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Genuinely surprised to read that. Ours was used heavily by three of us for programming, word processing and games from '84 to around '92, and after that just f

Genuinely surprised to read that. Ours was used heavily by three of us for programming, word processing and games from '84 to around '92, and after that just for daily games till the late 90s. Since the late 90s, I just switch it on fortnightly, play an old game for a couple of hours just for the feels, and pack it back. In all this time, I have never had any problem whatsoever. I expected at the very least a few blown caps but nope - starts right up like it's still '84. It has never undergone any repair. The original cassette player and CRT TV went bad but the Spectrum itself is fine. I had assumed from my personal experience that its reliability was a common experience, but just got lucky I guess.

bartread 8y ago
Sad to say, but I think you did... although I'm pleased that it still works and you still get enjoyment out of it. They were notoriously unreliable. My mum had a full-on meltdown in Currys over it in 1988, and she's not a meltdown kind of person. My best friend also had one, which also used to go wrong regularly. This is all anecdata, of course. Still, both the manager of the local Currys (Dorchester), and the owner of the nearest proper computer store - Compute-A-Tape[1] in Weymouth - both said at the time they had nothing but trouble with the Spectrum.. Maybe something to do with the Dorset air but as much as I loved my Spectrum it caused me endless grief. [1] A trip here was a rare treat, although sadly the place closed down sometime in the 90s.