15 Facts About Amstrad CPC

Amstrad CPC is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990.

Amstrad CPC series was pitched against other home computers primarily used to play video games and enjoyed a strong supply of game software.

Philosophy behind the Amstrad CPC series was twofold, firstly the concept was of an "all-in-one", where the computer, keyboard and its data storage device were combined in a single unit and sold with its own dedicated display monitor.

Amstrad CPC 464 was one of the most successful computers in Europe and sold more than two million units.

In late 1985, when the CPC6128 was introduced in Europe, Amstrad decided not to keep three models in the line-up, and production of the CPC664 was discontinued.

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Amstrad CPC6128 was released on 13 June 1985 and initially only sold in the US.

In 1990, confronted with a changing home computer market, Amstrad decided to refresh the CPC model range by introducing a new range variantly labelled plus or PLUS, 1990, or CPC+ range.

Some months later, Spain joined the European Communities by the Treaty of Accession 1985 and the import tax was suppressed, so Amstrad added the n key for the 464 and production of the CPC472 was discontinued.

The Amstrad CPC firmware is deliberately designed so that new software could be easily accessed from these ROMs.

Software and hardware limitations in this interface led to its replacement with an Amstrad CPC-branded version of a compatible alternative by Pace.

Amstrad CPC enjoyed a strong and long lifetime, mainly due to the machines use for businesses as well as gaming.

Internet sites devoted to the Amstrad CPC have appeared from around the world featuring forums, news, hardware, software, programming and games.

Amstrad CPC Magazines appeared during the 1980s including publications in countries such as Britain, France, Spain, Germany, Denmark, Australia, and Greece.

However, Amstrad CPC decided to focus on the PCW, and the ANT project never came to market.

Amstrad CPC made more than £5 million on selling these surplus machines alone.