Looking for some info on Dragon's Lair I ran across this at CPCRulez:
https://cpcrulez.fr/auteur-rob_hubbard.htm
So, not a big fan of the CPC......
Quote"I bought the Amstrad simply because there's so much work around for it. Frankly, though, it's like going from a Rolls to a Morris Minor. The monitor leads are too short, the speaker's pathetic, and the sound chip! OK, the graphics are good, and the disc drive is unbelievably fast against the Commodore -though not as reliable. I've lost stuff on it already, and that's never happened on the 1541, despite a lot of hard use. But as a programmer, I find the Amstrad unfathomable. Maybe I'm impatient, coming from a machine I know inside out, and immediately wanting to jump in the deep end. I'm transcribing some of my Commodore work for other people to code, but I think it'll be a long while before I do anything commercial myself on it."
Rob smiles.
He has some totally valid points, about the monitor leads being too short and the speaker. Note that both of those issues have been fixed later with the Amstrad Plus.
EDIT: there were existing expansion cables for the leads, and you could connect your CPC to a Audio HI-FI system, so that was a false problem.
Oh it only took 5 years for Sugar to fix these😀
Quote from: norecess on 20:08, 01 December 21
He has some totally valid points, about the monitor leads being too short and the speaker. Note that both of those issues have been fixed later with the Amstrad Plus.
EDIT: there were existing expansion cables for the leads, and you could connect your CPC to a Audio HI-FI system, so that was a false problem.
We sold extension leads for the CPC and Plus range in the nineties (I'm still using a few of them) and I think a few companies sold them in the eighties but did Amstrad produce their own?
And yes the speaker was rubbish but what did the other 8-bit competition have?
Finally, the interview dates from 85 so maybe his perception/appreciation of it changed over time?
Mmm, rereading again I notice the only Amstrad mentioned is a PCW - surely he couldn't have been referring to that? :o
Checking one last time - "I bought the Amstrad simply because there's so much work around for it" - so must be the CPC.
I find it really stupid to complain about the leads and the speaker. The sound chip, perhaps, ok, coming from the SID. Unreliable drive? Ahem...
Quote from: Gryzor on 10:34, 02 December 21
I find it really stupid to complain about the leads and the speaker. The sound chip, perhaps, ok, coming from the SID. Unreliable drive? Ahem...
In his defence, he did say maybe he was being impatient.
I don't think the drives on the CPC were unreliable, but there were a lot of third parties that produced rubbish unreliable discs!
I used multiple CPC's and PCW's over a 12 year period producing thousands of discs - aside from drive belt stretch/decay I NEVER had a single problem with them. They were one of the best features of Amstrad computers.
In fact the only time I had discs returned to me was in 96/97(?) when I used a batch of new discs from Italy(?).
Quote from: ComSoft6128 on 11:24, 02 December 21
I used multiple CPC's and PCW's over a 12 year period producing thousands of discs - aside from drive belt stretch/decay I NEVER had a single problem with them. They were one of the best features of Amstrad computers.
In fact the only time I had discs returned to me was in 96/97(?) when I used a batch of new discs from Italy(?).
For comparisons sake, I only discovered how slow Commodore drives were about 4 years ago.
I was with @CraigsBar (https://www.cpcwiki.eu/forum/index.php?action=profile;u=482) when he loaded up Bruce Lee on the C64 from disk. It was actually quicker to load it on the CPC from tape.
Maybe I'm in a minority, but I'll gladly trade speed for reliability. But then, I'm more a game player than a developer so I'm aware it's very much a perspective thing. :)
Quote from: Shaun M. Neary on 11:38, 02 December 21Maybe I'm in a minority, but I'll gladly trade speed for reliability.
I never had any issues with 3" discs. I don't think a single one failed while I had my CPC between 1986 and 1989. Even today, most of the 3" discs I collected over the last 2 years are still fine.
And to be fair, speed loaders on the C64 are so common, that the situation wasn't too bad. Still a lot slower, but acceptable.
I don't remember ever losing data back in the day, seriously. And it's not like I had the money to buy new disks every week, either!
Question: how many of you had connected the CPC to an external amplifier?
Quote from: eto on 12:46, 02 December 21I never had any issues with 3" discs.
Quote from: Gryzor on 13:17, 02 December 21I don't remember ever losing data back in the day
Really ? :)
I can still remember the original Amstrad 3" discs - the red/white Amsoft ones - as being reliable, yes.
But the other brands - usually cheaper - were crappy in my experience and it was frequent to me back then to get many read fails etc. on those.
Well I had Amsoft and Maxell ones; these would last for years. And I had some cheap ones, usually came with (ahem) backup games, but these felt (and were) so cheaply made I never used them for long so I never lost data on them either :D
Maxwell & Amsoft were fine and I also used Panasonic. I found a Tatung 3" disc (still shrink wrapped) two years ago which I donated to a chap who runs an Einstein website in the UK.
My first 6128 was connected to an amp probably the first week after I bought it. Even now I remember the "whistling" sound of the ATF fighter as I flew over terrain - speakers made a big difference.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ATF_(video_game (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ATF_(video_game))
Quote from: norecess on 14:18, 02 December 21I can still remember the original Amstrad 3" discs - the red/white Amsoft ones - as being reliable, yes.
Here in my area we could buy Panasonic (which seem to be those that were labeled as Amstrad elsewhere) and Schneider/Maxell. I never saw anything else here. Panasonic discs were 2-3x more expensive than the Schneider/Maxell discs, so I always only bought Schneider/Maxell and never had an issue. I have never had another brand in my hand so I can't say anything about cheaper discs.
But hey, if you compare "cheap" 3" discs with brand names for 5.25" that doesn't make sense. I had plenty of crappy 3.5" discs - cheap ones too. I still wouldn't say the format is less reliable than 5.25" or 3" just because I cheaped out on them.
Interesting thread (and I think I read that interview before), but yes, he actually has some good points concerning the speaker and sound chip - and nobody in his or her right senses can deny that the SID sounds much better than the AY, even when connected to an amplifier. I was actually on of those (few?) to do that quite early in my CPC career, after I got so lucky to inherit a TSP modular music-centre from my auntie. Anyways, I guess when you are used to composing on and listening to the SID, even a Pokey sounds boring in comparison.
Concerning disks, I also believe he confused unreliable disks with the drive itself. I had my fair amount of cheap ones (tatung seems to ring a bell..), some of which didn't feature the smooth surface that the Maxell and Schneider ones had, but some kind of carved-in square pattern, anyone remember those? Caused me lots of read fails and I am pretty sure some of the gray hair I am beginning to see are clearly due to those experiences. Screw you, Tatung!
Quote from: Gryzor on 13:17, 02 December 21
Question: how many of you had connected the CPC to an external amplifier?
I did in 1990. I bought a 3.5" to Aux cable and plugged it into the back of my stereo. I had 4 speakers on it (I connected two to each channel) and Space Harrier sounded amazing with the volume cranked up!
Quote from: norecess on 14:18, 02 December 21Really ? :) I can still remember the original Amstrad 3" discs - the red/white Amsoft ones - as being reliable, yes. But the other brands - usually cheaper - were crappy in my experience and it was frequent to me back then to get many read fails etc. on those.
Yep, there were some awful "ex software house" cheapo discs that did the rounds and I'd say they lasted about 10 successful writes. There definitely was cheaper alternatives out there and they were complete rubbish.
I only wish I knew about the multimark tool back in the day! :D