My first computer back in 1984 was the 48K version of the original Sinclair ZX Spectrum; one year later we sold it to my cousin and bought a Commodore 128 – but that’s for another post.

This Spectrum is the first model produced by Amstrad after buying the Sinclair brand. Here’s the usual exploded view of the computer:

The motherboard:

The keyboard layout is a bit unusual: I keep hitting the “break” button when I want to delete a character – I wonder why.

On the left side there are a reset button and two joystick ports; in a classic 80s move, the ports have a proprietary pinout, just to force the customer to buy a Sinclair branded joystick. Of course adapters were instantly produced to allow the use of the far more common Atari-type joysticks.

Ports on the back: 9V DC, expansion, RS232/MIDI, keypad, RF out and sound output.

Further reading: Wikipedia, World of Spectrum