---
title: "The Switch to Disk"
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published_at: "2026-02-18T21:38:56+00:00"
modified_at: "2026-02-18T21:38:56+00:00"
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excerpt: "I originally bought the Sinclair QL computer in order to get a machine that had \"real computer\" features at a price I felt I could not refuse. This was in 1987 when IBM compats were selling for $2,000 or more and the market was saturated with game playing computers, such as the C-64 and various…"
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  - name: "Gary Norton"
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pages: "4, 6"
pubdate: "September/October 1990"
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---

# The Switch to Disk

I originally bought the Sinclair QL computer in order to get a machine that had “real computer” features at a price I felt I could not refuse.

This was in 1987 when IBM compats were selling for $2,000 or more and the market was saturated with game playing computers, such as the C-64 and various Atari models. For a mere $100 I could get a fairly powerful, real computer, with free software to boot!