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Old 7th Nov 2021, 8:14 am   #1
electronicskip
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Default Amstrad.What stuff do you have?

With all this recent talk of Amstrad repairs and stuff for sale , i was wondering if anyone else had a soft spot for the Marque?and collected bit n bobs.

For my part i have quite a bit of Amstrad branded products in my collection .

Amstrad 8000 amp (first Amstrad home built product)
Amstrad SM104 Linear record deck
Amstrad GX4000 Games machine
Amstrad CPC 464 Computer
Sinclair ZX Spectrum+3 (after the Amstrad takeover)
Amstrad NC100 Notepad (i think i still have it)
Amstrad SRX 100/200 Satellite systems
Amstrad boomboxes (one or two)
Amstrad 7070 Separate (tape unit) might be wrong on the model
Amstrad emailer phone.

Plus a few other bits ive got scattered around various storage places.
What do you have? if any?
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Old 7th Nov 2021, 8:39 am   #2
stevehertz
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Default Re: Amstrad.What stuff do you have?

Just the two 5050 receivers (one of which is up for sale) and possibly a pair of speakers that came with them but are unmarked. I'm led to believe that the Executive series hifi components were good value.

In my first job as PR Officer for Thorn EMI, the department secretary's word processor was an Amstrad PCW9512. When the whole department was closed down in '91 I bought it for £40 and it was my word processor for a freelance writing career, and it served me well for a good few years.
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Old 7th Nov 2021, 9:20 am   #3
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Default Re: Amstrad.What stuff do you have?

i always concidered anything amstad as total crap and avoided it,same as binatone etc,sort of stuff that 10yrs before would of had a made in hong kong sticker on it!
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Old 7th Nov 2021, 9:27 am   #4
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Default Re: Amstrad.What stuff do you have?

I must agree with M3VUV51, Amstrad is in the same region as ALBA and Currys own brand stuff, Proline etc.
Does anyone remember Amstrad being hauled over the coals for calling a Television Stereo when it had just two speakers and phase shift between them giving an effect but not in true stereo?
Very naughty!
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Old 7th Nov 2021, 11:35 am   #5
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Default Re: Amstrad.What stuff do you have?

I forgot to add the two CB radios!! CB900 and 901 , i have the 901 still and never missed a beat since 1981.
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Old 7th Nov 2021, 12:07 pm   #6
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Default Re: Amstrad.What stuff do you have?

The only item I had (and still have) is my Amstrad PCW8256. I first upgraded it to 8512 spec by adding the extra memory and a second disc drive, and later later added a third external 3 1/2" drve for exporting files in ASCII. As well as home correspondence, I found it invaluable for my occasional freelance translation work. I still miss its virtually unique multiple clipboard function, with the ability to store 26 short phrases and 8 longer passages under the alphanumeric keys which could be retrieved by holding down a special function key and pressing the appropriate letter key. Very useful when a technical document contained multiple instances of several different long words such as "rauscharmhochfrequenzverstärker", as you only had to type out the translation " low noise radio frequency amplifier" in full, once. I still have it, but haven't used it since I stopped doing the freelance work.

Last edited by emeritus; 7th Nov 2021 at 12:09 pm. Reason: typos
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Old 7th Nov 2021, 12:08 pm   #7
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Default Re: Amstrad.What stuff do you have?

I think I’ve still got our work’s radio from 11 years ago that was an Amstrad CD/radio/cassette player, a weird thing where the CD radio part was separate from the cassette deck, connected by a ribbon cable that was too short to have the units side by side, so could only stand as a tower, and it had a pair of fairly low power speakers with it. For some unknown reason I rescued it when the place closed down! The CD player part never worked, but I traced that to a duff fuse, replaced it and it worked absolutely fine.

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Old 7th Nov 2021, 2:04 pm   #8
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Default Re: Amstrad.What stuff do you have?

