An Introduction to the Amstrad CPC 6128

The third video in his retrospective series of the Amstrad range Gareth moves onto the big daddy, the CPC 6128. This machine replaced the lesser know Amstrad CPC 664 making up for most of the shortcomings and becoming one of the most popular products Amstrad ever produced.

The CPC6128 was released in August 1985 and initially only sold in the USA. Imported and distributed by Indescomp, Inc. of Chicago, it was the first Amstrad product to be sold in the United States, a market that at the time was traditionally hostile towards European computer manufacturers. By the end of 1985, it arrived in Europe and replaced the CPC664 in the CPC model line-up.

Amstrad CPC 6128

The CPC6128 features 128 kB RAM and an internal 3-inch floppy disc drive. Aside from various hardware and firmware improvements, one of the CPC6128’s most prominent features is the compatibility with the CP/M+ operating system that rendered it attractive for business uses.

It ran under AMSDOS (the Amstrad Operating System) or CP/M 2.2 or CP/M 3.0 (CP/M +). The CP/M 2.2 OS was bundled with DR Logo and CP/M+ with GSX (the graphic extension of CP/M). Like the CPC 664, the Amstrad CPC 6128 was almost fully compatible with the CPC 464.

In 1990, the 6128plus replaced the CPC6128 in the model line-up, and production of the CPC6128 was discontinued.