UK Vintage Radio Repair and Restoration Discussion Forum - View Single Post

Slothie · 26th Nov 2020, 11:59 pm

The only real similarity between the Amiga/ST and the QL was the processors were 68000 variants. The QL had a 68008 processor which had an external 8 bit bus wheras the Amiga used a 68000 with external 16 bit address bus. The 68000 architecture was 32 bit, so each instruction or memory transfer required 2 memory cycles on the 68000 and four on the 68008 - which was part of the cause of its performance problems. However the main thing that deterred buyers were long shipping delays and poor reliability of the early production models. The last revision released were actually far better quality - the problems with the microdrives were largely cured by Sinclair outsourcing manufacture to Samsung - but by then the reputational damage had been done, the business community (The QLs intended market) had its eyes on the IBM PC, and the Amiga had been released and was more attractive to the wider gaming public due to its sound and graphics being considered superior.

The ICL One-per-desk machine used a lot of the QL design and ASICS, being a collaboration between Sinclair, ICL and BT, I haven't seen anything confirming if they were software compatible or not.

26th Nov 2020, 11:59 pm	#19
Slothie Octode Join Date: Apr 2018 Location: Newbury, Berkshire, UK. Posts: 1,287	Re: QL_Sinclair The only real similarity between the Amiga/ST and the QL was the processors were 68000 variants. The QL had a 68008 processor which had an external 8 bit bus wheras the Amiga used a 68000 with external 16 bit address bus. The 68000 architecture was 32 bit, so each instruction or memory transfer required 2 memory cycles on the 68000 and four on the 68008 - which was part of the cause of its performance problems. However the main thing that deterred buyers were long shipping delays and poor reliability of the early production models. The last revision released were actually far better quality - the problems with the microdrives were largely cured by Sinclair outsourcing manufacture to Samsung - but by then the reputational damage had been done, the business community (The QLs intended market) had its eyes on the IBM PC, and the Amiga had been released and was more attractive to the wider gaming public due to its sound and graphics being considered superior. The ICL One-per-desk machine used a lot of the QL design and ASICS, being a collaboration between Sinclair, ICL and BT, I haven't seen anything confirming if they were software compatible or not.