Vintage Computer Festival showcases technology from the 1970s and 1980s
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Sinclair ZX80 playing Space Invaders
Sinclair ZX80 playing Space Invaders
In June 2010, The National Museum of Computing in the UK sponsored the first British Vintage Computer Festival at Bletchley Park. At least 2,000 visitors and 32 exhibitors attended the weekend event, which showcased vintage machines from the 1970s and 1980s.
There were lots of great old machines from Sinclair, Commodore, Amstrad, Heathkit, and others. There were even a few combinations of old and new technology, such as a 28-year-old Sinclair ZX Spectrum running Twitter.
Andy Taylor, a systems analyst and retro computer enthusiast in the UK, attended the event and took more than 100 photos. This gallery is portion of his album.
Many thanks to Andy for allowing TechRepublic to republish these photos. For more information on Andy’s collection of vintage computers, check out his website Retro Computers or his Flickr photostream.
Photo by Andy Taylor
Sinclair ZX80 and monitor
Sinclair ZX80 and monitor
Photo by Andy Taylor
Sinclair ZX80 at the British Vintage Computer Festival
Sinclair ZX80 at the British Vintage Computer Festival
Photo by Andy Taylor
Sinclair ZX80 vintage computer
Sinclair ZX80 vintage computer
Photo by Andy Taylor
Space Invaders on the Sinclair ZX80
Space Invaders on the Sinclair ZX80
Photo by Andy Taylor
Another shot of the ZX80
Another shot of the ZX80
Photo by Andy Taylor
Sinclair ZX Spectrum running Twitter
Sinclair ZX Spectrum running Twitter
Photo by Andy Taylor
Twitter running on vintage computer
Twitter running on vintage computer
Photo by Andy Taylor
Bletchley Park
Bletchley Park
Photo by Andy Taylor
The Centre for Computing History
The Centre for Computing History
Photo by Andy Taylor
Electric Dreams Display
Electric Dreams Display
Photo by Andy Taylor
Sonic the Hedgehog 1 running on the Amstrad MegaPC
Sonic the Hedgehog 1 running on the Amstrad MegaPC
Photo by Andy Taylor
Table full of Sinclair machines
Table full of Sinclair machines
According to Andy, the machines shown in this picture were supplied by The Centre for Computing History located in Haverhill, Suffolk near Cambridge.
Photo by Andy Taylor
Someone playing the Amstrad CPC464
Someone playing the Amstrad CPC464
Photo by Andy Taylor
Amstrad CPC 464
Amstrad CPC 464
Photo by Andy Taylor
Sinclair Spectrum 128K with 2 micro drives
Sinclair Spectrum 128K with 2 micro drives
Photo by Andy Taylor
Another Sinclair ZX81
Another Sinclair ZX81
Photo by Andy Taylor
Amstrad CPC 6128 running Roland in Time
Amstrad CPC 6128 running Roland in Time
Photo by Andy Taylor
Roland in Time computer game
Roland in Time computer game
Photo by Andy Taylor
Sinclair ZX81 and Spectrum 128k
Sinclair ZX81 and Spectrum 128k
Photo by Andy Taylor
Vintage computer game
Vintage computer game
Photo by Andy Taylor
Sinclair Spectrum 48 & QL
Sinclair Spectrum 48 & QL
Photo by Andy Taylor
Sinclair Spectrum +2 and Spectrum +3
Sinclair Spectrum +2 and Spectrum +3
Photo by Andy Taylor
Sinclair Spectrum +3
Sinclair Spectrum +3
Photo by Andy Taylor
Sinclair PC200
Sinclair PC200
Photo by Andy Taylor
Sinclair PC200 command line
Sinclair PC200 command line
Photo by Andy Taylor
Commodore 64 playing Shredz 64
Commodore 64 playing Shredz 64
