Take a look at the range of computer products from Amstrad over the years.
Personal Computer (1984). Amstrad's first computer product. At the time, the home computer was not a mass-market product – more for the hobbyist than the average truck driver and his wife. What’s more, in order to use other home computers of the time (eg. Sinclair Spectrum, Commodore 64, BBC Micro) one had to commandeer the family TV to use as a monitor, then attach a portable cassette player to use as a software loader – all in all, not a good user-experience. And so, drawing on the same principles that served him so well with audio Tower Systems, Alan Sugar brought his ‘plug in and play’ ethos to the world of personal computers. Everything you needed was in the box – the system unit had the keyboard and cassette deck built-in, and it came with its own monitor. The monitor powered the system unit, so once again there was just one mains plug. And the CPC464 came out at a price that had the public flocking.
There were two monitor options available with this product: the CTM640 colour monitor or the GT64 green-screen monitor.
Personal Computer (1985). This was the immediate successor to the CPC464. Its raison d’être was that games and business software, loaded via cassette, was too slow and error-prone. Floppy disks were the future. Amstrad had already released the DDI1 disk drive interface as an add-on for the CPC464; however, doing so was departing from Amstrad’s user friendly ‘all in one’ concept, and so Amstrad launched this computer with an integral disk drive.
There were two monitor options available with this product: the CTM640 colour monitor or the GT65 green-screen monitor.
Personal Computer (1985). This was the long-term successor to the CPC464 (following the short-lived CPC664). The CPC6128 was a more compact unit and had double the memory of its predecessors. With its built-in disk drive, it was able to run more ‘serious’ software and became another Amstrad best seller.
There were two monitor options available with this product: the CTM640 colour monitor or the GT65 green-screen monitor.
Personal Computer for the Spanish market (1985). The enormous success of the CPC464 in Britain and Europe began to tread on people's toes. A Spanish manufacturer of 64k computers didn't take too kindly to competition from the Amstrad model and persuaded the Spanish government to find a way of blocking sales of the CPC464. Their solution was to ban all computers of 64k and below from importation into Spain. However, in true fighting fashion, Alan Sugar overcame this obstacle by releasing a 72k version – the CPC472.
Dot Matrix Printers for the Amstrad CPC and PC range of computers (c.1984-92).
Accessories for the Amstrad CPC range of personal computers (c.1984). Model DDI1 was a floppy disk drive and interface for the CPC464 (the FD1 was an additional (2nd) floppy disk drive). Models MP1 and MP2 were RF modulators - with one of these, the user could connect the CPC to their colour TV - particularly useful if they had purchased the green-screen (GT64/GT65) version of the CPC. Model LP1 was a light pen for use with various CPC464 games and applications. Model JS1 was a games joystick.
Accessories for Amstrad computers (c.1984-89). Model RS232C was a serial interface for the CPC range.
Model SSA1 was a speech synthesiser and stereo amplifier (+speakers), while models JY3 and AJ5 were games joysticks for the CPC and PC ranges respectively.
Model SM2400 was a modem for data transfer via a telephone landline – further info from the Centre for Computing History here.
Personal Computer Wordprocessor (1985). Having started ‘Getting Britain Computing’ the previous year with the CPC range, Alan Sugar was convinced there was more to the home computer than playing games. He’d seen large office versions of a ‘word processor’ and was impressed – unlike a typewriter, here was a machine on which you could type a letter but if you made a mistake, you didn’t have to pull out the paper and start again – you simply edited it on screen and carried on. There were other advantages too, such as copy & paste and the ability to save documents. From his experience producing the CPC computers and peripherals, Alan Sugar knew the elements needed to make a wordprocessor - a keyboard, a screen, a printer and a disk drive - all that was required was the hardware and software to bring it together. It's important to bear in mind that wordprocessors at the time cost in the region of thousands if not tens of thousands of pounds. The PCW8256 was released at a staggering £399! Alan Sugar had done it again.
Desktop Personal Computer (1986). The idea of Alan Sugar taking on IBM in the home professional market was unthinkable. This massive American corporation had up to then cornered the market with its de facto Personal Computer, which retailed at a thousand pounds or more. Alan Sugar assessed the machine’s ‘bill of materials’ and realised that he could bring the product to the market for a fraction of that. And at a stroke, Amstrad smashed the monopoly IBM had held, thereby unlocking full-blown ‘serious’ computing to the masses. This pioneering move has been responsible for the low cost of home computing enjoyed by the public ever since. Once again, Alan Sugar’s no-nonsense approach smashed the big boys’ cosy cartel and changed the way the world viewed and used computers – forever!
Alternative TV advert here.
Further reading here.
Desktop Personal Computer (1988). The series comprised PC2086, PC2286 and PC2386 – further info from the Centre for Computing History here.
The PC2000 series turned out to be disastrous because the hard disk drive (HDD) manufacturers, Seagate and Western Digital, shipped Amstrad faulty HDDs. Amstrad successfully sued both companies but the reputational damage was done. On a lighter note, in the wake of this disaster, even Only Fools And Horses' Del Boy had some sympathetic advice for Alan Sugar (see More Images: The Trotter Way to Millions © John Haselden).
Portable Personal Computer (c.1988).
In the words of Project Co-ordinator Roland Perry: The PPC wasn't a laptop, it was a luggable for peripatetic professionals to carry, along with their software, to a client site and on arrival borrow a PC monitor. The LCD screen was just for setup and emergencies. It was also the first computer ever to be advertised within an in-flight magazine, courtesy of Jennifer Bradley (Perry) who before joining Amstrad Inc worked for American Airlines' advertising agency and understood the target market.
Personal Computer (c.1988).
Desktop Personal Computer series (c.1991-93).
Portable Computer (1991).
Desktop Personal Computer (c.1992). The world's smallest computer, the miniature PC4386 had a tiny system unit and a specially commissioned 8-inch monitor. Known variously as the Shoehorn or Baby PC, one of its press advertising campaigns featured a baby wearing a Police Constable's helmet.
Portable Computer (1992). A simple-to-use forerunner of the present-day laptop, having four colour-coded keys providing instant access to a number of built-in applications, including a wordprocessor, calculator, diary and address book. Alan Sugar himself wrote the introduction in the user manual, stating, 'If you can't use this new computer in five minutes, you can have your money back.'
Brochure and specification here.
Personal Computer incorporating a Sega Mega Drive (1993).
