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
  forum_thread: 100
  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
  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.