Which is best

sj_howlett

Of all the emulators listed here:

http://www.worldofspectrum.org/emulators.html

Which is considered the best is terms of compatibility and ease of use?

Battle Bunny

I use ZXSpin most of the time, not because I think it's the best (or that there is a "best"), just out of habit & convenience (plus it is very good). Otherwise, if I'm debugging assembler I'll usually use ZXSpin, sometimes Fuse; if I want the debugger closely synched with the screen update I'll use SpecEmu; if I want to check the sound output I'll use Fuse; if I want to test something with If.1 or Microdrives I'll use WinZ80. Spectaculator is another good one.

Ralf

You won't get a definite answer which is the best here. You are just provoking these guys for a flamewar ;)

But usually mentioned among the best are Spectalulator, Spin, SpecEmu and Fuse (in no particular order).

There are also "specialized" emulators which while can't be generally considered "the best" may do things that no other emulators can do - emulate some rare clones, have advanced debugging etc.

Morkin

"Compatibility and ease of use". I'm not sure about "compatibility", but here are my personal views on "ease of use":

I usually play games on Spectaculator - if there are incompatibilities I haven't noticed any, and I find it pretty easy to use. I downloaded the trial version first just to test something out on it as I'm a bit tight fisted when it comes to parting with money :lol:, but I thought it was cool and simple to use and I ended up buying it.

I'd recommend Spin to any non-programmer wanting to take their first steps in learning how to program in machine code (assembly), because of its built-in assembler. You can get up and running very quickly with very few instructions. In fact, it's just about the only one I (as a non IT-expert) have successfully managed to get up and working with no effort, and you can compile & test code at any time within a couple of seconds. I also find it fairly easy to take screenshots/GIFs in Spin.

sj_howlett

Ralf wrote: »

You won't get a definite answer which is the best here. You are just provoking these guys for a flamewar ;)

Haha we don't want that :)

Although in fairness I did say "compatibility and ease of use?".

I've gone with Spin and it seems to tick all my boxes.

Thanks for the recommendations.

rich_chandler

Spud is the best emulator and I'll delete any posts that say otherwise...

zx81

karingal wrote: »

Spud is the best emulator and I'll delete any posts that say otherwise...

But JSpeccy runs in circles around Spud, you know... :p

Jim M

After much messing around I use zxspin.

rich_chandler

zx81 wrote: »

But JSpeccy runs in circles around Spud, you know... :p

Where's my ban hammer?

paranoid marvin

For a paid emulator, then Spectaculator.

For a free one ZX Spin

Although I do have a soft spot for Klive!

Pegaz

Paid or not, SpecEmu is the best.
Then ZXDS, Spectaculator and ZX Mak 2.
For the Russian clones - UnrealSpeccy.

RobeeeJay

I usually use Fuse, nothing against the other emulators, but I don't really use them for playing games just testing out things. There isn't one ideal emulator for me, it seems to depend what I need to do and what hardware I need it to support at the time.