Sinclair’s 1984 big shot at business: The QL is 30 years old

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[size=140]The Register remembers the Sinclair QL[/size]

In May 1983, Sinclair Research Managing Director Nigel Searle began briefing the press about the successful British micro maker's next big release. It was 13 months after the company had launched the Spectrum and although that machine had become a huge success, punters and market-watchers were keen to hear about what Sinclair was planning for an encore.

Searle revealed the follow-up to the Spectrum would début early the following year, a date emphasised by the codename he gave: ZX83. The new machine might share the same naming scheme as the ZX80 and the ZX81, but it would be no enthusiast's micro: set to retail for around £1,000, it would be a business machine. However, it was not an IBM PC clone - Searle said it would run a new operating system of Sinclair's devising.

A dangerous ploy, some would have thought, avoiding both the slowly fading de facto standard business micro operating system, Digital Research's CP/M, and its upstart rival, Microsoft's MS-DOS. Lest potential buyers be put off by Sinclair's desire to force buyers along its own, third way, Searle teased them with the notion that the ZX83 might even be portable, sport an integrated display based on Sinclair's flat-screen TV technology and feature solid-state storage.

The machine Searle was busy dropping hints about would eventually be released as the QL - short for "Quantum Leap" - and it would indeed be launched early in 1984, on 12 January at the Inter-Continental Hotel on London's Hyde Park Corner. Many more months would pass before the new Sinclair micro arrived in buyers' hands, however, prompting wags to dub it the "Quite Late".


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[size=240]READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE![/size][/align:hjaxob5e]

[zapiy]

What a fantastic article, 

[TrekMD]

I'm starting to feel old every time I see something from when I was younger turning 20 years old, 30 years old, etc. 

[Sokurah]

I've had two QL's. Sold one for £50 because I neeed the money. Regretted it and got myself another one. Can't remember what happened to that one though. Now I regret not keeping one of them.

[HomerRamone2084]

Think I have one in a cupboard somewhere

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[align=center:20k3lkx7]Although it was marketed as a business machine, the QL did actually get some games too!

Sinclair QL Games Collection 1

Sinclair QL Video Archive Match Point

Sinclair QL Video Archive Alien Hijack

Sinclair QL Video Archive Psion Chess[/align:20k3lkx7]