Tindie

Everything works like a charm. Fast shipping. I saved my spectrum from the ula dead, now works flawless!!

Marco | Oct. 6, 2022

Transaction and product very good!!!

Transaction and product very good!!!
Fantastic and accurate seller, communication very fast and technically accurate

David | March 25, 2022

Simple to use. vLA81

The vLA81 is simple to use and works perfectly. CONS: It has round pins that don't fit well in the socket on the board.

Brad | March 20, 2022

Preventitive measure

Due to how notorious the ULA's are for failure, i decided to get the vla to have one less thing to worry about failing in my TS1000. IT has worked perfectly so far, and I would highly recommend anyone with a zx81 or ts1000 get one even if your ULA is working fine! Just be careful if you need to remove it, there's not an easy way to grip the chip to pull out of the socket, along with the sockets themselves having an iron grip on the chips, and i accidentally broke a pin off my VLA in doing so. I was able to solder it back on, but do take your time if you need to remove it.

Shipping took a while to the US, but that's not the fault of the seller at all.

Glyn | March 17, 2022

Delivery to Germany within two Weeks - amazing!

So, the delivery was incredibly fast - Thanks, but what is the use of fast delivery - I need a working ULA!!

It took a couple of tries - I had already made a composite conversion, so I did not need the porch selection, did not yet make the memory Mod, so leave that alone! Wasn't sure if switch one should be off or on - it should be on!!!!! It works!! My goodness, this 40 year old display piece just came back to life!!

Thanks so much!! I will now replace the broken membrane keyboard, 'cos it's worth it now!!

Goran | Nov. 11, 2021

Received fast, Works great!

Thank you for this replacement vLA81 - ZX81 ULA. What used to be a useless home computer, Sinclair ZX81 with a defective ULA, is now usable again.

Jeff | Nov. 9, 2021

Works Great!

For QL Power Converter - with Universal Input*

The ULA in my Timex/Sinclair 1000 was failing and this fixed it. It was a simple install, just plugging it into the IC socket in place of the original chip.
NTSC composite video and cassette i/o are working fine.
Highly recommended as a simple fix if your ZX81 or ST1000 has a bad ULA.

Augusto | Oct. 8, 2021

Perfect replacement

This PSU adapter is a perfect solution because on my country the Voltage is 127V and the original PSU is 220V, so no more need downstep Voltage converter!

David | May 31, 2021

Simply awesome

Very easy to install and it works perfectly, formating emulated cartridges, with the amazing amount of 127KB, simulating up to 8 microdrives, works like a charm with Multiface One, and it's very similar to the original microdrives without the annoying motor noise. Thanks for this jewel.

Sasa | May 12, 2021

vDrive ZX is great!

Thanks man, for such special device! I am looking to test and use it as soon as i fix my IF1. I'll definetly shop again here.

Ivan | May 4, 2021

Top Notch produt

Top notch! New air breath to Speccy 48K! Excellent product! From New Zealand to Croatia less in 3 weeks! Tnx Charlie I. 😉

Regards Ivan

Anthony | April 26, 2021

Very happy

I thoroughly recommend this ula. Nice and modern and bug free. Love when people go through the effort developing products like this

Javier | April 19, 2021

Nice replacement item

Nice replacement item, works like a charm, and improves the video quality. It was properly documented, but installation is quite simple anyway. A good alternative if your ULA dies as occurred to me.

Harry | March 30, 2021

Nice upgrade for the ZX81

Since the original ULAs for the ZX81 are getting scarce I was looking for a modern replacement. I was pleased to find that not only is this a replacement but an upgrade to the original ULA.

The ability to switch between the older an newer ULA modes as well as video output levels by simply flipping a switch increases the usability even further. Overall well worth the price.

Lance | March 26, 2021

My ZX81 lives again!

I performed a composite video mod ( which worked ok) and I was able to see that some keys were dead- I ordered a new membrane keyboard and still had the same issue. Thankfully, I found this ULA replacement - it fixed the missing keys and greatly improved the video! Very nicely done- thank you!

Gilles | Feb. 4, 2021

Good deal, the ULAs work perfectly.

For vLA128 - Sinclair 128K/+2(Grey) ULA Replacement

No problem.

I'm happy with these new ULAs.

The shipping was a little expensive as it was a slow delivery.

Finn | Jan. 28, 2021

Thank you for another great spare for the ZX .

Recieved my order in the mailbox today . Fine quality as usual , thanks for adding new life to "stranded" ZX Spectrum's.

Finn | Dec. 12, 2020

Order delivered

I have just recieved the package . It didn't take long to get here, distance considered, and is the usual high standard product as the other items bought from you .

Thank you for making it possible to keep the amazing ZX Spectrum alive .

Regards

Finn

Simon | Nov. 18, 2020

Great product - but handle with care!

The original ULA is so hard to find a replacement for, but this does the job pretty much perfectly. But do be warned that its seems to be just as fragile as the original! I plugged one into an issue 3 motherboard in an attempt to run a diag rom to find out what was wrong with the machine and it died instantly! Turned out that a previous owner's "repair" left a small solder bridge on a 4116, shorting 12v to A1, so I can't hold the vLA at fault. A lesson learned in doing a visual inspection first...

Marta | Nov. 5, 2020

Awesome.

For vLA1 - Sinclair ZX Interface 1 ULA Replacement

A wonderful piece of hardware that strives for compatibility with ZX Microdrive. It has a nice toolkit for handling MDR images, and works perfectly with my ZX Spectrum 128K.

The finish is really professional and clean, and the documentation is very good.

