Vital Statistics

The Amstrad PCW-series of computers were introduced as easy to use dedicated word processor machines, bundled with a printer and word processing software (Locoscript). Initially in 1985, just the PCW8256 and PCW8512 were released - the PCW8256 having 256K of RAM and a green-on-black screen, the PCW8512 having 512K of RAM and a black & white screen. They were unique in the market with their integrated design - the main computer board, drives, and screen were all a single unit.

They were sold with a 9-pin dot matrix printer, They all used CP/M as the base disk operating system, and the bundled software all written by Locomotive software. This included Mallard BASIC, Locoscript word processor, LocoMail, LocoFile, LocoSpell and Dr. Logo.

Both units had built-in 3" disk drives that used CF2 single-sided disks (180K on each side), although the PCW8512 got two drives as standard.

In 1987, the PCW9512 (see top) was introduced and came bundled with the better quality and faster daisywheel printer, a single 3" 720K floppy disk drive, and a black on white display. The PCW9512 also came with a standard Centronics parallel printer port and shipped with Locoscript v2.

These machines were succeeded in 1991 by the PCW9256 and the PCW9512+. The PCW9512+ was a rework of the PCW9512 but got the more standard 3.5" disk drive to replace the 3" Hitachi drives used by all other models, and a choice of either the daisywheel or a new Canon Bubblejet printer. The PCW9256 was similar but with half the RAM, no parallel port and the dot-matrix printer. It also reverted back to Locoscript v1.

In August 1993, all these models were replaced by the PcW-10, which looked like the PCW9256 but with 512K of RAM, parallel port, and ran its Z80 at 8 MHz. It came with the same keyboard and 9-pin dot matrix printer as the 9256, along with the platform for it that sat on top of the monitor. Software-wise, it still ran CP/M as the core operating system and Locoscript v2 as the word processor, but the boot disks of previous systems were no longer compatible. The PcW's now used EMT files rather than EMS (early morning start) files. Expansion possibilities were the same as for all prior PCWs - the expansion port on the PcW-10 is the same as the original PCW8256.

The PcW-16, introduced in 1995, was the last "Personal Computer Word Processor" to roll out of Amstrad. Just as with the former PCWs, it was marketed at individuals who would otherwise buy a typewriter. It was a major redesign, and copied several ideas from the PC. However, instead of having an internal hard disk drive, the Operating System and user files were stored on a 1 Mb flash memory chip, avoiding the need for boot disks. It ran the Z80 at 16 MHz, and came with a 1.44 Mb 3.5" floppy disk drive, 1 Mb of RAM, a monochrome 640 x 480 display, and a Mouse Systems-compatible mouse. The PCW-16 also had some software improvements, in the form of a brand new operating system, Rosanne, which was written by Creative Technology (the same company that produced the PCW's "MicroDesign" DTP package), and looked similar to Apple's Mac OS. The PCW-16 did not sell well, and suffered from complete incompatibility with previous PCW machines (although it did support the importing of older PCW documents). Locoscript nor CP/M would run on it. Strangely, the PcW-16 did not come bundled with a printer.