Sprinter - an alternative to the "Russian Amiga"

As already mentioned, the demonstration of the new Spectrum-compatible computer
Sprinter from the Peters company left, at first, a rather ambivalent
impression, first of all, in matters of compatibility.

However, the other day Nikolai Noskov (IMHO, general director) called and clarified the situation a little:

- obvious mistakes in the design (prohibition for reading from video memory, hardware
generation of interrupts after pressing any key on the keyboard, etc.) are not
something established and will definitely be eliminated. As well as almost everything that most potential users will ask for. Actually, according to him, such meetings are held with programmers (the next one, by the way, is May 31st. The topic is a new OS for a computer) - developers will definitely achieve a high percentage of compatibility with the standard Spectrum (for this purpose, standard SOS and TR-DOS ROMs will remain intact and can be easily switched) - otherwise, according to Noskova,
releasing a new computer makes no sense. Well, I can easily believe this, remembering
Peters 256, which I really liked at one time.

- removing devices such as a video card, music card, hard drive controller in the form of separate modules, according to him, is not justified
because this will greatly increase the cost of the design (which will essentially beconsist of
Z80+PLM).

- only ISA boards can be installed on the board; there will be no standard Spectrum
interface connectors. This property, coupled with the previous one, makes it impossible to connect devices such as General Sound, SMUC, mouse controller, XTR-modem. On the other hand, all devices (except the last one) are already on the board, although they are implemented completely differently, and the modem standard, according to the developers, should be hayes. If we can
agree with the latter, then in general this approach is quite unusual :-?

- Sprinter, unlike the usual Spectrum, will be a developing machine. I mean, they still have ideas to overcome the 4MB RAM limitation and expand the range of video modes. To upgrade Sprintera, you do not need to change the entire board, just install a new ROM (PLM?) on the board. This is one of
the fundamental properties of the architecture (well, it’s welcome)

- one SIMM is provided for installing memory. The processor
used is Z84C, overclocked to 14 MHz (in the near future - Z85 at 20 MHz, overclocked to
28 MHz, I could be wrong in the name :)

- in addition to the fact that several video modes have been developed, several modes for accessing and managing video memory have also been developed. (manipulation of sprites,
direct and indirect access to video RAM, etc. - I didn’t understand everything). There can be 2 at the same time
high-resolution screens, 4 - for 320x256, more than 40 Spectrum screens :))) Smooth scrolling is achieved due to the fact that there is a register that stores the address of the first line of the screen. Or rather, even several registers.
To be able to scroll screens that have different palettes,
four sets of palettes are provided. However, for programs (games) where each frame is constructed anew, there will apparently be no gain (coding a point with one byte will increase the volume of transmitted graphics at least 8 times with the same increase in performance). However, H. Noskov assured that video memory management is so flexible that there will always be a way to get out. Well, for now we’ll believe, then we’ll see :))

- in terms of software, the Peters company relies more on third-party forces (it only undertakes the development of the OS, to which, it seems, one of the authors of IsDOS will be involved). The question about the graphic
editor remains open (for now we will have to be content with the modest capabilities of IBM :))

- service: a support line is provided; BBS available on ViComm and
Hayes (?). It is common practice to accept old Spectrum models
(any kind, not just Peters!) for a small amount, which is taken into account when selling Sprinter.

- release dates: demonstration - at Inlight'97, after which, according to the company's plans, the computer will go on sale.

- to a direct question: “Whyare you making a new computer at all?" a no
less direct answer was given: "To update the fleet of morally outdated
Spectrum-compatible equipment" (the answer, IMHO, is five points! :))))

So, don’t be surprised if one day you go to a Logros store and it seems to you that there is an IBM there - it will be a Sprinter :))) Your old dream
of having a Logros will come true cheap and accessible to everyone subj ;))

Warm greetings, Slava.