page_title: ZX Spectrum
section_title: Official clones
hierarchical_section_title: ZX Spectrum / Clones and Recreations / Official clones
caption_attribution_description: English: Picture of Didaktik M, clone of computer ZX Spectrum, produced in Czechoslovakia since 1990. The photo was taken by the author at computer fair Invex, Brno 2005. Čeština: Didaktik M, klon počítače ZX Spectrum, vyráběný v Československu od roku 1990. Počítač vyfotografoval autor na výstavě Invex v Brně v roce 2005. Español: Didaktik M (clon del ZX Spectrum) fotografiado en la Invex 2005
context_page_description: The ZX Spectrum is an 8-bit personal home computer released in the United Kingdom in 1982 by Sinclair Research.
  Referred to during development as the ZX81 Colour and ZX82, it was launched as the ZX Spectrum by Sinclair to highlight the machine's colour display, compared with the black and white display of its predecessor, the ZX81. The Spectrum was released as eight different models, ranging from the entry level with 16 KB RAM released in 1982 to the ZX Spectrum +3 with 128 KB RAM and built in floppy disk drive in 1987; together they sold over 5 million units worldwide.
  The Spectrum was among the first mainstream-audience home computers in the UK, similar in significance to the Commodore 64 in the US. The introduction of the ZX Spectrum led to a boom in companies producing software and hardware for the machine, the effects of which are still seen. Some credit it as the machine which launched the UK IT industry. Licensing deals and clones followed, and earned Clive Sinclair a knighthood for services to British industry.
  The Commodore 64, Dragon 32, Oric-1, Oric Atmos, BBC Micro and later the Amstrad CPC range were rivals to the Spectrum in the UK market during the early 1980s.
context_section_description: Sinclair licensed the Spectrum design to Timex Corporation in the United States. An enhanced version with better sound, graphics and other modifications was marketed in the US by Timex as the Timex Sinclair 2068. Timex's derivatives were largely incompatible with Sinclair systems. Some of the Timex innovations were later adopted by Sinclair Research. A case in point was the abortive Pandora portable Spectrum, whose ULA had the high resolution video mode pioneered in the TS2068. Pandora had a flat-screen monitor and Microdrives and was intended to be Sinclair's business portable. After Amstrad bought the computer business of Sinclair Research, Sir Clive retained the rights to the Pandora project, and it evolved into the Cambridge Computer Z88, launched in 1987.
  Starting in 1984, Timex of Portugal developed and produced several Timex branded computers, including the Timex Computer 2048, highly compatible with the Sinclair ZX Spectrum 48K, which was very successful in both Portugal and Poland. An NTSC version was also made, initially intended for a United States release, but it was sold only in Chile, Ecuador and Argentina. Timex of Portugal also made a PAL version of the TS2068, called the Timex Computer 2068 (or TC2068 for short) which had different buffers for both the ULA and the CPU, which significantly increased the compatibility with ZX Spectrum software when compared to the North American model (the TS2068). The expansion port was also modified and made to be 100% compatible with the ZX Spectrum's, which bypassed the need for a "Twister Board" expansion that the TS2068 needed to make it compatible with ZX Spectrum expansion hardware. It also had the AY sound output routed to the monitor/TV speakers instead of the internal twitter. The software developed for the TC2068 is completely compatible with the TS2068, since the ROMs weren't altered. Timex of Portugal also developed a ZX Spectrum "emulator" on cartridge form that mapped the first 16 KB exactly like the earlier TC2048 computer did. Several other upgrades were made available, including a BASIC64 cartridge that enabled the TC2068 to use high resolution (512x192) modes. Despite having an AY-3-8912 sound chip, it's not connected in the same ports as in the ZX Spectrum 128K, rendering the TC2084 incompatible with the AY sound that the Spectrum 128K games produced. Due to all its advantages compared to the usual TS2068, a North American company, Zebra Systems, licensed the Timex TC2068 and sold it in the United States as the Zebra Silver Avenger. They also sold the FDD 3000 as the Zebra FDD 3000 in a silver case (as opposed to the European black cases) to match their colour scheme. Timex of Portugal was working on a successor to the TC2068 called the TC3256, using a Z80A CPU and featuring 256 KB of RAM, which would feature a ZX Spectrum BASIC operating mode and a CP/M operating mode, but the company pulled the plug on its development as the 8-bit market was no longer profitable by the end of 1989. Only one complete and fully working prototype of the TC3256 was made.
  In India, Decibells Electronics introduced a licensed version of the Spectrum+ in 1986. Dubbed the "db Spectrum+", it did reasonably well in the Indian market and sold many units until 1990, when the market died away.
caption: Didaktik M
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