My Family had a 4600 VCR from 1987 to 2004. It was one of the first machines to offer double density recording to an E-180 tape could hold 6 hours of footage. The quality was compromised, but it was fine for watch once & wipe recording.

I can remember only once it needed professional attention when a belt snapped, & was still working when my Dad bought an LG DVD/VHS machine.

My Gran had one of those Amstrad stereos built into a cabinet, with almost everything report controlled including the record player.
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Old 7th Nov 2021, 2:09 pm   #9
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Default Re: Amstrad.What stuff do you have?

I still actively use an Amstrad PPC640 'portable' computer, the one that is wider than a 19" rack panel. I've modified it so that the second floppy drive bay contains a DC37 socket to connect to an external drive, I use it with a little device called a 'microtest' which is used to test and align floppy disk drives.

One great advantge of the Amstrad PC range was that real service manuals, including full cicuit diagrams, were easily available. When the machines were in production, component-level spares were also easy to obtain, unlke some makes I could mention.
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Old 7th Nov 2021, 2:38 pm   #10
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Default Re: Amstrad.What stuff do you have?

Like some others I've always had a bit of a dim view of Amstrad products although my son was given an unwanted CPC by a friend when he was a teenager. Never had a problem with it and it still resides in the loft somewhere.

Alan
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Old 7th Nov 2021, 2:55 pm   #11
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Default Re: Amstrad.What stuff do you have?

Most Amstrad products I have little time for but the computers, especially the Word Processor one had a good name with many writers.
This all fell to pieces if I remember correctly with a bad type of disc controller or was it the disk drive itself.
Anyway, if someone likes whatever they made that’s a good enough reason, we are all different thank goodness.
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Old 7th Nov 2021, 3:53 pm   #12
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Default Re: Amstrad.What stuff do you have?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Nuvistor View Post
Most Amstrad products I have little time for but the computers, especially the Word Processor one had a good name with many writers.
This all fell to pieces if I remember correctly with a bad type of disc controller or was it the disk drive itself.
Anyway, if someone likes whatever they made that’s a good enough reason, we are all different thank goodness.
They had problems with faulty hard drives supplied from two different companies according to Lord Sugars autobiography.
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Old 7th Nov 2021, 4:47 pm   #13
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Default Re: Amstrad.What stuff do you have?

Quote:
Originally Posted by electronicskip View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nuvistor View Post
Most Amstrad products I have little time for but the computers, especially the Word Processor one had a good name with many writers.
This all fell to pieces if I remember correctly with a bad type of disc controller or was it the disk drive itself.
Anyway, if someone likes whatever they made that’s a good enough reason, we are all different thank goodness.
They had problems with faulty hard drives supplied from two different companies according to Lord Sugars autobiography.
Yes, it sank the 286/PC2 as they ended up having to recall them and of course that combined with the reliability BS that companies like IBM had claimed (this being the only reason why later PC1 machines with HDD's had a fan) they lost pretty much their entire market, and given it was something like more that 25% of the European IBM compatible market quite a lot to lose.
Amstrad ended up suing the hard drive manufacturers involved and supposedly won quite a hefty payout.

They still had some morels afterwards including the Integra and Mega PC but they didn't have anywhere near the success of the 1512/1640.
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Old 7th Nov 2021, 5:21 pm   #14
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Default Re: Amstrad.What stuff do you have?

Back in the early 90s I had one of the Amstrad satellite receiver and dish kits that were heavily promoted in The Sun.

It worked just fine once I had properly weatherproofed the F connector on the LNB that had been installed by a local antenna fitter of dubious reputation.

I kept the amstrad kit until Sky went digital. They offered £25 trade in on the old analog kit when we upgraded.

Some people dis amstrad stuff but it always seemed to me to be a good match of price and performance.
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Old 7th Nov 2021, 6:02 pm   #15
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Default Re: Amstrad.What stuff do you have?

I bought an Amstrad Emailer Plus in the early 2000s, because I couldn't afford a proper computer, but wanted access to email and the internet.

