website/content/museum/sinclair-pc-200.md

---
title: Sinclair PC 200
categories:
- Computers
types:
- Professional Computer
origins:
- United Kingdom
years:
- '1988'
cpus:
- Intel 8086
params:
  name: PC 200
  image: /media/museum/photos/sinclair_pc200_system_s1.jpg
  company: /companies/sinclair
  company_name: Sinclair
  specs:
  - label: NAME
    value: PC 200
  - label: MANUFACTURER
    value: Sinclair
  - label: TYPE
    value: Professional Computer
  - label: ORIGIN
    value: United Kingdom
  - label: YEAR
    value: '1988'
  - label: BUILT IN LANGUAGE
    value: MS-DOS, Digital Research GEM desktop, Organiser software
  - label: KEYBOARD
    value: Full-stroke keyboard with numeric keypad (102 keys)
  - label: CPU
    value: Intel 8086
  - label: SPEED
    value: 8 MHz
  - label: CO-PROCESSOR
    value: optional 8087 maths coprocessor
  - label: RAM
    value: 512 KB (up to 640 KB)
  - label: VRAM
    value: 64 KB
  - label: ROM
    value: 16 KB
  - label: TEXT MODES
    value: 40 or 80 columns x 25 lines
  - label: GRAPHIC MODES
    value: 320 x 200 / 640 x 200, CGA and MDA graphic modes
  - label: COLORS
    value: '16'
  - label: SOUND
    value: beeper
  - label: I/O PORTS
    value: Centronics, RGB, RS232, Mouse, Joystick, 8 bit ISA slots (2)
  - label: BUILT IN MEDIA
    value: 3.5'' floppy drive (720k)
  - label: OS
    value: MS DOS - DR DOS
  - label: POWER SUPPLY
    value: Built-in PSU
  - label: PRICE
    value: 300£ (UK, 1988)
  tabs:
  - photos
  - emulators
  - links
  photos:
  - title: SINCLAIR PC-200
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/photos/sinclair_pc200_system_s2.jpg
  - title: AMSTRAD PC-20
    subtitle: ''
    text: |-
      Same computer as the PC-200 except for the case color and TV ouput which is not implemented here.