A great purchase.

Zoltán | Oct. 15, 2020

One ZX Interface 1 saved thanks to vLA1

Shipping was unexpectedly fast to Hungary. The documentation was very straightforward and to the point on how to replace the ULA in the IF1. After replacing the faulty ZX IF1 ULA with vLA1, my ZX Microdrive magically started working. I also tested it with a vDriveZX (not inside a case yet) and it also worked nicely.

Milos | Sept. 22, 2020

Works like a charm

For vLA128 - Sinclair 128K/+2(Grey) ULA Replacement

The chip helped me to salvage one of my vintage ZX Spectrums without me having to cannibalize the part from a working computer. All the effort and the research that went into this is much appreciated!

Dimitrios | Aug. 20, 2020

The perfect ULA for a ZX Spectrum

I rebuilt a ZX-Spectrum from the scratch and while all parts can either be bought, replicated (ROM, coil) or replaced with modern solutions (RAM), there's still one thing that only vLA82 can replace: ULA. I bought Charlie's vLA82 because it's as near as possible to the original looking at size, but also supports all versions of ZX Spectrums. It worked flawlessly and Charlie was very helpful, when I forgot to populate one resistor on my PCB... The circuit is quite efficient, because vLA82's surface never exceeded 39° C (surrounding temperature 27° C). Shipping was very fast and the parts very good packaged. I hope that vLA82 will be long available!!

Steve | Aug. 1, 2020

Superb Upgrade

5min to install and works like a charm. Using the Microdrive is great again. My best ZX Spectrum upgrade.

Janusz | March 19, 2020

Great product

For vLA128 - Sinclair 128K/+2(Grey) ULA Replacement

With vLA82 on board, my ZX works again. A great product. The package arrived after 18 days, after traveling exacly half of the world.

Jean-Claude | Feb. 29, 2020

Work great!

Good quality product as always, good packaged and fast delivery. Used for toastrack and +2. Works perfectly. Thank you!

Stephen | Feb. 19, 2020

Excellent add-on. Buy the vMap & QL-style case too.

For vDrive QL - Microdrive Hardware Emulator

Excellent addition to the QL. Completely solid state (SD) storage will extend the life of your software. Doesn't run much faster than a microdrive - that's because it uses the same interface. But the increased reliability makes up for this.
127K cap on image size is a limit of the original MDV design. But structure your banks of images properly, and you can make this work to your advantage. Imagine having 8 mounted microdrive volumes (mdv1_ to mdv8_) usable at once...

Make sure you buy the vMap device too. Greatly increases the flexibility of the vDrive for use with software that insists on accessing via mdv1_. And buy an all-black(NZ, pun - sorry!) microdrive extension cable from Charlie too - the Spectrum ones are fine, but multi-coloured.

And the 3D-printed case is lovely. Matches the QL perfectly. Nice, fine texture to the surface. In fact, if you have ZX microdrives, it would be interesting to see if you could recase them inside this enclosure. You'd need a longer extension cable, to reach the MDV port on the right hand side, of course. But it would be cool to see a few QL-style-cased vDrives and ZX Microdrives daisy-chained on the right-hand side of a QL.

Be aware that there are HM Customs and Royal Mail fees to be paid for, before the parcel is delivered. That was another £18 for me. And it delayed final delivery by a couple of days over a weekend.

Excellent comms with Charlie though. Fast despatch and transit from New Zealand to the UK. Took about 10 days.

Highly recommended.

Bryan | Oct. 23, 2019

Great

For vDrive QL - Microdrive Hardware Emulator

My order for the vLA82 arrived about a week after I placed my order. It worked and performed as expected.

Neal | Aug. 18, 2019

A cool little drive

This is a neat little drive, and a cost effective way to get an original QL updated to using a modern storage medium without making invasive changes to the system. People complain about the shipping time, but for me in the US it only took a week.

John | May 4, 2019

vDrive ZX - A fantastic bit of kit !

For vDrive QL - Microdrive Hardware Emulator

I've bought a few of these now. They are BRILLIANT. I now have the ability to continue to experience the classic microdrive experience, but using modern, reliable technology. It's just how I remember them - obviously the only difference is the drives now use an SD card, instead of a microdrive cartridge, but once you've used the built in toolkit to format the sd card, and create all your cartridge images, you then just use the microdrive as you would way back in the 80's. It even takes the same amount of time to read and save files! You could continue to use the original microdrive, with cartridges, but 30 years on, they are even more un-reliable, so I'm so glad the vDrive exists! The only thing it doesn't do, is make the motor noise..... Shipping to the UK took about 2 weeks.

John | May 4, 2019

vDrive QL

I'd already bought some vDrive ZX's for my Spectrums, so took the plunge, and bought a vDrive QL for my QL (obviously!).
Shipping to the UK took about 2 weeks.
As with the Spectrum version, these devices are superb. Once the SD card is setup with the built in toolkit, to create your cartridge images, you just use them in the same manner as you would a normal microdrive. Doesn't make the motor noises though, which is a shame, but, it's a very small issue, and one that i'm more than happy to live with.

Would I recommend them? absolutely !

Michal | April 7, 2019

This is real ZX Microdrive replacement!

Hi!

I ordered vDrive at 14. February and got it in April (I don't know exact date, I was on a vacation). Still worth of waiting, because it's really nice piece of hw and it really works like real microdrive. The build-in firmware have nice toolkit, you can use for format SD card, create/remove directories and files. Downloaded MDRs files works without problems too.

mike/zeroteam

Paul | March 25, 2019

Great addition for those that use their Spectrums