exxos's Atari, Amiga & retro forum

So here is the CPC 464 that my friend got from a friend...

Ok, I hear ya, let's drop the pretence, it's mine and a big thanks to @stephen_usher for sending it my way.

It's a very nice machine:


Unfortunately, whilst I have a suitable PSU, none of the MANY video leads I have fit it, so I'm waiting on a lead from CoolNovelties to come before I can play. I use them all the time for video leads as they are great quality and reasonably priced.

In the meantime, enjoy a picture of the CPC and my Spectrum 128K +2 together:


And wonder at the shared DNA :) If the CPC didn't have the numeric keypad and cursor key cluster, they'd look very similar.

I dared to wonder...

rubber_jonnie wrote: 29 Sep 2023 12:00 So here is the CPC 464 that my friend got from a friend...

Ok, I hear ya, let's drop the pretence, it's mine and a big thanks to @stephen_usher for sending it my way.

I once had a friend receive a CPC464 from another friend :) - you know who you are :)

EDIT: Nice looking specimen though @rubber_jonnie

Icky wrote: 29 Sep 2023 12:10

rubber_jonnie wrote: 29 Sep 2023 12:00 So here is the CPC 464 that my friend got from a friend...

Ok, I hear ya, let's drop the pretence, it's mine and a big thanks to @stephen_usher for sending it my way.

I once had a friend receive a CPC464 from another friend :) - you know who you are :)

EDIT: Nice looking specimen though @rubber_jonnie

Yes, it really is very tidy.

The CPC line is my other retro computer love, if you like 16-bit Atari, there's a lot to like about the CPC. My personal favourite is the 6128 Plus, the extensions it added are *very* similar to the STE.

The Spectrum+2B has a lot in common with the CPC464 internally as when the Amstrad engineers re-engineered the spectrum they used a lot of the CPC's design.

Cwiiis wrote: 29 Sep 2023 13:01 The CPC line is my other retro computer love, if you like 16-bit Atari, there's a lot to like about the CPC. My personal favourite is the 6128 Plus, the extensions it added are *very* similar to the STE.

This is my first foray into CPC land, as at the time of release I was already a Spectrum user, and ended up going Atari 8 bit for a very long time. My parents paid for my first Atari in about 1982 (IIRC), a 600XL which was swapped out not long after for an 800XL because the 1064 RAM expander was really very poor and we exchanged them.

I went in the RAF in 1984, so kept what I had because as a trainee I didn't have the funds to go and buy anything new, plus I already had a decent software collection for the Speccy and the Atari.

From things I've seen, it is a cracking machine, so I'm looking forward to giving it a proper try out.

rubber_jonnie wrote: 29 Sep 2023 12:38

Icky wrote: 29 Sep 2023 12:10

I once had a friend receive a CPC464 from another friend :) - you know who you are :)

EDIT: Nice looking specimen though @rubber_jonnie

Yes, it really is very tidy.

The keys are a little faded and very slightly yellowed. You can tell which way the light was shining in the person's (bed?) room.

I had to replace play button on the tape drive, replace the left shift key and stick a new -/= key back on as the post had been partly broken, oh and clean it all. The belts on the tape drive also needed replacing.

rubber_jonnie wrote: 29 Sep 2023 13:16 From things I've seen, it is a cracking machine, so I'm looking forward to giving it a proper try out.

Unfortunately most games don't use the full capability of the machine and are (very) lazy Spectrum ports. Some seem to load a spectrum game patch program in and then load the spectrum game, with the same loading pattern on the border and loading sound.

Icky wrote: 29 Sep 2023 12:10

rubber_jonnie wrote: 29 Sep 2023 12:00 So here is the CPC 464 that my friend got from a friend...

Ok, I hear ya, let's drop the pretence, it's mine and a big thanks to @stephen_usher for sending it my way.

I once had a friend receive a CPC464 from another friend :) - you know who you are :)

EDIT: Nice looking specimen though @rubber_jonnie

I think that friend still has that CPC from your friend.

@rubber_jonnie I've got some clc dandanator mini pcbs, will send you a couple when I get time.

stephen_usher wrote: 29 Sep 2023 13:10 The Spectrum+2B has a lot in common with the CPC464 internally as when the Amstrad engineers re-engineered the spectrum they used a lot of the CPC's design.

I'm not surprised by that at all. It certainly shouts Amstrad once you open it up.

Mine is a 2A, though apparently the differences between the A & B models are largely minor revisions and manufacturing location.