Best looking 8bit computer?

[Mike]

But I think some of the ones depicted above might have been 16-bit ---- not sure if MSX survived into the 16-bit time period....

MSX-1, MSX-2 and MSX-2+ were 8-bit, using the Z80A. The Zilog R800 in the MSX turbo R (only produced by Panasonic) was downward compatible to the 'official' Z80 instruction set, and added two multiply instructions for 8 and 16 bit results.

[Bacon]

I haven't been here much in the last few months so I missed this poll until now. To me the original 1982 Sinclair Spectrum is the best looking 8-bit computer. Sadly, it's missing from the poll so I won't vote. Any chance of adding it?

[Jeff-20]

Really?!


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[Vic20-Ian]

Go on Jeff, savage the heretic

[Jeff-20]

Ian, I just wouldn't know where to begin.


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[Bacon]

Yes, really
Just take a look at this picture (from Wikipedia).

Remember, I'm only talking about looks here. The keyboard is horrible, the single-channel square wave sound ("beeper") comes out of a tiny speaker inside the case, Sinclair BASIC uses a very user-unfriendly system where you have to press the keys in different combinations to type the keywords, no full-screen editor, etc, etc.

[Mike]

[...]Sinclair BASIC uses a very user-unfriendly system where you have to press the keys in different combinations to type the keywords[...]

I suppose that's just a matter of habituation. At least, it saves on keystrokes, and all the commands and functions *are* printed on the keyboard for reference. And not to forget, the integrated syntax check made it impossible to enter lines with unmatched brackets, etc.

Some tools for VIC-20 and C=64 also put a selection of commands and functions on the keyboard for faster typing. Ctrl + L for LOAD, Ctrl + S for SAVE, etc. together with a few others on the f-keys. I suppose though these tools never really caught on, because there was no sufficient reason to establish a standard, and keyboard templates also probably were not everyone's cup of tea.

[orion70]

I remember me being impressed by Speccy friends, who were able to type listings in very quickly with improbable combinations of finger presses . In the very middle of the Spectrum vs. C-64 wars, this was considered a good point in favor of the former.

Design wise, I don't think the Spectrum is bad looking; only, a very different concept compared to the microcomputer design of early 80s (all-in-one beasts like the PET, CBM series, or other more exotic machines).

[English Invader]

My vote goes to the VIC, but only when it's been properly looked after. The VIC can be a real eyesore if yellowing is allowed to get a foothold.

Never seen an original Speccy in the flesh. I bought the later Amstrad +2a model because it has a proper keyboard, built-in tape deck and RGB output:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZX_Spectru ... _128-2.png

[Misfit]

Wait a minute, Salora is a Finnish computer? I remember the finnish Salora tv's sold in Sweden.

Salora Fellow was a clone of Laser 200/210. Cheap and small.


Later Salora released a new model "Salora Manager". It was a clone of Laser 2001.

This beast arrived today! It's so beautiful!

[joshuadenmark]

Thats a beauty, love at first sight.

[eslapion]

As posted by someone else, I too, felt the C16 was very nice looking... looked like a C64 with much nicer colors. That is, of course before I was completely underwhelmed by what it could actually do and the stupid complete incompatibility with joysticks, drives and datasette.

I also felt the C128 had a very nice look, a larger sized C64c. The case, even today, could probably fit a PC keyboard and small format i3 or i5 computer with a decent version of Windows.

But the best looking machine IMHO, is one not even mentioned here and it does come from Commodore. It is the PET 4032 which can be seen in many movies and often shown as a textbook example of what late 70s computers looked like.

Also, the PET 2001 did not come with the compact white keys and datasette upfront look for a very long time. Most units sold came with a standard keyboard and looked almost identical to the 4032 except for small differences in the key's colors.

[garry68]

Also ATARI 800XL for me. I would still have mine, but my brother "lost" it along with the disk drive decades ago, when I was away at college