The TC 2048 or Timex Computer 2048 is a computer created by "Timex of Portugal, Lda", a branch of Timex Corporation.

It was highly compatible with the Sinclair ZX Spectrum

ZX Spectrum

The ZX Spectrum is an 8-bit personal home computer released in the United Kingdom in 1982 by Sinclair Research Ltd...

 computer, although differences in the ROM prevented 100% compatibility.
Timex Portugal sold the TC 2048 in Portugal and Poland, where it was very successful. Also, a NTSC version was sold in Chile. This computer forms the basis of an improved Spectrum-compatible machine, the Spectrum SE.

Technical specifications

CPU

Central processing unit

The central processing unit is the portion of a computer system that carries out the instructions of a computer program, to perform the basic arithmetical, logical, and input/output operations of the system. The CPU plays a role somewhat analogous to the brain in the computer. The term has been in...

• Zilog Z80A @ 3.50 MHz

ROM

Read-only memory

Read-only memory is a class of storage medium used in computers and other electronic devices. Data stored in ROM cannot be modified, or can be modified only slowly or with difficulty, so it is mainly used to distribute firmware .In its strictest sense, ROM refers only...

• 16 KB

RAM

Random-access memory

Random access memory is a form of computer data storage. Today, it takes the form of integrated circuits that allow stored data to be accessed in any order with a worst case performance of constant time. Strictly speaking, modern types of DRAM are therefore not random access, as data is read in...

• 48 KB

Display

• Improved ULA
  ULA
  ULA can refer to any of the following:* ULA TV, a Venezuelan regional television channel* Ulster Liberation Army, a fictional terrorist organization* Uncommitted Logic Array, a type of microchip* Underground Literary Alliance, a writer society...
  
   offering additional screen modes
  ZX Spectrum graphic modes
  The ZX Spectrum is generally considered to have limited graphical capabilities in comparison to other home computers of the same era such as the Commodore 64, largely due to its lack of a dedicated graphics chip...
  
  :
  • Text: 32×24 characters (8×8 pixels, rendered in graphics mode)
  • Graphics: 256×192 pixels, 15 colours (two simultaneous colours - "attributes" - per 8×8 pixels, causing attribute clash)
  • Extended Color: 256×192 pixels, 15 colors with colour resolution of 32×192 (two simultaneous colours - "attributes" - per 1×8 pixels)
  • Dual Screen: (two 256×192 pixels screens can be placed in memory)
  • A monochrome 512×192 mode

Sound

• Beeper (1 channel, 10 octaves and 10+ semitones via internal speaker)

[By separate purchase the Joystick/Sound Unit was available to enhance sound and provide a joystick port.]

I/O

• Z80 bus in/out
• Tape audio in/out for external cassette tape storage
• RF
  RF modulator
  An RF modulator is a device that takes a baseband input signal and outputs a radio frequency-modulated signal....
  
   television out
• Kempston Joystick
  Kempston Micro Electronics
  Kempston Micro Electronics was an electronics company specialising in computer joysticks and related home computer peripherals during the 1980s. Kempston was based in Kempston, Bedfordshire, England.- Interfaces :...
  
   input

Storage

• External cassette tape recorder
• 1–8 external ZX Microdrive
  ZX Microdrive
  The ZX Microdrive is a magnetic tape data storage system launched in July 1983 by Sinclair Research for their ZX Spectrum home computer. The Microdrive technology was later also used in the Sinclair QL and ICL One Per Desk personal computers.-Development:...
  
  s (using ZX Interface 1
  ZX Interface 1
  A peripheral from Sinclair Research for its ZX Spectrum home computer, the ZX Interface 1 was launched in 1983. Originally intended as a local area network interface for use in school classrooms, it was revised before launch to also act as the controller for up to eight ZX Microdrive high-speed...
  
  )
• Timex FDD (Floppy Disk Drive System Power Supply, Controller and Disk Drive in separate cases. 16K RAM, Timex Operating System (TOS))
• Timex FDD3000
  Timex FDD3000
  The Timex FDD 3000 was nearly a complete computer by Timex of Portugal. It began its development at Timex Computer Corporation in the U.S., but it was at Timex of Portugal that the work was finished....
  
  (Enhanced version (all in one case) of the Timex FDD but upgraded to 64K RAM & TOS with two Hitachi 3" disk drives)

External links

• Timex Computer World