Instruct: Given a question, retrieve documents that can help answer the question.
Query: What was the memory of the first Amstrad CPC?
The CPC models' hardware is based on the Zilog Z80A CPU, complemented with either 64 or 128KB of RAM. Their computer-in-a-keyboard design prominently features an integrated storage device, either a compact cassette deck or 3inch floppy disk drive. The main units were only sold bundled with either a colour, green-screen or monochrome monitor that doubles as the main unit's power supply.[2] Additionally, a wide range of first and third party hardware extensions such as external disk drives, printers, and memory extensions, was available.
The plus range is not equipped with an on-board ROM, and thus the 464plus and the 6128plus do not contain a firmware. Instead, Amstrad provided the firmware for both models via the ROM extension facility, contained on the included Burnin' Rubber and Locomotive BASIC cartridge. This resulted in reduced hardware localization cost (only some select key caps and case labels had to be localized) with the added benefit of a rudimentary copy protection mechanism (without a firmware present, the machine itself could not copy a game cartridge's content).[10] As the enhanced V4 firmware's structural differences causes problems with some CPC software directly calling firmware functions by their memory addresses, Amstrad separately sold a cartridge containing the original CPC6128's V3 firmware.[12]
On 7 April 1986 Amstrad announced it had bought from Sinclair Research "...the worldwide rights to sell and manufacture all existing and future Sinclair computers and computer products, together with the Sinclair brand name and those intellectual property rights where they relate to computers and computer related products."[31] which included the ZX Spectrum, for £5 million. This included Sinclair's unsold stock of Sinclair QLs and Spectrums. Amstrad made more than £5 million on selling these surplus machines alone. Amstrad launched two new variants of the Spectrum: the ZX Spectrum +2, based on the ZX Spectrum 128, with a built-in tape drive (like the CPC 464) and, the following year, the ZX Spectrum +3, with a built-in floppy disk drive (similar to the CPC 664 and 6128), taking the 3" discs that Amstrad CPC machines used.
This list contains 1694 game titles released for the Amstrad CPC home computer series.
Amstrad CP/M Plus character set List of Amstrad CPC emulators List of Amstrad CPC games GX4000 SymbOS (multitasking operating system)
Amstrad CPCs are equipped with either 64 (CPC464, CPC664, 464plus, GX4000) or 128 (CPC6128, 6128plus)KB of RAM.[20][22] This base memory can be extended by up to 512KB using memory expansions sold by third-party manufacturers, and by up to 4096KB using experimental methods developed by hardware enthusiasts. Because the Z80 processor is only able to directly address 64KB of memory, additional memory from the 128KB models and memory expansions is made available using bank switching.
October 1985's issue 10 looks at the new Amstrad CPC 6128; a new computer with a disk drive plus 128k of memory.
The Amstrad CPC (short for Colour Personal Computer) is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, where it successfully established itself primarily in the United Kingdom, France, Spain, and the German-speaking parts of Europe.
The CPC 464 was eventually powered by the Zilog Z80 processor after the original attempts to use the 6502 processor, being used in the Commodore 64 and Apple II, failed. The Z80 ran at 4 MHz, had 64K of memory and ran AMSDOS, Amstrad's own OS. The unit included a built in tape drive and the choice of a green or colour monitor.
The CPC 464 had 3 display modes.
Sugar founded Amstrad (AMS (his initials) Trading) in 1968. The company began as a general importer/exporter and wholesaler, but soon specialised in consumer electronics. By 1970, the first manufacturing venture was underway. He achieved lower production prices by using injection moulding plastics for hi-fi turntable covers, severely undercutting competitors who used vacuum-forming processes. Manufacturing capacity was soon expanded to include the production of audio amplifiers and tuners.
