Editing Loki (computer) (section)

== Design ==

According to an article published in ''[[Sinclair User]]'' magazine, Loki was to have a 7&nbsp;MHz [[Zilog Z80|Z80H]] [[Central processing unit|CPU]], a minimum of 128 [[kibibyte|KiB]] of [[Random access memory|RAM]] and two custom chips providing much enhanced video and audio capabilities<ref name=":1" /> compared to the ZX Spectrum, but with a compatibility mode.<ref>{{Cite news |date=July 1986 |title=Loki: Taking the programmer's view |work=[[Sinclair User]] |issue=52 |url=https://sinclairuser.com/052/lokiprg.htm}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Pennycook |date=2012 |title=Sinclair Loki documentation - The proposal for the Sinclair Loki Super-Spectrum computer |url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/jpennycook/7965902422/ |website=Flickr}}</ref>  The video chip, referred to as the ''Rasterop'' chip, would  have [[blitter]]-type functionality and three different modes: 512×256 pixels with 16 colours, 256×212 with 256 colours, or 256×212 with 64 colours and two bits per pixel used for "blitter objects".<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Smith |first=Tony |date=February 19, 2014 |title=Loki, LC3 and Pandora: The great Sinclair might-have-beens |url=https://www.theregister.com/2014/02/19/archaeologic_sinclair_research_might_have_beens/ |access-date=2022-11-23 |website=The Register |language=en}}</ref>  Comprehensive peripheral support was also claimed, including [[MIDI]], [[lightpen]], joystick and [[floppy disk]]. A version of the [[SuperBASIC]] language from the [[Sinclair QL]] was to be provided in place of the old [[Sinclair BASIC]] for the [[ZX Spectrum]] and support for the [[CP/M]] [[operating system]] was also intended.  On top of this, the computer would cost as little as £200.<ref name="Sinclair User">{{cite journal | date = June 1986 | title = SuperSpectrum! | journal = [[Sinclair User]] | issue = 51 | pages = 24–25 | url = http://www.sincuser.f9.co.uk/051/loki.htm | accessdate = 2007-06-02 | url-status = dead | archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20070707111238/http://www.sincuser.f9.co.uk/051/loki.htm | archivedate = 2007-07-07 }}</ref>

Another Spectrum magazine, ''[[Crash (magazine)|Crash]]'', poured scorn on the report in ''Sinclair User'', dismissing the design as "[[vaporware|dreamware]]" in the opinion of an ex-Sinclair designer they consulted, analysing the implied components and costs, and adding, "It may be fun to dream about Loki, but the fact is that it won't appear, and nor will anything like it." This was the rationale, according to Crash Technical Editor Simon Goodwin:

{{ quote
| Being blessed with lots of headed typing paper and very little money, the Thinkers at Sinclair were invited to make a big list of trendy computer features. That list, embellished with a few charts and tables but a noticeable lack of circuit diagrams and real detail, finally escaped into the hands of the computer press. Despite six years of agonising experience of the difference between Sinclair specifications and reality they swallowed it whole. Technical know-how has never been a strong point in magazines that still—indeed, the same month—print Commodore 64 screen shots in their Spectrum software preview section.
| <ref>{{Cite news |last=Goodwin |first=Simon |date=August 1986 |title=TECH TIPS - LOKI THE JOKI |work=CRASH |issue=31 |url=https://www.crashonline.org.uk/31/loki.htm}}</ref>
}}