Category:Amstrad: Difference between revisions

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Welcome to the Amstrad category! Amstrad (Alan Michael Sugar Trading) was a British consumer electronics company founded in 1968 by Alan Sugar. From 1984 to the mid-1990s, Amstrad produced one of the most diverse home and small-business computing line-ups of any European manufacturer, spanning Z80-based home computers (the CPC range), all-in-one word processors (the PCW range), IBM PC compatibles (the PC1000 through PC9000 series), Z80 notebook computers (the Notepad NC range), a cartridge games console derived from the CPC Plus (the GX4000), and a unique IBM PC + Sega Mega Drive hybrid (the Mega PC). This category covers preventive maintenance, fault diagnosis and capacitor replacement for every member of those families.

Each system features:

• Cleaning, mechanical and electrical maintenance guides
• Common faults and repair procedures
• Capacitor replacement specifications for the planar, PSU and (PCW range) integrated CRT subsystem
• Floppy drive belt and head maintenance — especially for the 3-inch Amsoft / Hitachi drives used across the CPC and PCW ranges
• Period upgrade and modification documentation

The CPC range was Amstrad's entry into the home computer market and consists of three original Z80-based machines (464, 664, 6128) and two cartridge-equipped successors (the 464 Plus and 6128 Plus). All five share the Z80A CPU at 4 MHz and use the same 3-inch floppy diskette format (CPC 664 / 6128 / 6128 Plus). Original CPCs use the CTM-640 monochrome and CTM-644 colour monitors, both of which also supply power to the system unit.

The GX4000 is a games console based on the CPC Plus hardware, released in September 1990. It shares the ASIC, video and sound subsystems of the 464 Plus and 6128 Plus but is sold without a keyboard or tape drive, with software supplied only on the new CPC Plus cartridge format.

The PCW ("Personal Computer Word processor") line was Amstrad's all-in-one Z80-based word-processing computer with integrated monitor and bundled daisywheel or dot-matrix printer. All PCW models run LocoScript and are capable of running CP/M Plus. The 8256, 8512, 9256 and 9512 use the same 3-inch floppy diskette format as the CPC range; the 9256 onwards moved to 3.5-inch diskettes. The PCW 16 (1995) is a radical redesign with an ARM-derived CPU and a GUI ("Rosanne"), and is included here for completeness.

The PC1000 series was Amstrad's first IBM PC clone line. Both machines house the PSU inside the monitor rather than the system unit and ship with a CGA-based video adapter that uses a composite sync signal — Amstrad PC1000 monitors are not pin-compatible with standard CGA monitors. The PC1512 introduced an Amstrad-specific extended CGA mode (640 × 200 in 16 colours). The PC1640 added an EGA-capable video board.

The PC2000 series introduced the Paradise PVGA1A planar VGA chipset (256 KB VRAM) to the Amstrad PC range and moved the PSU into the standard system-unit position. PC2086 / 3086 are 8086-based XT-class machines; PC2286 / 3286 use a 80286; PC2386 / 3386SX use the 80386DX or 80386SX. The 3000 series is mechanically compacter than the 2000 series.

The later PC lines moved Amstrad onto industry-standard PS/2-style keyboards and mice (with a PC5086 oddity: a switch on the back puts the keyboard into XT or AT protocol), industry-standard 40-pin IDE hard drives (replacing the earlier RLL Stratum Sprint), and Citizen-supplied 26-pin floppy drives (PC5086 only).

The PPC512 and PPC640 are 12 V "luggable" portables: NEC V30 CPU, supertwist non-backlit CGA LCD, and a 14-pin DIN socket that allows the unit to be powered (and the LCD bypassed) by a PC1640 MD/CD/ECD monitor. The ALT-286 and ALT-386SX are conventional clamshell laptops with backlit LCDs.

The Notepad line is a series of A4-size Z80-based notebook computers running Protext word processor and bundled with a Z80 BASIC interpreter, designed by Cliff Lawson. The PenPad PDA600 (1993) is an early pen-based PDA with handwriting recognition, based on the ARM610.

The Mega PC is a 386SX-25 IBM PC with a complete Sega Mega Drive (Genesis) integrated into the system unit, switchable between modes. It was a collaboration between Amstrad and Sega and is one of the most unusual hybrids of the era.

The Amstrad ecosystem includes a number of peripherals that are essential to the CPC, PCW and PC ranges and benefit from their own maintenance pages.

• Capacitor Failure Symptoms
• Recommended Tools
• LocoScript — word-processing software shipped with every PCW
• 3-inch Floppy Diskette — common to the CPC 664/6128 and the PCW 8256/8512/9512

• Amstrad — Wikipedia. History of the company and the principal product lines.
• Amstrad PC1512 — Wikipedia; Amstrad PC2286 — Wikipedia. Source for the PC1000 and PC2000 series technical specifications.
• Amstrad PC — CPCWiki. Detailed catalogue of every Amstrad PC desktop and portable.
• Amstrad PC Technical Section — Retro Isle. Source for the PSU-in-monitor design of the PC1000 series, the Paradise PVGA1A chipset of the PC2000/3000 series, the PC5086 keyboard XT/AT switch, the 4 × AA RTC battery and CMOS quirk, and the GEM/DR-DOS/MS-DOS bundle history.
• Amstrad NC100 — Wikipedia; Amstrad NC200 — Wikipedia; Amstrad PenPad — Wikipedia. Sources for the Notepad and PenPad ranges.
• Amstrad PCW — Wikipedia. Source for the PCW range chronology and the PCW 16 ARM-derived redesign.
• Amstrad Mega PC — Wikipedia. Source for the IBM PC + Sega Mega Drive hybrid.