It actually worked very well, for as long as the Amserve/Amsurf services lasted.

The power adaptor plug used to get very hot, and eventually came apart in my hand when I unplugged it one evening. No electric shock, thankfully.

I've no idea how it affected the phone bill, because I wasn't the one paying it in those days, but I can't imagine it was too murderously expensive, because nothing was ever said...

I've still got it packed away, somewhere in the house. Maybe it will become a collectors item one day.
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Old 7th Nov 2021, 6:14 pm   #16
Lloyd 1985
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Default Re: Amstrad.What stuff do you have?

The place where I first worked back in Rugby used to do refurbishment on those e-mailer things! There was a rumour that a dodgy backlight inverter on the LCD could cause overheating and melt the case! I did some work on them for a short time, just testing them, can't remember much about it.

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Old 7th Nov 2021, 6:53 pm   #17
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Default Re: Amstrad.What stuff do you have?

I thought I had nothing Amstrad left until someone mentioned the CBs. Two of those in the loft.

The family had a PCW 8256. It got taken on hoilday one year so my Dad could use a program to learn to touch type. He didn't. I'm still a two finger typist so can't really criticise, but it's the thought of transporting the beast and setting it up in the rental cottage that's amusing. We also upgraded the memory to 512 and added an external 5.25 drive. I wrote up my final year uni project on it, a project that had largely been completed using and Amstrad PC clone. That did teach me about the importance of backups when the 5.25 drive put a lovely groove in the disc with the work on.

Then I remember we had an Amstrad VCR. It was designed to be easier to use, and had very large main control buttons. Also had a wired remote control with multiple functions, but just a 2 wire connection. I'd never seen the use of an essentially analogue interface (voltage levels detected by an ADC) to deliver multiple functions via just 2 wires. Probably not the first implementation this way, but we had a situation at work at the time, and we had never seen the idea. Our implementation turned out to be less than perfect but the 'child' of the company still has checks against our imperfections. But the pricnciple is now very widely used in that industry.

Amstrad sat systems have also been mentioned. Most people will know that companies contract out manufacture. I remember visiting a company who were developing and then manufacturing an antenna amplifier / matching unit for us (we are talking AM / FM broadcast reception). At the time they were manufacturing for Amstrad. 99% sure it was only LNBs but could have been the STBs too.
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Old 7th Nov 2021, 7:26 pm   #18
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Default Re: Amstrad.What stuff do you have?

Quote:
Originally Posted by G6Tanuki View Post
………
……..

Some people dis amstrad stuff but it always seemed to me to be a good match of price and performance.
I once had the interesting task of interviewing Amstrad’s Chief Engineer. Sensible and competent chap. I recall him telling me that Alan Sugar’s vision of a ‘model’ customer was a 35-year-old lorry driver, who wanted some kit that ‘looked the business’ but wasn’t overly expensive.

In general terms, that seems to have worked for him.

Martin
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Old 7th Nov 2021, 7:28 pm   #19
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Default Re: Amstrad.What stuff do you have?

I don't think I have ever owned anything Amstrad, but in my last job, we were Amstrad agents. My immediate boss had worked for them and was something of a brainbox. From my standpoint, an absolute expert on everything computer back then. What I did do is repair much of their stuff. Faulty memory chips on the kids computers being common.We were fixing PCWs long after most had chucked them out. As the floppy drives failed, we did the 3-1/2" floppy drive conversion. 3" drives were never very reliable, and unobtanium for a long time. A 720 Kb drive was bigger and more reliable than original. I had to learn a few simple C/PM commands for that, long forgotten now.
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Old 7th Nov 2021, 10:42 pm   #20
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Default Re: Amstrad.What stuff do you have?

I remember a feature in Dr Who Magazine where the author mentions using Locoscript to type up articles on the show for many years. The basic spell checker used to attempt to correct everything not in the not very comprehensive dictionary, mangling proper nouns of personnel & names of planets & monsters with amusing results.
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