In 1980, Amstrad was listed on the London Stock Exchange and during the 1980s Amstrad doubled its profit and market value every year. By 1984, recognising the opportunity of the home computer era, Amstrad launched an 8-bit machine, the Amstrad CPC 464. Although the CPC range were attractive machines, with CP/M-capability and a good BASIC interpreter, it had to compete with its arch-rivals, the more graphically complex Commodore 64 and the popular Sinclair ZX Spectrum, not to mention the highly sophisticated BBC Micro. Despite this, three million units were sold worldwide with a long production life of eight years. It inspired an East German version with Z80 clone processors. In 1985, Sugar had another major breakthrough with the launch of the Amstrad PCW 8256 word processor which retailed at over £300, but was still considerably cheaper than rival machines (such as the Apple Macintosh Plus, which retailed at $2599). In 1986 Amstrad bought the rights to the Sinclair computer product line and produced two more ZX Spectrum models in a similar style to their CPC machines. It also developed the PC1512, a PC compatible computer, which became quite popular in Europe and was the first in a line of Amstrad PCs.
Doctor Who and the Mines of Terror is a game for the Amstrad CPC, BBC Micro and Commodore 64. It was first released by Micro Power on the BBC Micro in 1985, and on the Amstrad CPC & C64 in 1986.
The Amstrad CP/M Plus character set (alternatively known as PCW character set or ZX Spectrum +3 character set) refers to a group of 8-bit character sets introduced by Amstrad/Locomotive Software for use in conjunction with their adaptation of Digital Research's CP/M Plus on various Amstrad CPC / Schneider CPC and Amstrad PCW / Schneider Joyce machines. The character set was also utilized on the Amstrad ZX Spectrum +3 since 1987.
In 1988, after Schneider refused to market Amstrad's AT-compatible computer line, the cooperation ended. Schneider went on to sell the remaining stock of Schneider CPC models and used their now well-established market position to introduce its own PC designs. With the formation of its German daughter company Amstrad GmbH to distribute its product lines including the CPC464 and CPC6128, Amstrad attempted but ultimately failed to establish their own brand in the German-speaking parts of Europe.[25][26]
CPC Attack! was a short-lived magazine dedicated to Amstrad CPC gaming. The magazine was a successor to "Amstrad Computer User" magazine. It was characterised by a strong comic-like graphical style featuring a recurring mascot - a Tank Girl-like character called Amy Strad. Funnily enough this same character featured in "C+VG" magazine under the name "Sadie". Originally, "Amstrad Computer User" had been a much more serious magazine than its main rival "Amstrad Action". The radical redesign to "CPC Attack!" was probably an attempt to appeal to "Amstrad Action" readers.
In order to market its computers in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland where Amstrad did not have any distribution structures, Amstrad entered a partnership with Schneider Rundfunkwerke AG, a German company that - very much like Amstrad itself - was previously only known for value-priced audio products. In 1984, Schneider's Schneider Computer Division daughter company was created specifically for the task, and the complete Amstrad CPC line-up was branded and sold as Schneider CPC.
The GX4000 is a video game console that was manufactured by Amstrad. It was the company's short-lived attempt to enter the games console market. The console was released in Europe in 1990 and was an upgraded design based on the then still-popular CPC technology. The GX4000 shared hardware architecture with Amstrad's CPC Plus computer line, which was released concurrently. This allowed the system to be compatible with the majority of CPC Plus software.
Amstrad followed their success with the CPC 464 by launching the Amstrad PCW word-processor range, another Z80-based machine with a 3" disk drive and software by Locomotive Software. The PCW was originally developed to be partly compatible with an improved version of the CPC (ANT, or Arnold Number Two - the CPC's development codename was Arnold).[29][30] However, Amstrad decided to focus on the PCW, and the ANT project never came to market.
In 1990, confronted with a changing home computer market, Amstrad decided to refresh the CPC model range by introducing a new range variantly labeled plus or PLUS, 1990, or CPC+ range. The main goals were numerous enhancements to the existing CPC hardware platform, to restyle the casework to provide a contemporary appearance, and to add native support of cartridge media. The new model palette includes three variants, the 464plus and 6128plus computers and the GX4000 video game console. The "CPC" abbreviation was dropped from the model names.