      Thanks to [Stefan Walgenbach](http://www.homecomputer.de/) for the picture.
    image: /media/museum/photos/amstrad_pc20_1.jpg
  - title: RUNNING SYSTEM
    subtitle: ''
    text: |-
      The PC-200, along with the 12" S12-MM MDA monochrome monitor and the Sinclair mouse, is running the "Sinclair Organizer" program which offered a diary, a word processor and a personal data manager.\
      A 14" colour CGA monitor S14-CM was also available.
    image: /media/museum/photos/sinclair_pc200_running_s1.jpg
  - title: BOTH SIDES
    subtitle: ''
    text: |-
      On the left side are the internal speaker grid, the volume control knob and the on/off switch.\
      On the right side is the 3.5" floppy-disk drive.
    image: /media/museum/photos/sinclair_pc200_sides_s1.jpg
  - title: KEYBOARD CLOSE-UP
    subtitle: ''
    text: The keyboard had same features as an AT keyboard. It was of good quality with a good typing feeling.
    image: /media/museum/photos/sinclair_pc200_keyboard_s1.jpg
  - title: REAR CONNECTORS
    subtitle: ''
    text: |-
      From left to right:\
      • Parallel printer connector\
      • UHF TV output\
      • RGB (CGA) or monochrome (MDA) video output. An internal switch allows to select the video output mode\
      • Expansion port, maily used for a second floppy-disk unit\
      • Serial connector.
    image: /media/museum/photos/sinclair_pc200_rear_s1.jpg
  - title: MOUSE & JOYSTICK PORTS
    subtitle: ''
    text: They are located under the keyboard.
    image: /media/museum/photos/sinclair_pc200_mouseport_s1.jpg
  - title: OPENED
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/photos/sinclair_pc200_opened_s1.jpg
  - title: MAIN BOARD
    subtitle: ''
    text: |-
      All the chips marked with a red dot are custom Sinclair chips.\
      **(1)** Intel 8086-2 CPU, here an AMD version\
      **(2)** Motorola 6845 display controller\
      **(3)** 16 KB video RAM (2) and Amstrad BIOS ROM (socketed)\
      **(4)** Z80-FDC floppy-disk controller\
      **(5)** TV UHF video card\
      **(6)** Dual 8-bit ISA expansion slots\
      **(7)** Keyboard connectors\
      **(8)** optional 64 KB RAM extension (from 512 to 640 KB)\
      **(9)** 512 KB base RAM chips. Provision was made for an additional 512 KB RAM bank.
    image: /media/museum/photos/sinclair_pc200_mainboard_s2.jpg
  emulators:
  - title: MESS
    url: http://www.mess.org
    platform: Windows
    text: The famous MESS multi-emulator also emulates the Sinclair PC-200
  links:
  - title: Crash, the on-line edition
    url: http://www.mjwilson.demon.co.uk/crash/58/pc200.htm
    text: PC-200 article, dated november 1988
  - title: Your Sinclair, the rock'n'roll years
    url: http://www.ysrnry.co.uk/articles/alloalloallo.htm
    text: PC-200 article, dated february 1989
  - title: Your Sinclair, the rock'n'roll years
    url: http://www.ysrnry.co.uk/articles/pc200review.htm
    text: PC-200 review, dated november 1988
  comments:
  - author: Christian Sculpher (Earth)
    date: Friday 25th August 2006
    text: I remember being the only 'computer head' in the electrical store I worked in - I was always trying to learn EVERYTHING about the systems we sold. I remember when the PC-200 came in 2 of them - with instructions that both were to be displayed NON-FUNCTIONING - with no product information. If we sold those 2 - we would be sent more (so we had to sell the display models FIRST - an impossibility for a new product). We called head office - they had no information - just a memo saying 'show the customer the box - it contains all the information they need to know' (ie - nothing - just the price!) Eventually we got a visitor from head office - who basically told us that we had to sell them or else the product would fail. It turned out - we had the only 2 in the whole region. When he discovered that (inevitably) most of the box content had gone 'missing' (pilfered by local urchins) he threw the two machines into a bin-bag - got in his car and left - with the 2 computers! Needless to say
      - the whole PC200 line lasted less time than it took for our laughter to subside!
  - author: Finnish nerd (Finland)
    date: Sunday 29th September 2019
    text: |-
      This was my first PC (previously I owned a C64 and an Atari 800XL), I bought it on Spring 1990 in Finland for about \~2200 FIM (maybe about £250 or so). The main selling point of this computer was of course the CHEAP PRICE. Other PC models were much more expensive, even the cheapest ones were about 2-3 times more (including monitor). I didn''t have a monitor, I used my small TV set. Amiga and Atari ST were about the same price range, but this Sinclair PC200 was a REAL PC and not a "toy home computer" like the Amiga and ST.. $) It felt cool to own "a real business computer". $) Of course the Amiga and ST had some benefits over this like better build-in graphics and sound, but the PC200 had a faster CPU and a larger (especially business oriented) software library. And it was A REAL PC. $)

      And I was only slightly sarcastic... I actually used the PC200 for real work like desktop publishing (on a DTP software over GEM, called "Finesse") and it performed adequately. I also played many games, and while gaming wasn''t as great in general as with the 16-bit home computers, it did have a faster CPU which allowed better frame rates in flight simulators etc., which I especially liked playing.

      At some point I replaced the Siemens 8086 processor with a compatible NEC V20 processor, which increased performance about 10-20$ at the same clock speed. I also built a "Covox" parallel port D/A converter (sound card), which provided an Amiga-like sound for pennies. Not many software titles supported it, but at least I could play and compose MOD music with it.

