Vital Statistics

In 1986, Amstrad moved on from their successes in the personal computer market by releasing their first IBM PC-compatible computers, the PC1512 and PC1640. Both PCs were almost identical, with the exception that the PC1640 had 640K of RAM over the PC1512's 512K. They were up against IBM whose 8086-based IBM PC/XT was selling in droves. The PC1640 was sold in the US as the PC6400.

The design of these machines was slightly different to IBM's offering. The power supply was housed in the monitor, just as with Amstrad's CPC range of home computers. Many peripheral interface boards were hard-wired on the main board, including serial and parallel interfaces and the disk controller. Also, the PC1512's CGA-compatible display had a 9-pin DIN socket instead of the more standard 9-pin D-type socket that was adopted on the PC1640. An area of RAM was set aside, called NVR (non-volatile RAM), which was battery-backed (AA batteries!!) and stored configuration data of the machine. This also stored the realtime clock. The MCGA monitor option allowed for the simultaneous display of 4 colours from a total palette of 16 colours. For the PC1640, an EGA video option was made available, allowing for the simultaneous display of 16 colours from a palette of 64.

Upgrade options for the PC1512 and PC1640 were somewhat restrictive. The most common upgrade was to fit a hard disk, and this was typically done through the purchase and installation of a "hard card" (an expansion card that had a hard disk vertically mounted on it). These hard disks were typically 10Mb or 20Mb in capacity. Upgrading the video to EGA or VGA was, however, not possible. Upgrading the memory of the PC1512 was a simple matter of adding a further 128K of RAM chips to the main board.

The PC2000-series was introduced in 1988 and were principally sold as business machines. These unfortunately met with some issues at launch, including faulty MS-DOS 4.0 disks and faulty disk controllers (neither of which were Amstrad's fault). Amstrad resolved these issues quickly but the media frenzy damaged sales irrevocably. The range comprised a replacement to the PC1512/1640 in the form of the PC2086 (with Intel 8086 processor @ 8 MHz and 640K RAM), the PC2286 (with Intel 80286 processor @ 12.5 MHz and 1Mb RAM), PC2386 (with Intel 80386DX-20 processor and 4Mb RAM). All three machines boasted VGA graphics, 720K 3.5" floppy drive, and the monitor no longer housed the power supply, making upgrading simpler. Options included a 32Mb RLL hard disk, a second 3.5" 720K floppy drive, and an external 5.25" floppy drive. The flagship PC2386 came with a 64Mb hard disk and a single 3.5" floppy drive. It was bundled with MS-DOS 4.01, Microsoft Windows 2.1 (forebear of Windows 3.0), and Microsoft GW-BASIC.

The PC3000-series, launched in 1990, marked Amstrad's move to a more conventional PC design, in order to overcome upgrade issues with its former series of PCs and to freshen up its PC line. This series comprised the PC3086 (with Intel 8086 processor @ 8 MHz and 640K RAM), the PC3286 (with Intel 80286 processor @ 16 MHz and 1Mb RAM), PC3386 SX (with Intel 80386SX-20 processor and 1Mb RAM).

The PC4000-series, launched in 1991, consisted of just one machine, which wasn't even an upgrade over the PC3386 - called the PC4386 SX, it retained the Intel 80386SX-20 processor, but came with 4Mb of RAM and an 80Mb hard disk. It was housed in a smaller case, which was used again in the PC5000-series.

The PC5000-series, also launched in 1991, used the smaller, sleeker PC4386 case design, and comprised the PC5086 (with Intel 8086 processor @ 8 MHz and 640K RAM), the PC5286 (with Intel 80286 processor @ 16 MHz and 1Mb RAM), PC5386 SX (with Intel 80386SX-20 processor, 2Mb RAM and VGA graphics). The PC5286 was the first PC to be marketed as a games machine, and came with an Adlib- and SoundBlaster-compatible sound card manufactured by Amstrad themselves, and was bundled with some games and Pc-Works software suite. It didn't sell in great number, possibly because of it's slightly underpowered 80286 processor. Both the PC4386 and PC5286 was marketed as "family packs" just prior to being discontinued.

The PC6000-series consisted again of just one machine, called the PC6486 SX, it made use of the then-new Intel i486SX processor.

Amstrad also released a PC7000-series, PC8000-series and PC9000-series, most of which were rather ordinary PC-compatible units in a sea of other manufacturers systems. One Amstrad PC of note was the unusual Mega-PC, released in 1992. This was a SEGA MegaDrive and a PC all in one unit. The PC was a 386SX-25 with 1MB of RAM and a 40MB hard disk. The user could operate a slider on the front that switched the unit from PC mode into MegaDrive mode. The Mega-PC could be used with the SEGA Mega-CD using a special connector, only available from Amstrad. Later, an updated version of the Mega-PC was sold which used an Intel i486 running at 33 MHz and came with 4MB of RAM. Amstrad ceased production of the Mega-PC in 1993.

Luggables

Following the huge number of sales of PC1512 and PC1640 units, Amstrad designed two "luggable" versions of the same. Called the PPC512 and PPC640 and launched in 1988, these weren't very portable, due to their 22lb weight. The base PPC512 machine came with 512K of RAM, a single 3.5" floppy disk drive, and a non-backlit LCD display which was difficult to read in bad light. The PPC640 came with 640K of RAM and a built-in 9600 baud modem. It's case was grey instead of the PPC512's cream. Both were bundled with MS-DOS 3.3 and Organiser software that only worked on the PPC-series. They could be powered either from ten D-type batteries (which would only last a couple of hours), or from the external 12V power supply. Upgrading the PPC-series was almost impossible, and no hard disk option was ever offered, although a dual-floppy option existed. Both machines sported CGA graphics capability with an additional extended 640x200 16-colour mode.

Laptops

Amstrad also released four laptop/notebook computers throughout the 1990s: the ALT286 was an Intel 80286-based laptop running at 16 MHz, and came with 1Mb RAM. Released at the same time, the ALT386 SX came with an Intel i386 SX-20 processor. Both these had monochrome VGA screens. A colour-TFT version of the ALT386 SX came in the form of the ACL386 SX. Later, a smaller notebook version arrived, called the ANB386 SX.