The Sinclair QL was Sir Clive Sinclair's attempt at a computer for business. It was released in January 1984, a few days before the Apple Macintosh and a few months before the Amstrad CPC 464.
The QL signalled a move away from Sinclair's "traditional" use of the Z80 processor to a multi-tasking system based on a 68008 processor and 8049 second processor.
The QL features a structured on-board version of BASIC called SuperBASIC, and a multi-tasking operating system (QDOS), which was quite an innovation back in its launch days!
150,000 units were sold. Immediately after acquiring Sinclair, Amstrad discontinued the QL in April 1986.
Contents
QL Specifications
| Feature | Specification |
|---|---|
| Processor | 7.5MHz Motorola MC68008 |
| RAM | 128KB, expandable to 640KB or 896KB |
| ROM | 48KB on board - QDOS and SuperBASIC |
| Plug-in ROM | 16KB via ROM connector port |
| Storage | Two 100KB microdrives (removable tape loop cartridges) |
| Display | 512×256 in 4 colours, 85×25 text; 256×256 in 8 colours, 42×25 text |
| Operating system | QDOS, Single user pre-emptive multitasking |
| Expansion ports | Main I/O connector, EPROM connector, 2 joystick ports, 2 RS-232-C ports, TV modulator, RGB monitor, Composite video, External microdrives, 2 QL network sockets. |
| On board programming language | QL SuperBASIC (Sinclair's structured BASIC interpreter) |
| Supplied software | Quill word processor, Abacus spreadsheet, Archive database, Easel business graphics. Some QLs were also supplied with a games cartridge. |
While the CPU clock speed is comparable to that of the Macintosh, Atari ST and Amiga, the 8-bit databus seriously limits the QL's performance.