Perhaps this is why the Sinclair computers were crushed by Commodore early in the UK?

[ImmortalA1000]

There is a wikipedia myth that the C64 didn't sell well in the UK due to massive price difference. I always knew this wasn't true, Popular Computing Weekly ran a news item that Commodore VIC-20 and C64 were outselling ZX81 and Sinclair Spectrums by sometime in 1984. The page scan isn't on this PC, but I did trawl through the prices of a major UK high street retailer and found a surprisingly small price advantage to settling for a rubber keyed 48k Spectrum as a home computer.

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[Amigajay]

Well in 1983 the price difference was massive (£129 vs £339). 1984 was indeed the turning point when Commodore reduced it to £199.

But even their aggressive pricing and hardware advantage didn’t stop the ZX Spectrum selling well until the end of the 80s even when the price closed even more with the +2.

[Aulapatchuc]

Originally Posted by Amigajay

Well in 1983 the price difference was massive (£129 vs £339). 1984 was indeed the turning point when Commodore reduced it to £199.

But even their aggressive pricing and hardware advantage didn’t stop the ZX Spectrum selling well until the end of the 80s even when the price closed even more with the +2.

In my country I bought in 1985, a ZX Spectrum with a Kempston Interface, two Kempston joysticks and 3 games for €175 (converted from the money of the time here: Escudos). A single C64 costed €400. A Datassete €100, a 1571 Floppy drive €200. Those were the numbers.

Nobody had C64 here, only the shops. Everybody had ZX Spectrums 48k and later +2 and +3.

People started to jump from the Spectrums to Amigas in late 1988.

[Dunny]

Same here - south of England - started with a ZX81, updated to a Speccy, then the plus model, then +2 and finally (after I'd done shedloads of paper rounds) I acquired an Amiga 1000.

C64 was, like the BBC, way too expensive. Rich kids had them - I knew two with C64s and one with a BBC - but all the rest of the school had CPC or Spectrums. I was the third to update to the Amiga, the year after that more and more bought them as they came down in price with the bundles.

I did like the C64 when I got chance to play on one; the SID was simply amazing to listen to. The games though... no better than what I had on the Speccy when you got down to it.

[TCD]

It's interesting that here in Germany nobody I knew bitd had a ZX Spectrum, but C64 were really common.

[grond]

I have never seen a Spectrum, ZX81 or CPC in my life. Everybody around me had Commodore computers, VIC20, C64, C16, Plus4, C128, Amiga 500, Amiga 2000, Amiga 1200, Amiga 4000. This plus an Atari 2600 and two 68k Macs owned by somebody's parents. I think that's the concise list of home computers people around me had before everybody went PC or Playstation.

[Adropac2]

I adored my C64 and remain playing them loads still. The spectrum was very different in truth to how it felt but that was also a good thing as it wasn't just the same experience. They say a lot of why gamers go back to their older systems is nostalgia and while initially that's true, the older systems provide a very different feeling from the atmosphere of it's games that you just don't get on newer systems

Currently playing the shit out of Falcan Patrol II which is a bloody great game and quite the improvement over the first which is still not bad

[TCD]

Originally Posted by grond

I have never seen a Spectrum, ZX81 or CPC in my life. Everybody around me had Commodore computers, VIC20, C64, C16, Plus4, C128, Amiga 500, Amiga 2000, Amiga 1200, Amiga 4000. This plus an Atari 2600 and two 68k Macs owned by somebody's parents. I think that's the concise list of home computers people around me had before everybody went PC or Playstation.

I had two friends that owned Atari STs

[Aulapatchuc]

Originally Posted by TCD

I had two friends that owned Atari STs

And they sucked right? The STs I mean.

[grond]

Originally Posted by TCD

I had two friends that owned Atari STs

My guitar teacher had an ST but I never got to see it. The only time I saw an ST was in a shopping center where I bought cassette games for my C16 and later C64. I remember being impressed by the 72 Hz monochrome screen.

Except for the Atari 2600 I never saw any Atari back in the day either.

[TCD]

Originally Posted by Aulapatchuc

And they sucked right? The STs I mean.

Well... yeah Of course we tried to impress each other with the games on our machines and I honestly say that I was never envy that I didn't have an ST It was mainly the sound though to be fair

[Adropac2]

I loved my ST but did eventually upgrade to the A500. It was a great time though and I fondly remember it but seeing just so many superior games technically really added up to needing one

Later I discovered I couldn't play Oids and that was a major bummer. The Amiga version is excellent of course but the Amiga key limit means you can't play it effectively using keyboard which is the only way really for mastering the game

[S0ulA55a551n]

I knew one person with a C64. I had a cpc but very much in the minority. Everyone else had speccy's

[khph_re]

West Germany had a lot more disposable income compared to the UK in the '80's - that's why there are so many Speccy sales in the UK.

I had to get a second hand C64 in the end, had to trade in my Spectrum +2 and lay down some cash to get it though.

[NorthWay]

From what I have seen retrospectively, the UK was "poor" compared to many other places (the non-abundance of refridgerators around 1970 etc) and as such much more price-sensitive. As the 80s went by this changed and I guess that is why the ST didn't keep its lead as the price delta was marked but at the same time had become largely ignorable.

[Dunny]

Originally Posted by NorthWay

From what I have seen retrospectively, the UK was "poor" compared to many other places (the non-abundance of refridgerators around 1970 etc) and as such much more price-sensitive. As the 80s went by this changed and I guess that is why the ST didn't keep its lead as the price delta was marked but at the same time had become largely ignorable.

This is one reason that Sinclair was so wildly successful - their kit form and even the pre-made computers were cheap enough that people could afford one and a new fridge.

Had they not been that cheap, I never would have seen a computer until I had my own income.

[jotd]

It was also a "nationalist" thing. Germans had german computers, Brits had british computers.

In France we were unlucky to have Thomson TO7 / MO5 (not bad but not enough software) and the Oric (first UK then bought by Oric France) was very popular (I avoided Thomson fortunately, and got the Oric instead).

I remember visiting someone which had a Speccy in the UK in 1985 and being very impressed by the quality of the software compared to the Oric.

[TCD]

Originally Posted by jotd

It was also a "nationalist" thing. Germans had german computers, Brits had british computers.

So we are finally allowed to adopt the C64 and Amiga?

[grond]

Originally Posted by jotd

It was also a "nationalist" thing. Germans had german computers, Brits had british computers.

How was Commodore a German computer? The only sort-of German home computer was the Schneider CPC which was a rebranded (or licensed clone?) Amstrad CPC (and I never got to see one of those either). Nixdorf computers were German and I remember seeing a presentation of those together with colour printers in a shop near to my home in the 1980s. But they were only for boring serious stuff.

[Aulapatchuc]

Originally Posted by jotd

It was also a "nationalist" thing. Germans had german computers, Brits had british computers.

And what about countries that did not had/have any computer industry?
In that line of mind we should use only pen and paper.