PPC512 & PPC640

The Amstrad PPC512 and 640 was the first Portable IBM Compatible Machines that Amstrad produced. They were a development over the PC-1512 and 1640 desktop models. As a machine is a bit bulky but compared to the Osborne-1 and Bondwell portable models was considered very small. Besides the weight of the overall machine was 6Kg without the internal batteries, which was also considered light in the 80’s. Despite its features such as floppy drives, internal optional hard disk and built in modem it did not hit the market as Amstrad predicted due to other machines capable of more features and CPU power.

The CPU is the NEC V30 version which is directly compatible with the Intel 8088/80186 processors and it has a feature of emulating the 8080 instruction set. The built-in display was capable of producing an image in CGA and MDA. Ports available are the RS232 port, external CGA/MDA video port and an expansion connector with all the ISA bus available on this particular expansion. The difference between the PPC 512 and PPC 640 is memory, Floppy drives, and Hard Disk options, both machines where capable of using the same peripherals and the 512 could be easily upgraded to 640Kb and dual floppies or Hard disk.

PPC640
UK: £599 (1987) USA: approx $850 later prices were reduced drastically
D532-8611541
1987
Nec V30 running at a speed of 8Mhz. The Nec V30 is directly compatable with the Intel 8086 CPU & it can emulate the intel 8080 instructions
640Kb RAM(PPC512 512Kb) and 16Kb Rom BIOS.
Plastic case with 2 shades of grey and houses the LCD screen, two 720K floppy drives, Keyboard and motherboard. The device is portable and can be used off the mains with 6 D size cell batteries. The Keyboard is a 101-non US keys QWERTY keyboard that normally you find on IBM compatible machines.
The machine is capable of displaying 16 colours with an external monitor or 4 grades of shade with the built LCD screen. Resolution is 40 or 80 coloumn x 25 lines text. It is also possible to display graphics on a matrix of 320 x 200 dots and 640 x 200 dots high resolution.
Internal beeper capable of producing music.
1 x Expansion port splitted in 2
1 x Centronics RS232 port
1 x Parallel port
1 x CGA Monitor port
External power supply with voltages of 6.5V 700mAh
Dimensions 450mm x 230mm x 100mm (W x L x H) Weight Approx 6Kg (without batteries)
More or less 100,000 units sold in Europe and USA

The Club currently owns a PPC640 complete with manuals, floppy disks, power supply and carrying bag. The machine is in very good functional and cosmetic state, without any signs of scratches or dust in the inside or outside. There are no Hard Disks installed on this version, and the drives are the standard 720K that where shipped with the machine.

Expansion Port A

DSUB-25 Pin Chassis Female
Pin Name Dir Desc
1 +5V IN +5V DC
IN
2 T/C OUT Timing
Control
3 A19 OUT Address
Bit 19
4 A17 OUT Address
Bit 17
5 A15 OUT Address
Bit 15
6 A13 OUT Address
Bit 13
7 A11 OUT Address
Bit 11
8 A9 OUT Address
Bit 9
9 A7 OUT Address
Bit 7
10 A5 OUT Address
Bit 5
11 A3 OUT Address
Bit 3
12 A0 OUT Address
Bit 0
13 AEN OUT Address
Enable
14 GND N/A Ground
15 /DACK0 OUT Data
Ack 0
16 A18 OUT Address
Bit 18
17 A16 OUT Address
Bit 16
18 A14 OUT Address
Bit 14
19 A12 OUT Address
Bit 12
20 A10 OUT Address
Bit 10
21 A8 OUT Address
Bit 8
22 A6 OUT Address
Bit 6
23 A4 OUT Address
Bit 4
24 A2 OUT Address
Bit 2
25 A0 OUT Address
Bit 0
 

 

