Amstrad CPC 664 - What now?

[TFM]

Well, my PC comes back from suspend pretty fast and even boots quite fast from my SSD

Hmmm......    Modern technology is devils work! 

[Morn]

To be honest, some of the shortcomings you mentioned (like the manuals) are the result of a simpler system. I don't think I've ever seen a modern-PC manual for instance

Modern PCs probably probably don't come with a real manual. "Turn on here; use Windows Help (or OS X help) for more info" on a leaflet is probably about all there is. So it's not really comparable.


If anything the CPC was actually more complex to write a handbook for, because you had to introduce AMSDOS, CP/M, LOGO, GSX, Locomotive BASIC, disk and tape operation, etc. And at the time people could not be expected to understand how computers work, so they had to explain that too. All of which the CPC manual does brilliantly.


When the C64 manual talks about SID, I think they basically just give a very short introduction, then print a BASIC program that does "bloop, bleep, bloop". And that's more or less it. Compare that to the extensive treatment sound gets in the CPC manual.


Good manuals introduce the reader in a gentle way to new concepts, they don't just say, "Yeah, this compute can produce sound, now move along." The CPC manual treats the reader as an intelligent and technically inclined (but not necessarily nerdy) person throughout, while the C64 manual basically treats them like Neanderthals. "Grok make sound with BASIC. Grok smart!" 

[TFM]

...The CPC manual treats the reader as an intelligent and technically inclined (but not necessarily nerdy) person throughout, while the C64 manual basically treats them like Neanderthals...

Yes, right! And it makes perfect sense (especially the latter one  )

[MaV]

I have a hxc floppy emulator which I would like to connect somehow, preferably externally. And I'm curious about hard drive options, if any.

The floppy emulator is quite easy to connect externally. You'll need a fitting connector for the drive port (36 pins centronics on the German CPCs for example) a 34 way ribbon cable and the shugart connector for the HxC side. You can take the 5v from the CPC itself. I suggest soldering the wire to the switch in the CPC, so that the floppy emulator starts with the CPC.
There's a thread about it as well: http://www.cpcwiki.eu/forum/index.php?topic=2558.msg27682#msg27682
I also recommend reading the HxC manual.

I remember having read about a hard drive in an old magazine. There's no viable solution at the moment, as far as I know.

[Morn]

Yes, right! And it makes perfect sense (especially the latter one  )

And I bet the Commodore manual writers would have actually liked to do a great job with it, but their managers probably knew exactly what level of literacy could be realistically expected of their target audience, so they just told them to stop when the manual was halfway done. "Yeah, that's good enough. They will just get a headache when it's more than 20 pages and not care anyway. And those who do can buy a book." Pearls before swine and all that.   

[Morn]

And one more thing that was great about the CPC user manual: coil binding (aka spiral binding)! You could lay the manual open like a cookbook and had your hands free for typing. It's a small detail, but it shows that Amstrad thought its usability through the way good companies do. The Amiga manuals would always shut on you at the worst possible moment--keeping them propped open was a major annoyance.

[Gryzor]

Oh yes, that is very true.

[moijk]

Well, even tho im partially thinking that its a typo and you actually have gotten a 464 with the build in cassette drive. Especially as the 664 is quite rare.

Its indeed a 664, with the CT65 monitor.

Thanks for the other links. I've seached high and low for a datasette that supports the plugs, but apparently casette recorders have gone off fashion. Imagine that.

[Bryce]

You only need a cassette player with a headphone-out socket to load games. Almost any cassette player will do.

Bryce.