      So basically I have really fond memories of this computer, but I only owned it for 1,5 years, after which I upgraded to a 286 VGA machine. But PC200 was the machine I learned my PC basics with and it provided me a head start on the modern computing era compared to the Amiga nerds. $)
  - author: iliasazg ($$917$$$955$$$955$$$940$$$948$$$945$)
    date: Wednesday 8th February 2017
    text: |-
      I have one PC-200 for sale, working condition, fair look, includes S-12MM monochrome monitor.\
      Living in Greece, if you need more info please contact me at +30 693 9722108.\
      Thank you
  - author: ELIAS AZGKINIS ($$917$$$955$$$955$$$940$$$948$$$945$)
    date: Wednesday 8th February 2017
    text: Retro computer lover
  - author: Andre (UK-Europe)
    date: Thursday 7th July 2016
    text: |-
      In 1977-1989 the most dominant Data Languages used were\
      Cobol and RPG-2,in the IBM,UniVac,Honeywell,Various others in US $Europe
  - author: skagon
    date: Tuesday 13rd March 2012
    text: |-
      Actually, I remember this being advertised in the local computer magazines for quite a few months. The problem was that back then, we didn''t know what it was. Nobody knew it was an XT$ everyone confused by its looks thought it was some kind of Amiga ripoff.\
      Actually, if anyone''s willing to sell, I''d love one of these for my vintage computers collection. Contact me! $)
  - author: Mike Oliver (UK)
    date: Thursday 7th April 2011
    text: |-
      I saw one of these with a 30gb HD in the expansion slot and it worked well so bought one.

      Still have it, all the cables, books and softeare - plus a compatible pin drive computer - in the attic.

      Is it worth anything??
  - author: X
    date: Saturday 8th January 2011
    text: This was the very first computer I ever bought myself. It was at reduced price when I bought it (I believe the 286 was already on the market). Despite the unusual casing compared to other PC''s of the time, it was really a nice machine to play with and notably faster than my father''s Laser XT with a 8088 at 10Mhz. At some point, I started extending it with a 8087 co-processor and added memory to 640Kb for which I had ordered an electrical layout booklet from Amstrad and soldered sockets for the RAM chips in myself. Later-on, I even tried installing a 20MB harddisk drive as I got bored from swapping floppies all the time. Unfortunately, this killed it as the harddisk controller was malfunctioning...
  - author: My (Italy)
    date: Tuesday 2nd March 2004
    text: |-
      I think the PC-20 was the high end version\
      of this system, with more features built-in.\
      I have one of this system and I experimented\
      the insert of IBM cards : PC open for EVER.\
      Another notable characteristic is a simple\
      socket in the card-zone : you could insert\
      a 8087, but it's dangerously without protection!\
      I have mounted a 8087 and I locked it with\
      a piece of electric-scotch. I really like the GEM!
  oc_id: 85
  source:
    url: https://web.archive.org/web/20230201193319/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=85
    date: '2023-02-01'
---

The Sinclair PC 200 was one of the last computers built under the Sinclair brand (along with the PC-500). In fact it was not a Sinclair at all, but a desktop version of the [Amstrad PPC-512](/museum/amstrad-ppc-512-640/).

The case bore a striking resemblance to the [Atari 520 ST](/museum/atari-520-st-st-stm/) case. It had a built-in 3.5" floppy drive on the right and mouse and joystick ports under the keyboard. And indeed the PC-200 was officially marketed as an Atari 520-ST competitor : same price, same disk drive, same memory (512k) and same design.

But compared to the Amiga and 520-ST, the PC-200 looked like a naked pea, even for an IBM compatible. Its two ISA slots were not enough to reasonably expand the system. Standard IBM expansion cards were nearly twice the height of the computer, thus the computer needed to be opened permanently!\
In 1988, the MDA and CGA graphic modes were quite obsolete as most PC systems had adopted the more convenient EGA mode.

An interesting feature of the PC-200 was a TV output socket at the rear of the system, quite rare for a PC compatible system. It shows that Amstrad wanted to market the PC-200 as a low-range PC compatible system for the whole family.

At the same time, Amstrad presented the PC 20, which was in fact the same computer as the Sinclair PC 200 except for the color of the case (black for the Sinclair, white for the Amstrad) and the TV output (not implemented on the PC-20).

**Angus WR Gullivers** reports to us :\
The Sinclair PC200 had absolutely no success, it bombed and was withdrawn very quickly from the market. It was advertised for only about 3 months. It was released to poor reviews because of its lack of expansion possibilities and use of CGA graphics when EGA and VGA were already available.