Editing Amstrad PC1512 (section)

==Reception==
[[File:Amstrad-benchmark.png|thumb|Performance benchmark of the Amstrad PC1512, PC1640 series]]
[[File:Amstrad PC1640HD20 (5).jpg|thumb|Amstrad PC1640 on display in Museo Almeriense de Retroinformática]]

The PC1512, and also its successor the PC1640, sold very well. Part of it was explained because the basic model (one floppy drive, no hard disk) launched for £399, which made it one of the first cheap PCs in Europe. This price, which initially increased to £450,<ref name="practicalcomputing198703_top10">{{ cite magazine | url=https://archive.org/details/practical-computing/PracticalComputing-1987-03/page/99/mode/1up | title=IBM Compatibles Top 10 | magazine=Practical Computing | last1=Barlow | first1=David | date=March 1987 | access-date=16 July 2024 | pages=99–101 }}</ref>{{rp|pages=100}} was restored in September 1987 amidst adjustments in Amstrad's PC range.<ref name="yourcomputer198711_amstrad">{{ cite magazine | url=https://archive.org/details/your-computer-magazine-1987-11/page/n5/mode/1up | title=Amstrad drops price of PC1512 by £50 | magazine=Your Computer | date=November 1987 | access-date=16 July 2024 | pages=6 }}</ref>

Second, its design was compact and visually appealing. With the exception of the fan in the PC1640's ECD monitor, both the PC1512 and the PC1640 were silent. This was a significant difference compared to the quite noisy PCs sold at the time. Although the Amstrad PC1512 and PC1640 had to compete against faster AT-type architectures at the time of their release, they were sufficiently powerful to run office software popular in the late 1980s and early 1990s, including [[WordPerfect]] 5.1, [[WordStar]], [[Microsoft Word]] 4 and 5 for DOS, the spreadsheet [[Lotus 1-2-3]], [[Matlab]], and the database program [[dBase]] III+ as well as [[Ashton-Tate]]'s [[Framework_(office_suite)|Framework II]] integrated office suite. The PC1512 and PC1640 were shipped with Digital Research's [[GEM (desktop environment)|GEM]] as a [[graphical shell]], but could run also [[Geoworks Ensemble]] (up to Version 2.1), and [[Microsoft Windows]] (up to Version 3.0, that did support a 'real mode').  
 
The PC1512 significantly helped open up the European PC market to consumers as well as businesses, and Amstrad's advertising of the PC1512 was aimed at homes rather than offices. The 1512's influence was such that the UK PC magazine ''[[PC Plus]]'' originally targeted itself at the "Amstrad PC 1512 and compatibles", since home ownership of other PCs at the time was rare.

The PC1512 shipped with 512&nbsp;KB of [[Random access memory|RAM]]; it could be upgraded to 640&nbsp;KB of RAM with 16 pieces of 4164-120 Dynamic RAM chips (64KBx1 per chip) and setting a jumper.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.z80.eu/blog/index.php?m=12&y=14&entry=entry141221-233000 |author=Peter's z80.eu site blog |title=RAM Upgrade Amstrad (Schneider) PC1512 from 512KB to 640KB}}</ref>  Video output was compatible with the [[Color Graphics Adapter|CGA]] standard, with an extension allowing all 16 colours to be used in the 640×200 graphics mode. The [[CPU]] of both the PC1512 and the later PC1640 was an 8&nbsp;MHz [[Intel 8086]], which was sufficient for playing ''[[The Secret of Monkey Island]]'', ''[[Maniac Mansion]]'' and ''[[Prince of Persia (1989 video game)|Prince of Persia]]''. The power supply was located in the monitor, which made upgrading difficult. 

The [[input device]]s supplied with the machine were notable.  The mouse was an Amstrad Mouse, which was incompatible with serial mice common at the time.  It was supported by some games, including ''[[Elite (video game)|Elite]]'', but many DOS programs had problems with it.  The keyboard sported an [[Atari_joystick_port|Atari-compatible]] [[joystick]] port for digital joysticks.  Joystick movements and buttons were mapped to unused keyboard codes, allowing the joystick to be used in many DOS games that were written for keyboard control.

The series was somewhat unusual for the fact that it had a physical volume control on the [[PC speaker|internal speaker]].  This allowed the user to make the machine beep quietly, or silently, from boot time onwards.  This innovation is still not present in most modern PCs: the legacy beeper is typically still a fixed-volume device.