TECZX8100 Keyboard

Personal Computer News

Ian Scales

FINISHING TOUCH FOR YOUR ZX81 Upgrading your Sinclair can start at the keyboard. Ian Scales gets the feel of TEC's ZX8100. MACHINE: TEC ZX8100 full-travel keyboard PRICE: £39.50 plus p&p and six-month guarantee. INTERFACE: ZX81 CONTACT: Telford Electronics & Computing, [redacted]. Many of the motives which compel car enthusiasts to customise can be attributed to micro enthusiasts. With a micro, though, you not only have the satisfaction of configuring a unique system but can also tailor one to fit your needs - the extra costly bits being added if and when they are needed. The ubiquitous ZX81 is a prime candidate for the add-on approach. One of its attractions is its expansion potential - it's cheap because most of the normal bits and pieces found on its larger brothers have been left off and it's up to you to add-on as required. A popular place to start is the keyboard. The TEC ZX8100 is a Fuller keyboard with a 1K ZX81 clipped into it, available from Telford Electronics & Computing, which provides a sales and service operation to ZX81 owners. You simply send off the ZX and Telford fits the board into the case. The case weighs about 3lb once the ZX81 is inside it, and measures 13.5 x 7.5in and averages about 2.5in deep. The power supply and a 16K RAMpack can also be fitted into the ZX8100's casing. Unfortunately many of the things which could be included on a full-travel keyboard have been left out of the ZX8100. Instead of taking the opportunity to put on a space bar, for instance, TEC has simply replicated the standard ZX81 layout with a couple of additions. An extra shift key has been included at the top right and a Repeat key on the left. A reset button and an inverse video switch are also featured. On the negative side, the black plastic injection-moulded case looks a bit scruffy, especially around the mic, ear, power and TV sockets. There is plenty of room in the plastic cavity - in fact the tiny little ZX81 board with its four lonely chips looks rather comical. As far as enhancing the ZX81 is concerned, the Fuller keyboard does the job well without being particularly classy about it. The feel of the keys is an improvement over the lift-button feel of the ZX81 and it does enable you to move along at a faster pace. But if you are, or plan to become, a touch-typist you would be well advised to look elsewhere. The fact that there is no space bar would make things difficult - even if you did learn to touch-type on the ZX8100 you would find it difficult to adapt to the space bar on any other keyboard you encountered. To those whose first encounter with a keyboard of any type was courtesy of Sinclair Research, the unit will be a big help. Quite apart from anything else, its larger size and weight make it less prone to slide about when you're busy trying to enter keystrokes. And, of course, its keys are finger-sized - you have a good chance of hitting the right one. Fuller itself also supplies the keyboard, a built-up version for the ZX81 minus the special TEC switches. A standard case for the ZX81 cost £29.95 plus £2.50 for postage, and it can be bought in kit for £24.95. Fuller also offers a similar unit for the Spectrum at the same price and a range of its own RAM upgrades. A 16K RAM card for the ZX81 is available at £24.95 while a 64K card costs £59.95.

Below - The TEC ZX8100 says 'Ahhh': tons of room for extra RAM, though the finish is not all it could be.

Fuller's ZX keyboard adapted by TEC with extra switches.

Left - Full-travel keyboard takes the hit or miss out of the ZX81 but retains its layout.

PUSH-BUTTON PAD - The less ambitious might be interested in a push-button keyboard for the ZX81. It sticks down on the Sinclair and upgrades the touch-sensitive keypad to a calculator-type keyboard. The keys themselves are spring-loaded against a plastic grid. I don't know how many key depressions it will stand but I suspect the laws of plastic fatigue may come into play before the magic million mark. However, PCN's Databasics editor swears by its capabilities. It doesn't actually make the keys any easier to find but at least the user gets some tactile feedback. The push-button keyboard costs £10 and is available from Fox Electronics, 0256 20671. IS