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hope to play it on emulators one day

nice vid! thx what kind of raspberry do you use? and what is the name of the wifi module? many thanks

Absolutely brilliant video. I was like you up until a few years ago, focused on the mid-70s to the late-80s in hardware. But if you do that you ignore the fact that Jobs returned to Apple… and the iMac happened. I am in my mid-50s and I have always hated the iMac. Until I got one. And wow, wow, wow. In really life, it’s amazing, which inspired me to look at the lampshade Mac, and the trash can Mac, etc. etc. the portables were even better, with the amazing iBook introducing Wi-Fi. So in short, when the PC entered the dark ages of beige everything, I could kick myself that I laughed at Apple and ignored them, when now I marvel at what was going on during that period, after Jobs rejoined. But it didn’t last long. Now all Macs look the same. Honestly, get an iMac in Bondi Blue and then ask yourself if your interest really stops in 1992. :-) Loving your work.

I'm an old Speccy guy and an old Amiga guy. When I was saving my first computer I rejected the VIC-20 as the graphics were too chunky. The C64 wasn't out yet and I couldn't afford it anyway. I wanted something I could keep programming like I had learned on friends' Apple II and TRS-80 machines, which both had decent BASIC. On the C64 as soon as I saw the proper way to clear the screen was to print an inverse heart instead of a command like CLS I rejected it as a proper programming computer. I didn't care about hardware sprites. In the early '90s I moved cities and ended up with a bunch of Amiga friends and we had come from all different 8-bit backgrounds, Speccy, C64, and Amstrad CPC. When I was saving for my Amiga 1000 I checked out the Atari ST as well but I wanted more graphics capabilities than musical abilities. These days I appreciate that Amiga had a real though flawed OS which I don't think the Atari really did. I never saw any Acorn machines back then, being in Australia, but these days I find those early ARM machines really interesting and RiscOS also looked like a real OS comparable to the Amiga's.

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HI, is there any way for you to upload all the DAW music you've done? That would be really great, thanks!

Out of the three you showed I have the A1200 two of them both upgraded alot. As weli as my Spectrum Next Ks2. I have had a go with the Acorn in emulation.

My KS1 Next is still mint, the keyboard is as good as new and looks/feels great still

My Thinkpad has the legend layer. It looks fine and has been hardwearing.

How about flat keys with the bowl being clear and stuck on top? Too much optical distortion?

Great explanation Mike.

Not sure what you are proposing: backers would be able to buy a new keyboard to replace a faded one? Or are you thinking for future manufacturing runs? I would like to know if there is a way to clean the existing keyboard that might help restore the whiteness.

I thought the white lettering was printed on. If not then it should be safe to clean with IPA. That is, if theres no risk rubbing letters off.

I prefer the look of the legend fill if it is actually effective in protecting the keys from finger oil and dirt accumulation. Having said that, as a programmer and a touch typist I would never use the built in keyboard for game development due to the awkward key layout for common symbols and lack of finger placement locator bumps on the F and J keys. Is there a reason they were not implemented? It is a huge oversight for touch typists considering how much effort was put into developing a quality keyboard suited mainly for non touch typists and the fact that the Next allows typing out the keywords.

Glossy surface looks more cheaper, just make matte small shagreen

Leave it as-is. The UV layer is really not necessary for most users. External keyboards can also be used of course. From the description of the fading issue, proper cleaning methods should be advised to get the grease and dirt from the bubbles.

Great video Mike! I've just written a detailed article for the next mag on keyboard cleanliness so I'll definitely be adding this video as a link. Totally fascinating! Personally I dont like either solution. The full UV cover makes the keyboard look like it's received a bad spray lacquer paint job and in contrast to the case (imo) makes it look like a cheap finish. I also have reservations on it's durability long term. The smaller detailing in just the letters is better but for me (as a professional model maker) it looks like the old letraset you used to get and as someone who's looking at making a custom keyboard for my ngo (for which I've actually had made a custom transfer sheet of letters made which need Matt lacquer protected once applied) it still doesn't look right. Id again question the durability (and once noticed if it did start to fade would that cause just as many concerns). The technique used to apply the character set to the next keyboard is a fabulous process binding them at the molecular level so they can't come off or fade unless you have sandpaper for hands. After extensive testing on my own next keyboards and ngo keyboards I simply found warm soapy water on a damp cloth cleans most stains or a solution of 99% ipa and a cotton bud gently applied removes all dirt and fully restored the keys on my grubby keyboard to new. The only thing you cannot restore is wear and shiny spots that are made by constant use. The matt bowl finish will over time and use go shiny on commonly used keys and there's nothing you can do about that. Unless you use a ps2 keyboard or wear gloves.

