Meet the ZX Spectrum, a breakthrough home computer of the '80s

The Sinclair ZX Spectrum was an affordable computer that introduced colorful gaming and amateur programming for the masses. It was so popular that it spawned magazines like Sinclair User, published in the UK between 1982 and 1993.

Its creator, Clive Sinclair, died this week at age 81. 

Image credits: Wiki user Bill Bertram

The famous Sinclair ZX Spectrum.

This is the motherboard from the 48K model, priced at £175. A version with 16K of RAM could be acquired for £125.

This is the ZX Spectrum+, launched in 1984.

The ZX Spectrum 128, the last to be released before Sinclair was bought by Amstrad.

Once Sinclair was acquired by Amstrad, more models followed, like the fancy ZX Spectrum +3, which had a built-in 3-inch floppy disk drive.