PICOZX81 - a ZX81 emulator for Raspberry Pi Pico

Author	Message
Grogster Admin Group Joined: 31/12/2012 Location: New Zealand Posts: 9897	Posted: 05:01am 17 Dec 2024       Does the emulator emulate the 16K RAM-pack? I would expect so. The ZX81 with 1K of RAM, was, basically, useless. The 16K RAM expansion pack was touchy as hell - BREATH near it, and it would cause an intermittent connection, totally crashing the machine. We used to call the ZX81 "The door-stop", cos that was about as useful as it got! I won't go into the HELL that was using a standard audio cassette recorder to attempt to save or load programs.... Despite those issues, it was remarkably popular, even though with just the base 1K of RAM, it was almost dumber then a dumb terminal.   I expect the machine would have been MUCH more usable, had Clive allowed 16K of on-board RAM, but Clive was well known to squeeze every penny - to the extent that the PCB for the ZX81, had no soldermask, only a solder-wave coating!  Saves a few cents per unit!     Holly on Red Dwarf said   I was in love once.  A Sinclair ZX81.  But no, Holly, they said, she's not for you.  She's slow, she's stupid, and she wouldn't load.  Well, not for me, anyway