PlusD
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The Plus D (or "+D") was a floppy disk and printer interface for the Sinclair ZX Spectrum home computer, developed as a successor to Miles Gordon Technology's earlier product, the DISCiPLE. It was designed to be smaller, cheaper, simpler and thus more reliable.
It discarded a number of the less important features of the earlier product -- the network and joystick ports, the inhibit button and the pass-through connector -- and replaced its ancestor's plastic wedge-shaped design which fit under the Spectrum with a simple flat metal slab which protruded from the rear of the computer.
It provided only floppy-diskette and Centronics parallel interfaces, plus a Non-Maskable interrupt button. The +D's casing was simple folded steel, which was not only stronger than before but acted as a heatsink, improving reliability. Apart from the missing ports, though, it was software-compatible with the larger device.
For more information on the design, specification and use of the +D, see the entry on MGT.
The +D design was later licensed by Datel and it continued on sale for some years after MGT's demise.
External links
- How to build a +D for yourself (http://www.worldofspectrum.org/NotThePlusD/)