Amstrad NC100 / NC150 / NC200

[robcfg]

Indeed!


And much more easier to deal with because it has a floppy drive.


I don't know if the NC roms can be distributed, but if you're interested in a good dump, send me a PM.

[TFM]

The  NC200 is indeed CPC related... Well, at least I abused it in this way... On meetings I had the NC200 and went to the people to get some comments for the live meeting report. Then I saved it on disc and was reading the files from this disc with the CPC. It directly went in the CPC disc mag. Once the NC200 had not enough power (it lacks a power supply :-(), so I just used the serial cable and the CPC with RS232 interface :-)

[Nilquader]

Go for the NC200 directly if you can find one... much sexier!

I prefer the NC100/NC150. It's thinner, lighter, and the battery lasts longer. The NC200 floppy is almost unusable with rechargeable batteries. I own both models, but I only use the NC100 frequently.


The serial interface is great for transferring files. Modern PCs don't have floppy drives anyway.

[TFM]

I prefer the NC100/NC150. It's thinner, lighter, and the battery lasts longer. The NC200 floppy is almost unusable with rechargeable batteries. I own both models, but I only use the NC100 frequently.


The serial interface is great for transferring files. Modern PCs don't have floppy drives anyway.

Disregarding the floppy disc drive of the NC200, my batteries in the NC200 are 6(!) years old and it still work.

I like the NC200 more, because it has a bigger screen, more possibilities and the design is just soooo cooool!

[Nilquader]

Do we have a permission from old-computers.com to use their photos? (especially the NC200 and Nakajima pictures?) Otherwise we should either ask them or better use our own pictures.

[robcfg]

I can provide nice pictures and scans of variants of the Nakajima series, but only the Amstrad ones come with a Z80, the rest all have NEC v20 x86 processors.


Just tell me what you'd like 

[Nilquader]

I can provide nice pictures and scans of variants of the Nakajima series, but only the Amstrad ones come with a Z80, the rest all have NEC v20 x86 processors.


Just tell me what you'd like 

Good pictures of the NC series are most important. The Nakajima series don't have much in common with the NC. They even don't share the same hardware,  they're just made by the same manufacturer. So I think that 1 or 2 pictures from that series to show the similarities (and maybe a board scan) should be sufficient.


Do you have any information about the other NC100-like computers? The Tandy Dreamwriter NTS-325 and the Hertie Bestar MSS 5000 seem to be exact clones of the Nakajima ES210. Even the software looks very similar on all three models.

[robcfg]

Well, the hardware is almost identical in all the nakajima produced hardware. The main difference is Z80 vs Nec v20.


Almost all the software is also identical despite the processor.


I have the NTS/Tandy Dreamwriters 100,200,325 and 400, plus the Walther ES210. I've also seen a couple of other clones (courtesy of deepfb) like the Flamagas Dator 3000.


I'll gather the info I have on these machines and I'll let you know.

[arnoldemu]

Good pictures of the NC series are most important. The Nakajima series don't have much in common with the NC. They even don't share the same hardware,  they're just made by the same manufacturer. So I think that 1 or 2 pictures from that series to show the similarities (and maybe a board scan) should be sufficient.


Do you have any information about the other NC100-like computers? The Tandy Dreamwriter NTS-325 and the Hertie Bestar MSS 5000 seem to be exact clones of the Nakajima ES210. Even the software looks very similar on all three models.

I think the hardware is the same. Of course the scans should proove this.
Looking at the skeleton driver for MESS, the ports seem to be the same as in the nc100.

[robcfg]

I can tell you for sure, as I provided the MESS team scans and rom dumps for the nc150 and 200 and the dreamwriter series 

[TFM]

Hey Rob!

There is only one NC clone which you don't have. That is that one which doesn't exist now 

Well, IMHO we should focus on anything with a Z80, else it is tooo much apart.

[Gryzor]

Do we have a permission from old-computers.com to use their photos? (especially the NC200 and Nakajima pictures?) Otherwise we should either ask them or better use our own pictures.

Hm.... it used to be that Old-Computers let people use the photos as long as they kept the watermark. But it appears they have changed their policy (dammit). Any alternatives?

[Nilquader]

But it appears they have changed their policy (dammit). Any alternatives?

Why shouldn't we make our own photos? We have enough members who own these machines.


PS: I've just uploaded more NC100 board scans...found an early revision without fuse and some manually soldered wires.

[TFM]

Why shouldn't we make our own photos? We have enough members who own these machines.


PS: I've just uploaded more NC100 board scans...found an early revision without fuse and some manually soldered wires.

That must be the original prototype :-)

[Gryzor]

Darn, I have taken some excellent Z88 ones, but none of my NCs... what a shame! I wonder where I've got it stored, maybe I could do it...

But it's not easy taking pics of such quality - you need lighting, above all!

[arnoldemu]

I am now the proud owner of an NC200.

Nice little machine and I plan to code a small game or similar for it soon.

[Devilmarkus]

I am now the proud owner of an NC200.

Nice little machine and I plan to code a small game or similar for it soon.

Cool!
So we now stay tuned to watch "Phreaks" on your NC-200!
(Youtube video is a *must*!)

[arnoldemu]

Cool!
So we now stay tuned to watch "Phreaks" on your NC-200!
(Youtube video is a *must*!)

I was thinking to convert chase hq 2 first for it 

[Devilmarkus]

I was thinking to convert chase hq 2 first for it 

Well, you really should start with a technical game... I mean a game which uses a lot of the NC 200 resources...

What's about the Advanced Lawnmower Simulator?

[arnoldemu]

Well, you really should start with a technical game... I mean a game which uses a lot of the NC 200 resources...

What's about the Advanced Lawnmower Simulator?

is there a version for BBC basic?

[arnoldemu]

I am now the proud owner of an NC200.

Nice little machine and I plan to code a small game or similar for it soon.

Is there any way to transfer binary files to/from the NC computer?
It seems the only way at this time would be to use ASCII.

I then have the choice of using the BBC Basic internal assembler (but ram is limited to have the program in memory), or to convert all programs to a
representation of the binary data, and use a BBC basic program to poke it into ram and save it.
I believe *LOAD can be used to execute the program after this is done and it is saved.

I think programming a game for the NC200 and using the hardware directly is going to be interesting!

[Gryzor]

I am now the proud owner of an NC200.

Nice little machine and I plan to code a small game or similar for it soon.

Yay for you man! Xmas is right here. 'tis an excellent little machine, eh?

[robcfg]

Congratulations! The NC200 is indeed a nice machine.


Is it possible to execute code from a file on disk or only from the memory card?

[Gryzor]

Hm... interesting question... but why wouldn't it?

[arnoldemu]

Congratulations! The NC200 is indeed a nice machine.


Is it possible to execute code from a file on disk or only from the memory card?

I don't know yet.
The wordprocessor can load files direct from disc.
I am also thinking that it may be possible to put binary files on the disc and transfer them to ram.
So that means ram->disk is ascii only, but disk->ram can be binary.
I will investigate.