Lachlant1984 (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)

I never had a Speak and Spell or Speak and Math but a friend of mine had both and he told me the units could do some strange things when the batteries went flat, a good reason to use these unit with an AC Adaptor.

chabba77 (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)

That wasn't just the British version that sounded funky. The American version also had some words that weren't clearly articulated. One that sticks out in my mind was "echo". It sounded more like "uh-oh". I befuddled me because even as a little kid I knew "uh-oh" wasn't a real word. Then when it gave the correct spelling as E-C-H-O, I thought that sounded nothing like "echo". And this was considered state of the art in the 70s/80s.

chabba77 (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)

I don't see why this wouldn't work with the old-style push-button S&S. You'd think it was the same thing, with a different style of switch for the keys. I also remember making mine do weird things by putting it into module mode, then removing the cartridge. I was able to do this by powering it with an AC adapter, clearing the way for the cartridge. You should try that if you have a compatible adapter, and maybe make a video of the results.

chabba77 (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)

Yeah, it seemed to mimic a game, even allowing you to choose a level. Then when you press GO, a couple of zeros and a + symbol would appear, then it would lock up. You couldn't exit that mode or even turn the thing off without taking out the batteries. It kinda freaked me out the first time it happened, like it was being controlled by aliens or something.

plateshutoverlock (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)

WIN!

plateshutoverlock (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)

HA! Me too! I always wondered if it was an incomplete 'game' that was left in by the programmers

plateshutoverlock (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)

Heh, I remember when the batteries went low in mine the display would light random segments and with a staticly background and a *higher pitched* scary voice would go Elf Elf, E E E E E! Also, does anybody remember the trick with the Speak and Math where if you press 2 of the "game select" keys at the same time, the display would show the words "WHOO JOO" and it would run through it's voice samples (sounding very like this video) before saying "Level 1" and freezing

Lachlant1984 (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)

Do you remember Talking Lesson One? Is said Apple the same way that you Speak and Spell says it. It's a matter of opinion, but I absolutely HATE CIRCUIT BENDING! I never owned a Speak and SPell, but Talking Lesson One sometimes did simmilar things when the batteries went flat.

521182 (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)

lolI only looked this up cause of Dane Cook's joke on speak and spell!

stenophonic (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)

great find, man. thanks!