My Hardware #2 - Timex 2048

Timex 2048 is a portugese ZX Spectrum 48k clone, slightly improved than the original. Apart from having an improved keybord, an on/off switch, composite video output, and a standard joystick port it has improved graphic capabilities. Timex 2048 has an additional 2-colour high-res mode (512x192), and in standard resolution it has better colour display capabilities. Unfortunately these features were not widely used, probably because the machine was only popular in Portugal and Poland.

The only scene demo utilising 2048's gfx modes is Timmy by polish group speccy.pl released in 2014:


The Timex that I have in my collection is actually a pretty special item for me. It belonged to my uncle and cousins, who live in another city, so I had visited them only once or twice a year. During these visits I had an opportunity to play some cool games on the Timex with my cousins Agnieszka and Paulina :). A couple of years ago, when I visited them again, I asked my uncle if he still has the Timex. After some digging in the basement uncle found the old machine, complete in an original box, from more than 20 years in the past. It even has an original price sticker from Centralna Składnica Harcerska (chain of stores owned by the scout association during the communist years). It costed 140000 ZL back then, and the average wage in Poland in 1987-88 was around 25000-30000 ZL, so it was pretty expensive.

The Timex is in very good working condition, it has never been opened, or modified in any way.