Expansion Port B

D Socket 37-WAY Female Chassis Mount
Pin Name Dir Desc
1 -20V IN -20V DC
IN
2 IRQ2 IN Int Req
2
3 IRQ4 IN Int Req
4
4 IRQ6 IN Int Req
6
5 I/O RDY IN In Out
Ready
6 /DACK2 OUT Data Ack
2
7 / I/O CHCK IN IO Check
8 DREQ2 IN Data Req
2
9 CK14 (OSC) OUT Clock
14Mhz
10 /MEMR IN MEM
Req
11 /IOR IN IO Read
12 ALE OUT Active
Low
Enable
13 D7 OUT Data
Bit 7
14 D5 IN/
OUT		 Data
Bit 5
15 D3 IN/
OUT		 Data
Bit 3
16 D1 IN/
OUT		 Data
Bit 1
17 -5V IN -5V DC
IN
18 -12V IN -12V DC
IN
19 GND N/A Ground
20 EXT 12V IN +12V DC
IN
21 IRQ3 IN Int Req
3
22 IRQ5 IN Int Req
5
23 IRQ7 IN Int Req
7
24 /DACK1 OUT Data
Ack 1
25 /DACK3 OUT Data
Ack 3
26 DREQ1 IN Data
Req 1
27 DREQ3 IN Data
Req 3
28 /MEMW OUT Mem
Write
29 /IOW IN/
OUT		 IO
Write
30 RST OUT RESET
ActLow
31 CK4 OUT Clock
4Mhz
32 D6 IN/
OUT		 Data
Bit 6
33 D4 IN/
OUT		 Data
Bit 4
34 D2 IN/
OUT		 Data
Bit 2
35 D0 IN/
OUT		 Data
BIt 0
36 +12V IN +12V DC
IN
37 +5V IN +5V DC
IN
 

 

Parallel Port

25-Pin DSUB Chassis Female
Pin Name Dir Desc
1 /STROBE IN/
OUT		 Data
Strobe
2 D0 OUT Data
Bit 0
3 D1 OUT Data
Bit 1
4 D2 OUT Data
Bit 2
5 D3 OUT Data
Bit 3
6 D4 OUT Data
Bit 4
7 D5 OUT Data
Bit 5
8 D6 OUT Data
Bit 6
9 D7 OUT Data
Bit 7
10 /PRTACK IN Printer
Ackno
11 BUSY IN Busy
12 PAPER IN Paper
out
13 SELECT IN Select
Printer
14 /LINE IN/
OUT		 Line
Feed
15 /ERROR IN Printer
Error
16 /RESET IN/
OUT		 Reset
Printer
17 /SELECT IN/
OUT		 Select
Printer
18 GND N/A Ground
19 GND N/A Ground
20 GND N/A Ground
21 GND N/A Ground
22 GND N/A Ground
23 GND N/A Ground
24 GND N/A Ground
25 GND N/A Ground
 

 

Power Connector

14Pin DIN non-standard Chassis Mount Female
Pin Name Dir Desc
1 NC N/A Not
Connected
2 GND N/A Ground
3 +5V IN +5V DC
IN
Mon PS
4 GND N/A Ground
5 +5V IN +5V DC
IN
Mon PS
6 NC N/A Not
Connected
7 NC N/A Not
Connected
8 GND N/A Ground
9 -12V IN -12V DC
IN
Mon PS
10 GND N/A Ground
11 +12V IN +12V DC
IN
Mon PS
12 GND N/A Ground
13 -5V IN -5v DC
IN
Mon PS
14 NC N/A Not
Connected
 

 

Power Jack

Power Jack DC Chassis Mount Female
Pin Name Dir Desc
1 GND N/A Ground
2 +12V IN +12V DC
min
850mA
 

 

RS-232

25 Pin D Sub Chassis Male
Pin Name Dir Desc
1 NC N/A No
Connection
2 TxD OUT Transmit
Data
3 RxD IN Receive
Data
4 RTS OUT Ready
to
Send
5 CTS IN Clear
to
Send
6 DSR IN Data
Set
Ready
7 SGND N/A Ground
8 DCD IN Data
Carrier
Detect
9 NC N/A No
Connection
10 NC N/A No
Connection
11 NC N/A No
Connection
12 NC N/A No
Connection
13 NC N/A No
Connection
14 NC N/A No
Connection
15 NC N/A No
Connection
16 NC N/A No
Connection
17 NC N/A No
Connection
18 NC N/A No
Connection
19 NC N/A No
Connection
20 DTR OUT Data
Terminal
Ready
21 NC N/A No
Connection
22 RI IN Ring
Indicator
23 NC N/A No
Connection
24 NC N/A No
Connection
25 NC N/A No
Connection
 

 

Video Connector

9-Way D Type (Female) Chassis Connector
Pin Name Dir Desc
1 GND N/A Ground
2 GND N/A Ground
3 R OUT RED TTL
4 G OUT GREEN TTL
5 B OUT BLUE TTL
6 I OUT Intensity
7 V OUT Video
(Mono-
chrome)
8 HSYNC OUT Horizontal
Synch
9 VSYNC OUT Vertical
Synch