When I saw Amstrad labeled on my newest computer pickup I was a little surprised. I knew Amstrad as a European PC company but I wasn’t aware they had sold any portable computers in the USA let alone one that was as popular as the PPC512 which has quite a dedicated fan base. The PPC512 is an IBM-compatible meant to beat IBM at their own game by creating an IBM-type PC at a lower cost.
The PPC512 was a portable or “pluggable” computer released in 1987 and is notable for its good balance of low weight and power.
When I found mine it came complete with its carrying case as well as all the extras such as an external power supply, car adaptor, disks, and manual, all working and in good condition.
Before we move on I do need to address the Amstrad PPC640, this is virtually the same computer just in a darker color case a full 640k of RAM installed and possibly the optional modem included.
When closed up and in its “travel” mode the PPC512 is quite small and slim for a portable computer of its time.
flipping it over on its back there’s not a whole lot to see except for the battery compartment.
Despite being a portable PC many computers of these types in the 80s were still largely dependent on wall outlets and were mostly meant to be portable only in so far as transporting between two structures with electricity such as work and home. The goal wasn’t really to be able to calculate taxes on the beach. With the PPC512 you could break away from the need for a power outlet via the car adaptor (though you would still need a car or separate power source) or batteries. Using ten C-type batteries you could use your PPC512 in the middle of a forest if you desired for a whopping two hours. Technically there is a fourth way to power the PPC512 which we will address in a moment.
On the back of the computer is a small door which folds down revealing our built-in connections.
Starting on the left we have the very interesting “Expansion A-B” port, which is actually two ports that resemble parallel or serial ports. This dual port was meant for a series of external expansion options but to the best of my knowledge, none of these were ever released. Even more interesting is this port is ISA compatible so it’s basically a standard 8-bit ISA port in an oddball form factor. There have been third party homebewers that have taken advantage of this and released ISA port adaptors that you can plug into this port and in theory add anything form an XT-IDE to an Adlib card. The exact tolerances of the port still haven’t been figured out from what I was able to find and the creator of the adaptor suggested not using any more than a single ISA card, to be safe.
Above this expansion port, we have two other ports labeled “Mon DC In” and “DC In”. The DC is your standard port for the external power supply but the “Mon DC In” is another interesting forth way to power the computer which I mentioned earlier. If you have a Amstrad PC-MD, PC-CD or PC-ECD Monitor you can use this port to power the PPC512 via the built-in power supply in these monitors.
After this, we have three more pretty standard ports for serial, parallel, and video out port if you choose to use an external monitor rather than the built-in LCD display. The video output is monochrome/CGA so you’ll need to use a monitor that accepts digital TTL signals. The output is true CGA and I tested it with my Tandy CGA monitor and several games that tend to give cards using CGA emulation trouble but they all ran and displayed perfectly.
On the left side by the carrying handle are two 3.5-inch bays for single or dual 720k floppy drives. You can use standard 1.44MB floppy drives to replace or add a second drive but they will only be seen by the computer as 720k drives. I have read it’s possible to install a hard drive in one of these bays but it’s not a simple process. Apparently, some companies in the UK did sell the PPC512/640 with a small HDD controller and hard drive but it requires soldering.
Opening the Amstrad can be a tad confusing at first but once you see where the tabs are on the side the keyboard lifts up and folds down revealing the LCD screen which can then be tilted up.
Next to the LCD screen, there are a number of LED lights such as power on and floppy drive A/B activity lights. Interestingly there is also a CRT light that indicates if the PC is currently outputting video to a CRT monitor, if you’re not getting an image on the LCD double-check to see if this light is on. From my testing, it does not appear the PPC512/640 can output video to the LCD and an external monitor at the same time. Below these lights is a switch for selecting if you’re using an internal or external power source.
You should be able to BOOT from a standard floppy of DOS but the OEM Amstrad-specific version has a command that allows you to toggle between the LCD and a monitor if one is attached. You can get an original boot disk image from the OldComputer.Info website Here.
The LCD on my Amstrad looked great but I’ve read that the screen is somewhat fragile and can be damaged on acquired systems. The screen also is not backlit so don’t expect to use your machine in the dark.
The screen does emulate CGA though so you can play 4 color CGA games on the monochrome LCD screen.
As I said earlier the PPC512/640 does have an enthusiastic fan base and there are a few guides out there detailing how to replace your LCD screen with a full-color VGA equivalent though this is not a simple task. (link below)
There is also this strange compartment next to the LCD that on my PC is empty but I suspect it’s where the optional modem upgrade would go. It would make a nice storage compartment for 1980s businessmen to store cocaine, however.
The PPC512/640 features an 8MHz NEC V30 so for a PC/XT class machine it’s quite capable and should be about as fast CPU-wise as a low-end 286. The CPU is socketed so CPU replacement is fairly easy and it also features a socket for a math co-processor.
You can upgrade the RAM on a PPC512 to the full 640k but this does require soldering as all memory is soldered onto the board itself.
The PPC512 is a really nice portable computer for 1987. As a retro gamer it’s more of a novelty as better options for retro computer gaming exist though if you don’t have an issue hooking it up to an external color CGA monitor you have a nice early 80’s CGA machine. As a collector’s item, it’s a pretty cool machine as well. If you wanted to go the modding route though and decided to upgrade the RAM and LCD to a color screen I’m not sure you could have a better “luggable” PC/XT class DOS PC for the early to mid-80s.
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