Date   : Thu, 22 Nov 1990 19:27:10 GMT
From   : swrinde!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!sol.ctr.columbia.edu!ira.uka.de!smurf!gopnbg!altger!doitcr!jungkunz@ucsd.edu (Helmut Jungkunz)
Subject: Amstrad CPC

Hello world, as they say.   Doesn't anybody ever read my notes?
We, the Schneider/Amstrad CPC User Group of Munich, Germany, very well
support the CPC machines with their various RAM expansions and BIOSes.
 
There  i s  a harddisk for the CPCs. For all three types the same one!
It does cost more than the computer, but - it contains the 20 MB Harddisk
with a SEAGATE-type controller, an interface to handle the I/O plus a very
well written and very well serviced BIOS EPROM, enabling you to use a
quad density (80 Track souble sided) drive with three different auto-login
formats: Vortex (almost identical to ALTOS 5), a DATA-Format and a System
format. Drive 0 is normally drive A: and a 3" drive is expected. It is possible
to boot from any partition of the harddisk as well as from any disk.
 
It is necessary to have at least a minimum configuration RAM-disk by either
dktronics or (better) the same brand as the hard disk: 
DOBBERTIN Elektronik, Brahmsstr. 4, 6835 Bruehl, West-Germany  

I have been using my hard disk together with NZCOM and Z3PLUS since more than a
year now (I originated the idea then to the manufacturer) and I can only say:
You don't even notice anything else but comfort as long as you are in CP/M.
In Basic, some ill-behaved programs store their variables at a far too high
point in memory. But that had been a problem from the first day of computers
till
today. As you might have guessed, it is possible to run 6128 Programs  a n d  
CP/M Plus on all three CPCs with this configuration. If you are using your 
computer regularly - go out and buy this delight for your nerves. I also have
an IBM-clone, but it's fan and hard disk are much louder and get on my nerves.
I just use it for mailboxing and word processing every now and then. 

Please - do spread the word. There are MEGABYTES of P.D. Software sitting here
ready to go out to any willing regional distributor at very little charge.
Keep Z up and going!
 
Ciao, 

-> Helmut Jungkunz <-