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

title, categories, types, origins, years, cpus, params

title	categories	types	origins	years	cpus	params
Sinclair PC 200	Computers	Professional Computer	United Kingdom	1988	Intel 8086	name image company company_name specs tabs forum_thread photos emulators links oc_id source PC 200 /media/museum/photos/sinclair_pc200_system_s1.jpg /companies/sinclair Sinclair label value NAME PC 200 label value MANUFACTURER Sinclair label value TYPE Professional Computer label value ORIGIN United Kingdom label value YEAR 1988 label value BUILT IN LANGUAGE MS-DOS, Digital Research GEM desktop, Organiser software label value KEYBOARD Full-stroke keyboard with numeric keypad (102 keys) label value CPU Intel 8086 label value SPEED 8 MHz label value CO-PROCESSOR optional 8087 maths coprocessor label value RAM 512 KB (up to 640 KB) label value VRAM 64 KB label value ROM 16 KB label value TEXT MODES 40 or 80 columns x 25 lines label value GRAPHIC MODES 320 x 200 / 640 x 200, CGA and MDA graphic modes label value COLORS 16 label value SOUND beeper label value I/O PORTS Centronics, RGB, RS232, Mouse, Joystick, 8 bit ISA slots (2) label value BUILT IN MEDIA 3.5'' floppy drive (720k) label value OS MS DOS - DR DOS label value POWER SUPPLY Built-in PSU label value PRICE 300£ (UK, 1988) photos emulators links 100 title subtitle text image SINCLAIR PC-200 /media/museum/photos/sinclair_pc200_system_s2.jpg title subtitle text image AMSTRAD PC-20 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. /media/museum/photos/amstrad_pc20_1.jpg title subtitle text image RUNNING SYSTEM 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. /media/museum/photos/sinclair_pc200_running_s1.jpg title subtitle text image BOTH SIDES 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. /media/museum/photos/sinclair_pc200_sides_s1.jpg title subtitle text image KEYBOARD CLOSE-UP The keyboard had same features as an AT keyboard. It was of good quality with a good typing feeling. /media/museum/photos/sinclair_pc200_keyboard_s1.jpg title subtitle text image REAR CONNECTORS 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. /media/museum/photos/sinclair_pc200_rear_s1.jpg title subtitle text image MOUSE & JOYSTICK PORTS They are located under the keyboard. /media/museum/photos/sinclair_pc200_mouseport_s1.jpg title subtitle text image OPENED /media/museum/photos/sinclair_pc200_opened_s1.jpg title subtitle text image MAIN BOARD 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. /media/museum/photos/sinclair_pc200_mainboard_s2.jpg title url platform text MESS http://www.mess.org Windows The famous MESS multi-emulator also emulates the Sinclair PC-200 title url text Crash, the on-line edition http://www.mjwilson.demon.co.uk/crash/58/pc200.htm PC-200 article, dated november 1988 title url text Your Sinclair, the rock'n'roll years http://www.ysrnry.co.uk/articles/alloalloallo.htm PC-200 article, dated february 1989 title url text Your Sinclair, the rock'n'roll years http://www.ysrnry.co.uk/articles/pc200review.htm PC-200 review, dated november 1988 85 url date https://web.archive.org/web/20230201193319/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=85 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.

The case bore a striking resemblance to the Atari 520 ST 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.