ZX Spectrum rides again, with Z80 and optional Raspberry Pi Zero
- Author:Ella Cai
- Release on:2017-05-02
ZX Spectrum Next is a crowd-funded project to bring back the original in a form that will run the original games because it has a Z80 processor at its heart.
“The Spectrum Next is fully implemented with FPGA technology, ensuring it can be upgraded and enhanced while remaining truly compatible with the original hardware by using special memory chips and clever design,” said the organisation behind it, which includes Rick Dickinson who was part of the ZX80, Z81, ZX Spectrum, Plus and QL design teams, and Jim Bagley, who apparently holds a world record for squeezing Dragons Lair into a ZX81.
ZX Spectrum NextUnlike the original, it has an HDMI output alongside RGB, VGA and audio.
And if the Z80 is not providing enough through-put, a Raspberry Pi zero can be clipped inside to add more umph.
At a glance:
Z80 normal and turbo modes
512kbyte RAM up to 2.5Mbyte
SD Card slot with DivMMC-compatible protocol
DB9 compatible joystick port
PS/2 port for mouse with Kempston mode emulation or external keyboard
Mic and Ear ports for tape loading and saving
Proper keyboard
Original external bus expansion port and accelerator expansion port
Port for Wi-Fi module
Real-time clock
Optional Raspberry Pi Zero as a slave accelerator board (GPU + 1Ghz CPU + 512Mbyte RAM + USB + second monitor)
Anti-brick feature for bad updates
“The Spectrum Next is fully implemented with FPGA technology, ensuring it can be upgraded and enhanced while remaining truly compatible with the original hardware by using special memory chips and clever design,” said the organisation behind it, which includes Rick Dickinson who was part of the ZX80, Z81, ZX Spectrum, Plus and QL design teams, and Jim Bagley, who apparently holds a world record for squeezing Dragons Lair into a ZX81.
ZX Spectrum NextUnlike the original, it has an HDMI output alongside RGB, VGA and audio.
And if the Z80 is not providing enough through-put, a Raspberry Pi zero can be clipped inside to add more umph.
At a glance:
Z80 normal and turbo modes
512kbyte RAM up to 2.5Mbyte
SD Card slot with DivMMC-compatible protocol
DB9 compatible joystick port
PS/2 port for mouse with Kempston mode emulation or external keyboard
Mic and Ear ports for tape loading and saving
Proper keyboard
Original external bus expansion port and accelerator expansion port
Port for Wi-Fi module
Real-time clock
Optional Raspberry Pi Zero as a slave accelerator board (GPU + 1Ghz CPU + 512Mbyte RAM + USB + second monitor)
Anti-brick feature for bad updates
