Amstrad PPC640 & the Amstrad PC CRTs

[@alexandermirdzveli3200]

16:13 It's interesting to see how the game fills the first page of graphics and then switches to the other. We can clearly estimate around 1.5fps in the flight sim.

[@backroomboy4420]

That is a really interesting insight and IIRC, SubLogic claimed 2fps at the time. Thanks for watchng :)

[@Fezzler61]

This was the first computer I bought new. Why? I was young and didn't have a lot of money and this offered a pretty good value. Full-sized keyboard. The two 720K floppies. A screen. Software bundle. Case. And the 2400 bps modem. And 640k ram. For me to buy all this functionality in the day in an IBM or compatible, I'd have to spend a lot more. I'd have to buy a monitor, spend to upgrade to 640k ram, upgrade to a 2400 bps modem and buy software. So for me, it was a good value. I still have it. I bought a second one that I have played with. I removed the clock chip and put in a RTC. I build an expansion board for the back and can run/boot from a Compact Flash card. And I have screen to run color CGA by replacing the mono LCD SuperTwist.

[@backroomboy4420]

Exactly! Despite it's unusual appearance the machine was actually capable and good value. I'm very tempted to do a screen upgrade :)

[@Fezzler61]

@@backroomboy4420 Well, I have the screen to do it but I have not installed because of the expense of the CGA TTL-to-VGA convertor. I can't afford to dedicate one to one computer. Unless I am wrong, the convertors are running about US$100. We (vintage computer enthusiasts) need to get the cost of these convertors down.

[@backroomboy4420]

@@Fezzler61Agreed. There are a number of solutions but none is especially cheap and when you decide to buy one you find they're unavailable because of a shortage of one or more components.

[@BarefootBeekeeper]

I had one from new. The screen was awful and it was slow and heavy. But it was cool at the time.

[@backroomboy4420]

Ah, you were 'that bloke', the one person who bought the machine new, lol! Yes, despite it's failings, and they are legion, it definitely has a quirky, cool charm too. Thanks for watching :)

[@angieandretti]

What's it doing with 14 pins just for monitor DC-in? I was sure it was gonna be monitor signal AND power in one port.

[@backroomboy4420]

I know, weird right? The 14-pin connector has -5v, -12v, +5v and +12v (of which, the PPC uses +12v, -5V and -12V) as well as a number of ground pins and separates these from the video signals which might otherwise be subject to intereference.