Amstrad CPC bundled with monitor
Amstrad CPC bundled with monitor
Does anyone think it was weird that the CPC was sold with a monitor ?
It was more likely that someone would have a spare telly then want to spend the extra cash on a monitor surely.
Then the green monitor was not going to be something that anyone wanted..because the CPC was colourful, so that doesn't make much sense either.
It was more likely that someone would have a spare telly then want to spend the extra cash on a monitor surely.
Then the green monitor was not going to be something that anyone wanted..because the CPC was colourful, so that doesn't make much sense either.
- Mike Davies
- Microbot
- Posts: 137
- Joined: Mon Nov 13, 2017 10:11 am
Re: Amstrad CPC bundled with monitor
I think Amstrad's strategy back in the day was to simplify stuff, the so-called one-plug route. It certainly predicted how IBM-clones were sold later on -- buying the full package rather than just the beige box.
When I started thinking about exploring the CPC last year, this bundling did make it a little more difficult to get started. Buying one 30-year old computer is one thing. Buying it with an equally old CRT monitor is quite a pitfall. Thankfully, there's the MP-1 and MP-2 modulators which for another £15 allow me to connect straight to my LCD TV using RF. Pretty sure there'll be a similar path for SCART/Component.
When I started thinking about exploring the CPC last year, this bundling did make it a little more difficult to get started. Buying one 30-year old computer is one thing. Buying it with an equally old CRT monitor is quite a pitfall. Thankfully, there's the MP-1 and MP-2 modulators which for another £15 allow me to connect straight to my LCD TV using RF. Pretty sure there'll be a similar path for SCART/Component.
Re: Amstrad CPC bundled with monitor
The power supply was in the monitor.
Re: Amstrad CPC bundled with monitor
We only had one TV, and I can recall the Amstrad CPC with the built in screen was a big draw. It was however out of my price range back then.
Re: Amstrad CPC bundled with monitor
Most people didn't actually have a spare telly back then, so playing games was often competing with TV viewing for telly time. Having a dedicated monitor made that a non-issue. And, whilst games were part of the market, there was a certain amount of business use focus too. The 80 column text mode is a lot easier to read on an RGB monitor connection than it would be over an RF signal to a TV, doubly so with the green screen which generally had a sharper output.
Re: Amstrad CPC bundled with monitor
Got to think back in the 70s & 80s a lot of homes still rented their TV. It was still a very expensive thing to buy and as they tended to go wrong being able to return it to get serviced by Radio Rentals was a good way to save on what would have been crippling repair costs back in the day.
For a lot of homes you still had one TV per house hold right up until the end of the 80s. The colour TV set in most rooms didn't really become a thing till the 90s.
My friends thought it was a bit extravagant to have a b&w tv in my room.
I would have loved a monitor/beeb setup it was so much easier on your eyes. But you were talking hundreds of pounds more on top of what was already a expensive machine.
For a lot of homes you still had one TV per house hold right up until the end of the 80s. The colour TV set in most rooms didn't really become a thing till the 90s.
My friends thought it was a bit extravagant to have a b&w tv in my room.
I would have loved a monitor/beeb setup it was so much easier on your eyes. But you were talking hundreds of pounds more on top of what was already a expensive machine.
Re: Amstrad CPC bundled with monitor
I remember it took a long time convincing my late father to get a colour TV! We rented ours from Sports and Radio in Bognor Regis.
- 1024MAK
- Bugaboo
- Posts: 3123
- Joined: Wed Nov 15, 2017 2:52 pm
- Location: Sunny Somerset in the U.K. in Europe
Re: Amstrad CPC bundled with monitor
In 1983, the only "spare" TV we had was a black and white (monochrome) portable. The only other TV, and the only colour TV that was in the house, was in the living room.
My nan and granddad still rented their one and only colour TV.
So the B&W set was used with our ZX Spectrum 48k rubber key. We had to wait for a year before a colour TV was bought as a Christmas present for us.
Amstrad maximise cost savings with the CPC range by using the monitor as the PSU for the computer. As the colour monitor was already a cut-down TV, this enabled them to sell a combined packege of computer and monitor at a very reasonable price compared to buying a rival computer and separate monitor...
When they added the built-in floppy drive, they opened up the CPC to being a CP/M capable machine, hence the green screen (which was far better for use when using business software) was actually attractive to users who wanted to use it for serious uses.
Mark
My nan and granddad still rented their one and only colour TV.
So the B&W set was used with our ZX Spectrum 48k rubber key. We had to wait for a year before a colour TV was bought as a Christmas present for us.
Amstrad maximise cost savings with the CPC range by using the monitor as the PSU for the computer. As the colour monitor was already a cut-down TV, this enabled them to sell a combined packege of computer and monitor at a very reasonable price compared to buying a rival computer and separate monitor...
When they added the built-in floppy drive, they opened up the CPC to being a CP/M capable machine, hence the green screen (which was far better for use when using business software) was actually attractive to users who wanted to use it for serious uses.
Mark
Standby alert
“There are four lights!”
Step up to red alert. Sir, are you absolutely sure? It does mean changing the bulb
Looking forward to summer later in the year.
“There are four lights!”
Step up to red alert. Sir, are you absolutely sure? It does mean changing the bulb
Looking forward to summer later in the year.
Re: Amstrad CPC bundled with monitor
I believe That Amstrad CPC was designed as much more business oriented machine than Spectrum.
So if anyone purchased it for office use then he probably wanted to have it with monitor. And you don't need colour for spreadsheets and text editors, at least that's how people believed in 80s.
It was also quite expensive. From my local experience, in Poland it was rare and people who owned it, used it for serious stuff. Actually there isn't a single Polish game for CPC while we have numerous ones for other machines.
So if anyone purchased it for office use then he probably wanted to have it with monitor. And you don't need colour for spreadsheets and text editors, at least that's how people believed in 80s.
It was also quite expensive. From my local experience, in Poland it was rare and people who owned it, used it for serious stuff. Actually there isn't a single Polish game for CPC while we have numerous ones for other machines.
Re: Amstrad CPC bundled with monitor
I saw a few in local hospitals here, but they seem to have been used for record keeping/office work. Back in the day I can't recall even thinking these machines could be used to play games.
Whatever agency did their advertising/PR was out of their minds to think that strategy would work. Even Atari 800 seemed a better deal/more feasible as a home computer.
Whatever agency did their advertising/PR was out of their minds to think that strategy would work. Even Atari 800 seemed a better deal/more feasible as a home computer.
Re: Amstrad CPC bundled with monitor
[mention]Nomad[/mention] What you are describing sounds more like the Amstrad PCW. These came with a green screen and printer and were popular as office machines. I remember when I first started working at a College in the early 90s we chucked out hundreds off them which had been used in the secretarial classes.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amstrad_PCW
The CPC range, especially the earlier CPC464 was most definitely aimed at the games player to compete with the ZX and C64.It was always third place in the UK, but very popular in France apparently.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amstrad_PCW
The CPC range, especially the earlier CPC464 was most definitely aimed at the games player to compete with the ZX and C64.It was always third place in the UK, but very popular in France apparently.
Re: Amstrad CPC bundled with monitor
Yes you are quite right. They were PCWs. My brain is turning to mush sorry..
Re: Amstrad CPC bundled with monitor
Although even the PCW has a cracking port of Head Over Heels.