Thank you for this video. I'm not a heavy user of my Next and both my KS1 and KS2 look fine to me. I'm sure heavy coders will have a different thought. The UV layer in the bowl sounds like a decent approach. Appreciate the lighting you've used to show how this appears, though it would be good to see how it looks under "normal" lighting, since most users may well use the keyboard in that kind of environment. Coating just the legends themself kind of feels a little cheaper looking, as they start to look at stickers dropped on the key. Again, a video without the spot might be useful. If I were to vote, I'd vote the first option, for the main reason of a consistent look once you do get a reflection of light. Or maybe the second, because I do like the feel of the keys. Sorry, I'm not helping :D Due to my personal lighter keyboard usage, If I were to pick one thing about the keyboard, it would be the centering of the legends. I have a small handfull of keys that have legends a little off centre, and that bothers me more.

Legend fill would get my vote. Microsoft Sculpt keyboards use this and they're glossy black too. The bowl fill does look like stickers.

For those who tries to do it at home: be careful to assemble the butterfly correctly! I could be assembled in couple of variants and only the one is reliable! I've spent an hour figuring out why I can't install it.

Great vid! BTW You are right your eyes won't get any better. After the age of 40 your reading ability starts to decline. Just go to a chemist and try various cheap reading glasses until you find a pair that matches your focus. Should be under £5. Mine were £2. No need at all to get expensive prescription glasses.

This is a useful and very well done program! Kudos to the author!

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I saw this unit on Terminator 2 when I was a kid and around the time I had my Atari ST. I always thouhgt it was a oneoff made device used for the film and it never existed in real life. I've just ordered my own Atari Portfolio from eBay!

Great video! Where can I buy the same PS/2 splitter that you have? I heard that some of them doesn't work with a keyboard and mouse combo, instead they're used to connect two keyboards OR two mice.

To remove the soldered chips, use low melt solder, or even rose metal. You will have to clean the legs of the chips with braid before reusing them.

I love my A3010, glad your A3000 is showing life albeit briefly. I need to fix the mouse port on mine as its a bit flaky and the mouse itself has a broken pin for middle mouse clicks which is a pain. I have a Gotek in mine, but many of the disk images (not all) dont work for me. Another challenge for another day! Good luck with your A3000!

Awesome video, this was my dream machine back in 90

Can you also install CP/M on the Xberry Pi? Couldn't afford either of the NEXT kickstarters.

I have an A5000 in my loft I purchased about 15 years ago when trying to get my hands on a 3020 - I must get it out and see if it still boots up

I used to use A3000s a lot back in the early 1990s, pretty impressive machines. :)

6 buttons you wanna try the flight syms!

Elite legend is way better its full 128k

Hope you share your SOS vid with the rest of the world. Can only imagine how many minutes it takes TJ to say captain cadwallallallallacadwaldererwallader...

A few technical notes: Next War is an awesome addictive game but unfortunately the manual was printed with white text on white graphics with some of the words being completely unreadable. Also would be nice to have individualized SD card labels instead of the WASP bee logo so you can easily identify the card. TX1696 instruction sheet spells lasers as “lazers” under the FIRE POWER section. Light Amplification by the Stimulated Emission of Radiation. The abbreviation for hertz under TESTED ON section should be hz instead of htz. Apparently the choice to have the SD card holder attached using small Velcro buttons instead of using a proper DVD case with SD holder locking bay was to make it appear like it was floating out in space but the effect didn’t quite come off. Congrats on snagging a cloud people game tho it looks like you were playing it using the keyboard which doesn’t support diagonal movement. Try it with a joystick to get diagonals. You will need it to beat the cloud people. Yeah I agree with you that TJ image does look “AI’d to hell”. His original you bastard design is more realistic. Per TJ you are required to use one of the drink coaster for its intended purpose otherwise he may show up on your doorstep unexpectedly beer in hand. 54 is one for each playing card including 2 jokers.

Awesome. Thanks for showing off my game. The key is for Cellustorm so you can start her up. Don’t loss it or we are all doomed!

Thanks for showing us these, Mike! I love a good game box! Lovely stuff. ❤

Would it support bluetooth keyboard?

Was this ever released? Were any other titles amended in this way?

How do u type a poke in for a game on the 128k + 2 spectram can u help

how is this thing called for games? tzx what? and how to get zx spectrum next games? from which source?

This thing is amazing. Really enjoying mine!

Definitely hoping to see this released in 2024.

This is genius, love it, going to have a stab at this tomorrow to create a games menu

nice AY (multichannel) sound.

Great tool, but sadly crashes on the latest distro and fails to run v2.08 OS

Watching this again for making of my own Physical Game. Good stuff. Tell me, can one remove all the normal options and have a menu with ONLY what we want, say a game launcher? So no Tools, Calculator, etc??? Maybe leave just the main Browser option as a just in case need. That way a SD card inserted and booted from the Next has a nice clean menu of only what one wants?

What power supply did you use?