Photo by Andy Taylor
Osbourne luggable
Osbourne luggable
Photo by Andy Taylor
UK101
UK101
Photo by Andy Taylor
Machine used to write disks using Omniflop and CPCDiskXP
Machine used to write disks using Omniflop and CPCDiskXP
Photo by Andy Taylor
Amstrad PC1512 DD running Digger
Amstrad PC1512 DD running Digger
Photo by Andy Taylor
Amstrad 256k Personal Computer Word Processor
Amstrad 256k Personal Computer Word Processor
Photo by Andy Taylor
Green Monitors for Amstrad PCW8256
Green Monitors for Amstrad PCW8256
Photo by Andy Taylor
Amstrad PPC640
Amstrad PPC640
Photo by Andy Taylor
Sinclair ZX Spectrum Display
Sinclair ZX Spectrum Display
Photo by Andy Taylor
Sinclair ZX Spectrum box
Sinclair ZX Spectrum box
Photo by Andy Taylor
Amstrad Notepad Computer NC100
Amstrad Notepad Computer NC100
Photo by Andy Taylor
Sinclair Z88
Sinclair Z88
Photo by Andy Taylor
Sinclair Z88 logo
Sinclair Z88 logo
Photo by Andy Taylor
Visitors at the Vintage Computer Festival
Visitors at the Vintage Computer Festival
Photo by Andy Taylor
Exhibits from The Centre for Computing History
Exhibits from The Centre for Computing History
Photo by Andy Taylor
Sinclair C5 electric vehicle
Sinclair C5 electric vehicle
Photo by Andy Taylor
Old game consoles
Old game consoles
Photo by Andy Taylor
Atari 800XL
Atari 800XL
Photo by Andy Taylor
Atari, Colecovision, Philips machines
Atari, Colecovision, Philips machines
Photo by Andy Taylor
Amiga sign
Amiga sign
Photo by Andy Taylor
Commodore PET and CBM machines
Commodore PET and CBM machines
Photo by Andy Taylor
Commodore CBM Model 3008
Commodore CBM Model 3008
Photo by Andy Taylor
Commodore CBM Model 4032
Commodore CBM Model 4032
Photo by Andy Taylor
Commodore CBM Model 4032 running Jetpac
Commodore CBM Model 4032 running Jetpac
Photo by Andy Taylor
Apple IIe
Apple IIe
Photo by Andy Taylor
Heathkit Analogue Computer, EC 1
Heathkit Analogue Computer, EC 1
Photo by Andy Taylor
Lincs Amiga Group display
Lincs Amiga Group display
Photo by Andy Taylor
Commodore CDTV
Commodore CDTV
Photo by Andy Taylor
Amiga X1000
Amiga X1000
Photo by Andy Taylor
Compukit UK101 with 6809 CPU and new EPROMS
Compukit UK101 with 6809 CPU and new EPROMS
Photo by Andy Taylor
ZX Spectrum running Twitter
ZX Spectrum running Twitter
Photo by Andy Taylor
Amstrad CPC 6128
Amstrad CPC 6128
Photo by Andy Taylor
Amstrad CPC 6128 playing Bomb Jack I
Amstrad CPC 6128 playing Bomb Jack I
Photo by Andy Taylor
Spectrum +2, Spectrum +3, and a Sinclair PC200
Spectrum +2, Spectrum +3, and a Sinclair PC200
Photo by Andy Taylor
PBS Executive IV
PBS Executive IV
Photo by Andy Taylor
PBS Executive IV closeup
PBS Executive IV closeup
Photo by Andy Taylor
PBS Executive IV power warning
PBS Executive IV power warning
Photo by Andy Taylor
Amstrad 464 Plus
Amstrad 464 Plus
Photo by Andy Taylor
Amstrad MegaPC playing Sonic the Hedgehog 1
Amstrad MegaPC playing Sonic the Hedgehog 1
Photo by Andy Taylor
Sinclair ZX Spectrum +3 128k
Sinclair ZX Spectrum +3 128k
Photo by Andy Taylor
Dragon 200
Dragon 200
Photo by Andy Taylor
Dragon 200 logo
Dragon 200 logo
Photo by Andy Taylor
Dragon Alpha prototypes
Dragon Alpha prototypes
Photo by Andy Taylor
HP V-Class
HP V-Class
Photo by Andy Taylor
Domesday system
Domesday system
Photo by Andy Taylor
Amstrad PCW 8512
Amstrad PCW 8512
Photo by Andy Taylor
