SymbolShift Posted November 25, 2022 Report Share Posted November 25, 2022 (edited) I've always been a huge fan of the "QL style" keyboard, originally featured on the Sinclair QL, then the ZX Spectrum+, and finally the ZX Spectrum 128. Much nicer than those later Amstrad (+2, +3) offerings. I've always credited this great design to Sinclair... however! I recently came across a copy of Personal Computer News magazine from May 1983. The cover features a keyboard that is strikingly similar in design, and interestingly pre-dates the QL release by 8 months (possibly more). I am unable to locate the supplement that is featured on the cover, and it's not mentioned in the magazine itself. Can anyone identify the make/model of computer on this cover? Thanks. Edited November 25, 2022 by SymbolShift jetsetdanny and Spider 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JianYang Posted November 27, 2022 Report Share Posted November 27, 2022 If you're talking about the key caps I have definitely seen that style before the QL was a thing. In my memory it's associated with Siemens keyboards. Spider and SymbolShift 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SymbolShift Posted November 28, 2022 Author Report Share Posted November 28, 2022 18 hours ago, JianYang said: If you're talking about the key caps I have definitely seen that style before the QL was a thing. In my memory it's associated with Siemens keyboards. Thanks. Yes, the key-caps (rather than the layout). I know the Siemens PG7xx series laptops had rounded key-caps similar to the QL, but they were produced in the 90's. It's possible that Siemens also had earlier machines (and keyboards) that were produced in the 80's. Spider 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spider Posted November 28, 2022 Report Share Posted November 28, 2022 I think that machine may be a mockup, even if you disregard the key layout which is done for the title/cover. It looks vaguely to me like the Oric case part with similar to QL keys, I can't recall if the Tandy TS ( ? ) had rounded keys. SymbolShift 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SymbolShift Posted November 28, 2022 Author Report Share Posted November 28, 2022 6 hours ago, Spider said: I think that machine may be a mockup, even if you disregard the key layout which is done for the title/cover. It looks vaguely to me like the Oric case part with similar to QL keys, I can't recall if the Tandy TS ( ? ) had rounded keys. True, it could be a mock-up. Obviously the key layout has been altered. For all we know, the mock-up could have been created by the Sinclair QL dev team 😁 Spider 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SymbolShift Posted December 20, 2022 Author Report Share Posted December 20, 2022 I just came across the Mupid C2D. It's an Austrian built computer and pre-dates both the QL and the PCN magazine cover. Released in 1981, before even the ZX Spectrum. It used a Z80A, had 128K memory, and a super impressive palette of 4096 colours. A very striking resemblance to the QL design. The rounded flat-top keys, black plastic, and even the horizontal lines. They were also rebranded as Siemens machines, so JianYang was onto something! jetsetdanny and Spider 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spider Posted December 22, 2022 Report Share Posted December 22, 2022 That would of been quite "wallet unfriendly" I think with 128K of RAM, not to mention any specialist chip for the video hardware! jetsetdanny 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SymbolShift Posted December 22, 2022 Author Report Share Posted December 22, 2022 Yeah, probably cost a pretty penny at the time. They were used as Prestel terminals, used in the Austrian post offices. More info here if anyone is interested... https://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=1112 Spider 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgharston Posted December 25, 2022 Report Share Posted December 25, 2022 If they were used as Prestel terminals they probably did use a special chip for the display, the SAA505x. Supported by the additional characters printed on the case above the digit keys, which are the teletext characters used in the SAA5050 instead of [ ] ^ { \ } ~. See link. SymbolShift and jetsetdanny 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jetsetdanny Posted December 26, 2022 Report Share Posted December 26, 2022 On 12/22/2022 at 2:24 PM, Spider said: That would of been quite "wallet unfriendly" I think with 128K of RAM What do you mean, Andy? I would think a machine with 128K of RAM is more Bitcoin-wallet friendly than one with 48K RAM only 😁. Spider 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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