Printer
“Extremely low cost.” That’s the answer I got when I asked Nigel Searle about the forthcoming Sinclair printer. Relentlessly, I pressed for more.
It is a line-at-a-time printer and only prints a line when the user hits NEWLINE. “Seems awkward,” said I. “Extremely low cost,” said Nigel.
It has a 32-character line, the same as the display. “That means non-standard paper,” said I. “Extremely low cost,” said Nigel.
The printer uses a dot matrix and prints the complete ZX80 graphics character set. “Very nice,” said I. “Yes,” agreed Nigel.
Flat Screen Display
When I interviewed Clive Sinclair last fall, he indicated that the major research program at that point was flat screen television. Nigel Searle informs us that working prototypes have been produced and that a factory is now being built to produce the units. Production units are expected by December 1981.
The CRT measures 3 inches across the diagonal. Sinclair is currently considering a projection device to increase the effective picture size to 5 inches. The CRT tube is an astonishing 3/8″ thick.
A standard, but miniature, projection gun shoots the beam parallel to the surface of the screen and it is then bent. The principal itself is not new, however, this is the first time it has been successfully executed.
Clive Sinclair was emphatic that the company would not introduce anything that was not price competitive with existing technology. However, he would not elaborate on the price of the flat screen TV in September when we talked. Now, with four months of additional experience with the unit, Nigel tells us that the original retail target price was $125 or £50. This was for a broadcast TV receiver. (Existing conventional 3″ units now on the market carry retail prices of $200 and up.) However, more good news. It appears by employing a highly automated production line, the original target price can be beaten down some 40% to $75 or £30.
Sinclair Withdraws 8K Basic ROM
We read with interest in Computer Weekly that Clive Sinclair has withdrawn the 8K Basic ROM chip for the ZX-80 until the first quarter of 1981. This occurred only a month after it was announced to the world (September 11, 1980). He denies rumors that software bugs are the cause and blames the delay instead on the incorporation of extra functions.
The 8K ROM chip is supposed to directly replace the original 4K ROM even though there is no upward compatability between the two slightly different Basics. When it eventually appears, the 8K ROM will enable the ZX-80 to work in floating point arithmetic to 9-digit accuracy.
The extra functions now being incorporated in the chip mainly consist of a printer driver. The printer is planned for introduction in the first half of 1981.
In explaining the product announcement and subsequent withdrawl, Sinclair stated, “We were caught out. We wanted to bring out the 8K as soon as possible, but on the other hand we did not want to be severely critisized at a later stage when we would have to bring out another version.”
8K Basic ROM
Originally announced in September 1980 and then withdrawn, the 8K Basic will probably be out by the time this is printed.
The new one differs from the original in that it incorporates a printer driver routine and one other new feature about which Sinclair is being quite secretive. Some minor functions were cut out of the first version to make way for these two new features.
Sinclair either doesn’t know or isn’t saying whether the 8K Basic will work in the MicroAce. Apparently there is no love lost between the two companies even though they have a rather close business licensing arrangement. Reputable sources tell us that, indeed, the 8K ROM will work in the MicroAce.