The KC compact ("Kleincomputer" - which means "small computer" - being a rather literal German translation of the English "microcomputer") is a clone of the Amstrad CPC built by East Germany's VEB Mikroelektronik Mühlhausen in October 1989. Although the machine included various substitutes and emulations of an Amstrad CPC's hardware, the machine is largely compatible with Amstrad CPC software. It is equipped with 64KB memory and a CPC6128's firmware customized to the modified hardware, including an unmodified copy of Locomotive BASIC 1.1. The KC compact is the last 8-bit computer produced in East Germany.[14]
Palace Software developed "Cauldron II" for three home computers: Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, and ZX Spectrum. The game was first released for the Commodore 64, and then for the Amstrad CPC and ZX Spectrum. It was later re-released on the ZX Spectrum in 1989 by Telecomsoft under its Silverbird budget label. "Cauldron II" was also re-released with the first game as a compilation title for Amstrad CPC and ZX Spectrum computers.
"Amtix!" was Newsfield's short-lived gaming magazine dedicated to the Amstrad CPC platform. Launched in November 1985 (although a special "issue zero" was given away with "Crash" and "Zzap!64"), it offered as much in-depth coverage of the Amstrad gaming scene as its sister magazines did for the Spectrum and C64. "Amtix!" was unable to compete with Amstrad Action, the leading publication for Amstrad CPC users; only 18 issues of "Amtix!" were published before Newsfield sold the magazine to Database Publications, who merged "Amtix!" features into their own publication, Computing With The Amstrad. CWTA was a general Amstrad CPC/PCW/PC magazine, which used Amtix as the brand for its games review section. CWTA later split into three single-format magazines including "Computing with the Amstrad CPC", and it was CWTACPC which continued using the Amtix name for its games section.
In the early 1990s, Amstrad began to focus on portable computers rather than desktop computers. In 1990, Amstrad tried to enter the video game console market with the Amstrad GX4000, similar to what Commodore did at the same time with the C64 GS. The console, based on the Amstrad 464 Plus hardware, was a complete commercial failure, because it used outdated technology, and most games available for it were straight ports of CPC games that could be purchased for much less in their original format.
In 1985, Spain briefly introduced an import tax on computers without ñ letter key and containing 64KB or less of RAM. To circumvent this, Amstrad's Spanish distributor Indescomp (later to become Amstrad Spain) created and distributed the CPC472, a modified version of the CPC464. Its main difference is a small additional daughter board containing a CPC664 ROM chip, and an 8KB memory chip which is not electrically connected to the machine, and consequently rendered unusable. Its sole purpose was supposedly to increase the machine's total memory specs to 72KB in order to circumvent the import tax. Only a month after the CPC472 had been released, Amstrad added the ñ key for the 464 so this tariff was not applied to 64k computers anymore and production of the CPC472 was discontinued.[13]
After the successful release of the CPC464, consumers were constantly asking for two improvements: more memory and an internal disk drive. For Amstrad, the latter was easier to realize. At the deliberately low-key introduction of the CPC664 in May 1985, the machine was positioned not only as the lowest-cost disk system but even the lowest-cost CP/M 2.2 machine. In the Amstrad CPC product range the CPC664 complemented the CPC464 which was neither discontinued nor reduced in price.[7]
In 1980, Amstrad went public trading on the London Stock Exchange, and doubled in size each year during the early '80s. Amstrad began marketing its own home computers in an attempt to capture the market from Commodore and Sinclair, with the Amstrad CPC range in 1984. The CPC 464 was launched in the UK, France, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Spain and Italy. It was followed by the CPC 664 and CPC 6128 models. Later "Plus" variants of the 464 and 6128, launched in 1990, increased their functionality slightly.
In 1985, the popular Amstrad PCW range was introduced, which were principally word processors, complete with printer, running the LocoScript word processing program. They were also capable of running the CP/M operating system. The Amsoft division of Amstrad was set up to provide in-house software and consumables.