ZX Spectrum +2A

The ZX Spectrum +2A of 1987 was a subtle but telling reshuffle of Amstrad's Spectrum range. It shared its internal design with the disk-based +3, but kept a built-in cassette deck instead of a disk drive, and swapped the earlier model's grey case for a smart black one.

The change brought the cassette-based Spectrum into line with the newer hardware while keeping the cost down, a sensible bit of housekeeping that let Amstrad build its machines around a common design. For buyers it meant the familiar tape-loading Spectrum experience in updated, better-looking clothing.

It is one of the quieter members of the family, easy to confuse with its siblings, but it played its part in the tidy, rationalised line-up through which Amstrad saw out the Spectrum's long commercial life. The +2A is the Spectrum as a mature product: refined, sensible and quietly keeping the flame alive.