★ HARDWARE ★ LES CPC PLUS ★ EIGHT-BITS FOR THE NINETEEN NINETIES ★ |
| Eight-bits for the Nineteen Nineties (New Computer Express) | Hardware Les Cpc Plus |
The CPC has received a major facelift as the new Plus models desperately try to look like Amigas. Keith Pomfret got his screwdriver out to find out if beauty is really only skin deep... The new CPC Pluses will be in the shops next month and Amstrad hopes to take a good share of this year's Christmas market with a set of upgraded and substantially re-styled machines. Hardware sprites, console-style cartridge ports and the new external designs look set to guarantee the CPC range a place in the new decade. Other hardware will allow the 8-bit CPC Pluses to provide features normally only seen on 16-bit machines.
Software utilising the cartridge port will benefit from sound and graphics handling routines that are managed independently of the main processor. As well as allowing more efficient use of sound, this will reduce processor access and could speed games up by allowing the processor to get on with running the program without regular interruptions from sound and graphics chips.
The seven-year-old design been upgraded with add-ons that give it the graphics capabilities of its competitors while generally retaining compatibility with the 12,000-plus titles that existing CPC 6128 and 464s already run. With 2.5 million CPCs already sold, and CP/M running on the disk versions, the Plus range will have no shortage of existing software while the library of enhanced cartridge software evolves. It appears that cassette and disk based games will not use the new facilities, at least at first, although Amstrad is reticent on the subject. Plenty of cartridge games, which will benefiit from the new hardware, are expected. THREE'S COMPANY The three models in the range are the 464 Plus, the 6128 Plus and a startlingly space-age GX4000 console which loads software from ROM cartridges. The new 464 and 6128 benefit from the inclusion of the cartridge ports too. The 464 and 6128 Plus models remain generally compatible with existing software. They use essentially the same BASIC, firmware and in the case of the 6128, disk operating system. As these are now on a cartridge the new machine will not run until a cartridge has been inserted. This means that any further enhancements of the machine's specification will be as simple as plugging in a cartridge, but with cartridges not much bigger than a box of matches, the loss of the main system cartridge could cause problems. The BASIC cartridge also includes a racing game, Burning Rubber. Gone are the long dark grey boxes with a cassette or disk drive in the end. In their place is a light grey wedge designed to please the eye and fitting in with the style established by the Amiga, ST and Archimedes. The similarity stretches to the Amstrad name embossed on the case in true Amiga style. On the 464 Plus, the cassette deck is built in to the top right, above the keyboard. The 6128 has the 3-inch disk drive in the standard ST/Amiga/A3000 position on the right-hand side. The left side has a pair of conventional joystick ports, an analogue joystick port for use with cartridge games, stereo sound output, auxiliary socket for light pens and other peripherals and a cartridge port. The rear panel has a mains connector, monitor connector, expansion socket and printer port. The 6128 Plus has an extra connector for a second disk drive, but loses the cassette connections of the earlier models. This means that someone upgrading from a 464 to the new 6128 gains the use of cartridge software as well as disk but cannot use their cassette programs. The expansion port has also been changed, but it's expected that it will be compatible with existing peripherals if they use an adapter. The printer port has been upgraded to the full eight bits from the old CPCs seven. A rethink of the display has meant a rethink of monitors too. The resolution remains the same but instead of colour or green, the choice is now colour or paper white. The new monitors have direct sound connections and the audio output is fed directly to a pair of speakers in the matching light grey cabinet. This is a vast improvement on the tiny (and tinny!) speaker on the old CPCs. The same ‘three square-waves and a bit of noise' soundchip has been retained, but, with decent amplification now provided it is a lot more effective. THE COMPETITION With the added hardware, the CPC Plus models are not quite as pretty and tuneful as a C64/128 but are a lot more practical and should be more reliable. In the standard CPC mode, the machines don't hold a card to, say, an Atari ST for graphics. Sound is on a par with the ST because they share the same sound chip. However software running on the new CPC cartridges is far superior to the normal 8-bit games and with dedicated hardware to speed things up and handle graphics and sound, it can finally compete with 16-bit machines for on-screen action.
SPLIT LEVEL The new CPCs perform on two levels. First, they are claimed to be fully compatible with all existing CPC software and will run it ‘as is' with no changes and no use of the new hardware. Exhaustive tests found only three existing programs that baulked at the new machines. Secondly, they have enhanced hardware which can at present only be accessed from new cartridge-based software. The enhancements include hardware sprites and graphics routines that will make the CPC a serious contender in the market dominated by the Atari ST, Commodore 64 and Sega console. This lucrative low-end market will be important toward the end of the year and so the CPC Pluses will come in at a realistic price and a specification that will cause a few tugs at the parental sleeve in December.
Stuart Anderton , New Computer Express #93 (18 August December 1990)
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