lauantai 27. helmikuuta 2016

An old Amstrad PPC512 - you can charge it's batteries with solar panel

Picture this:

  • Amstrad PPC512 portable PC
  • NEC V30 processor
  • One 720 KB floppy drive
  • 512 KB of RAM
  • MS DOS 3.3 on one floppy disk
    • Maybe FreeDOS is an option?
  • LCD screen (no backlit)
  • Full size keyboard
  • No hard disk

What can you do with that sort of hardware and software? Well, if you never had such a PC back then, it might be hard to imagine. As a former owner of Toshiba 1000 (I think it was 1000...) IMHO there is a lot you can do with hardware like that!

In addition, best is yet to come! As Amstrad has an LCD with no backlit, not that much power is needed to run this beast! You can use ten C-size alkaline batteries (10 x 1.5v). If you happen to own a solar panel chances are you can charge batteries over and over again. This goes to show Amstrad is a true portable off-grid computer... at least during the summertime :D.

I can't fire up my Amstrad just yet. Floppy drive is broken (look at the pic below). It needs to be replaced. No substitute around, I'm afraid. Once Amstrad is back in business I let you know how it is doing.

Replacing 720 KB floppy drive

There is room and wires for another floppy drive, hmm...

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