Custom PC - UK (2020-07)

GARETH HALFACREE’S

Hobby tech

The latest tips, tricks and news in the world of computer hobbyism,

from Raspberry Pi, Arduino, and Android to retro computing

T

o saytheZXSpectrumNexthasbeen

a longtimecomingwouldn’tbean

understatement.Theinitialboard-

onlydesignofthereimagined8-bit

microcomputerwasreviewedwaybackin

Issue176,withtheexpectationthatthefully

cased,retail-boxedversionwouldbeswiftto

follow.Anoptimisticdeliverydeadlineof

January 2018 cameandwent.Now,the

hardwareis finallyreachingbackers– and

it’sfairtosayit’sbeenworththewait.

BasedonhardwarefromTBBlueandhoused

ina SinclairZXSpectrum+3-inspiredhousing,

whichwouldprovetobethelastworkofnoted

industrialdesignerRickDickinson,

theZXSpectrumNextisn’tanARM-

poweredemulator;it’sa fullyfunctional

microcomputerpoweredbya Xilinx

Spartan-6field-programmablegate

array(FPGA).TheFPGA,whicharrives

runninga soft-coreimplementationof

theZ80,is clockablefromitsoriginal

3.5MHztoa speedy28MHz.

Thechassisalsohouses1MBofstatic

RAM(SRAM)expandableto2MB,andanedge-

connectorcompatiblewithoriginalSpectrum

hardware.Meanwhile,portsfora Wi-Fimodule

andreal-timeclockarepopulatedonthePlus

and Accelerated models, and there’s a 40-pin

header for a Raspberry Pi Zero coprocessor,

which is only populated on the top-end

Accelerated version.

Booting the ZX Spectrum Next from the

bundled 1GB microSD card loads a setup screen

for the video output on the HDMI and VGA/RGB

ports, then a multi-page getting started guide

for the NextZXOS operating system. This is

designed to get you up and running as quickly

as possible, and there’s also a bundled 342-

page spiral-bound manual, which doubles as a

reference guide to both Sinclair BASIC and the

new features of the ZX Spectrum Next itself.

REVIEW

ZX Spectrum

Next Accelerated

CUSTOMISATION / HOBBY TECH

The chassis and keyboard

are based on a design

by Rick Dickinson,

responsible for many

of Sinclair’s products

It’s taken a couple

of years more than

planned, but the

ZX Spectrum Next

is finally here

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