1987
ZX Spectrum +3 released
On 16 May 1987, the ZX Spectrum +3 was released by Amstrad under the Sinclair name. The latest member of the Spectrum family was a substantial redesign of the 128K Spectrum, replacing the cassette recorder of the Spectrum +2 with a built-in 3-inch floppy disk drive. The +3 was initially priced at £249 and was intended to give the Spectrum a more capable and convenient form of mass storage while extending the life of the increasingly mature platform.
The +3 introduced a new disk operating system, +3DOS, developed by Locomotive Software, and was the first Spectrum to support CP/M without requiring additional hardware. It also featured a redesigned motherboard, new ROMs, a Centronics-compatible printer interface and the ability to connect a second disk drive. Although the machine retained the familiar Spectrum architecture and 128K of RAM, the changes meant that some older Spectrum software and peripherals were no longer compatible.
The +3 represented Amstrad's attempt to move the Spectrum beyond its cassette-based origins and into the disk-based home-computer market. Its 3-inch drive was closely related to the drive used in Amstrad's CPC computers, making the +3 an interesting meeting point between the Spectrum and Amstrad's existing technology. It would become the final major Spectrum model produced under the Sinclair name.
The +3 introduced a new disk operating system, +3DOS, developed by Locomotive Software, and was the first Spectrum to support CP/M without requiring additional hardware. It also featured a redesigned motherboard, new ROMs, a Centronics-compatible printer interface and the ability to connect a second disk drive. Although the machine retained the familiar Spectrum architecture and 128K of RAM, the changes meant that some older Spectrum software and peripherals were no longer compatible.
The +3 represented Amstrad's attempt to move the Spectrum beyond its cassette-based origins and into the disk-based home-computer market. Its 3-inch drive was closely related to the drive used in Amstrad's CPC computers, making the +3 an interesting meeting point between the Spectrum and Amstrad's existing technology. It would become the final major Spectrum model produced under the Sinclair name.