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ZX Printer

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
ZX Printer
ManufacturerSinclair Research
Introduced1981[1][2]
Discontinued1984[2][3]
Cost£49.95[1]
TypeSpark printer

The Sinclair ZX Printer is a spark printer which was produced by Sinclair Research for its ZX81 home computer. It was announced alongside the ZX81 in early 1981,[1][2] and available later that year with a recommended retail price of £49.95.[4][1]

The ZX Printer used special 4-inch (100 mm) wide black paper which was supplied coated with a thin layer of aluminium. To mark the paper, one of the printer's two styluses passed a current through a small area of the aluminium layer, causing the aluminium to evaporate and reveal the black under-surface. The printer's horizontal resolution was the same as the ZX81's video display, i.e. 256 dots (pixels) or 32 characters (using the standard character definition).

The ZX Printer was never intended for word processing purposes, instead being aimed at users who wanted to obtain program listings for reference purposes.

The ZX Printer was also compatible with the earlier ZX80 computer (when fitted with the 8kB ROM upgrade) and the later ZX Spectrum, and plugged directly into the expansion bus connector via a short cable. The expansion bus was duplicated on the outside of the printer's connector, allowing other peripherals to be connected concurrently. The printer drew its power directly from the expansion bus, and was sold with a larger (1-2A) power supply for the ZX81 to accommodate the additional power drain.[5] The Spectrum's user manual noted that this was not needed for the Spectrum as its default 1.1A power supply was sufficient.

The peripheral was affectionately referred to during the 1980s by users in the UK home computing community (many of whom were teenagers) as 'The Astronaut's Bog Roll' [6] ('bog roll' being common English vernacular for toilet paper, and the astronaut reference pertaining to the silvery, glittery appearance of the ZX Printer's paper). The printer itself also bore more than a passing resemblance to a 1980s-era toilet-roll dispenser, in terms of its visual design.

After around three years on the market, Sinclair announced the discontinuation of the ZX Printer in mid-1984, citing the fact that by then they were "selling only thousands and sales have fallen",[2] and stating elsewhere that they had no plans to launch a replacement.[3]

Competing printers

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Alphacom 32

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The Alphacom 32 was a thermal printer that used the same interface, and therefore could be driven by a ZX81 or Spectrum without additional software.[7] Unlike the ZX Printer, it had a separate power supply, and made use of standard thermal paper rolls which remain widely available.

Timex Sinclair 2040

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In the United States, the Alphacom 32 was also rebadged as the official Timex Sinclair 2040 printer for use with their versions of the Sinclair computers. This was done because the original ZX printer did not meet FCC requirements for radio-frequency interference and could not therefore be sold there.[8][9]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d Guy Kewney (May 1981). ""Newsprint" / Sinclair does it again". Personal Computer World. p. 43. ... launching the ZX81 [..Sinclair's] new machine [..] Sinclair's £70 ZX81 and its £50 printer [..] As a bonus, the printer has been announced — at £50.
  2. ^ a b c d "News / ZX Printer Discontinued". Sinclair User. July 1984. p. 13. The ZX printer, brought out by Sinclair Research when it launched the ZX-81 three years ago [in 1981], has been discontinued. A spokeswoman for Sinclair Research says: [..] "We were selling only thousands and sales have fallen."
  3. ^ a b "Talking Head". Sinclair User. July 1984. p. 56. Nigel Searle, head of the computer products division at Sinclair Research [..] confirmed that the ZX printer had been discontinued and would be available only while stocks last. Sinclair did not intend to produce another printer.
  4. ^ "Sinclair ZX81 Personal Computer- the heart of a system that grows with you". Your Computer. October 1981. Archived from the original on 7 July 2025. Available Now- the ZX Printer for only £49.95
  5. ^ [1], Sinclair User - Printers Archived 2006-02-07 at the Wayback Machine Archived February 7, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ [2], ZX Golden Years: 1983 - The invasion has begun Archived 2021-02-27 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ ALPHACOM 32, USER’S MANUAL, PUB NR.: 017121-01 (PDF). Archived from the original on 2016-05-07. Retrieved 2024-12-06.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  8. ^ "Timex Sinclair 2040". Archived from the original on 29 May 2025. The original ZX Printer was not imported to the US due to a variety of reasons including the high radio-frequency interference that the ZX Printer was alluded to emit, rather Timex distributed a rebranded version of the Alphacom 32.
  9. ^ Mark Fendrick (October 1984). "Across the Pond". ZX Computing. p. 115. the ZX printer [..] could not pass the [emissions] requirements of the Federal Communications Commission [..] so Timex contacted Alphacom to produce a printer which would be small, compatible and the same price [resulting in] the T/S 2040 printer.
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