The Timex Sinclair 2068 was a computer produced by Timex Sinclair, a joint-venture between Timex Corporation and Sinclair Research. It was launched in November 1983, and sold for $200, a price significantly below competitors at the time. Although successive price cuts by Commodore would see the machine struggle in the market place.

It was the third machine produced by Timex Sinclair and also the last, as well as America, the 2068 was also on the market in Canada, Argentina, Portugal and Poland. A cutdown version called the 2048 did not go into full production.

The TS2068 was a highly modified version of the ZX Spectrum. and would contain the AY soundchip later found in the 128K Spectrum, along with 72K of RAM and ROM, a cartridge port, twin joysticks, and an improved ULA that allowed for more screen modes.

The Sinclair Basic was also extended for extra commands, but the downside of all this extra hardware and software was a drastic drop in compatibility with virtually all available Spectrum software, less than ten percent of commercial titles would run, and those that did would have problems in running well.

Owners would use third party Spectrum ROM cartridges to get the machine to run more of the extensive Spectrum Library.

The Timex Corporation folded in 1984, effectively ending the commercial life of the machine, although sales had been poor. The Portuguese division continued to sell the machine until 1989, in the same year the Polish machine was also discontinued.

Manufacturer: Timex Sinclair
Date: November 1983 to 1989

This exhibit has a reference ID of CH62128. Please quote this reference ID in any communication with the Centre for Computing History.

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