive, and then even more upset when it didn't work due to overheating. And then when I got the rampack, I began to see a pattern in quality control insofar as it had to remain absolutely still or the machine would crash. These things certainly taught me a lot. It taught me about sharp business practices, selling shit that didn't work right.
Later, when I had saved up enough for a sinclair QL, the quality hadn't improved much. It was advertised for sale before it had been designed! I bought one of the later "JS ROM" versions, which was a lot better, but the microdrives were a nightmare.
One thing that can be said about sinclair was that the software was on the whole good, and the manuals were excellent.
Then I got into PCs and found that the hardware was good but it was the software that was not so reliable.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
