PPC 512
The Amstrad PPC512 and Amstrad PPC640 were the first portable IBM PC compatible computers made by Amstrad. Released in 1988, they were a development of the desktop PC-1512 and PC-1640 models. As portable computers, they contained all the elements necessary to perform computing on the move. They had a keyboard and a monochrome LCD display built in and also had space for disposable batteries to power the PC where a suitable alternative power source (i.e. mains or 12 volt vehicle power) was not available. The PCs came with either one or two double density double side floppy disc drives and the PPC640 model also featured a modem. Both models were supplied with 'PPC Organiser' software and the PPC640 was additionally supplied with the 'Mirror II' communications software.
Hardware
The two computers had very similar specifications. The PPC512 had an NEC V30 processor running at 8 MHz, 512 KiB of memory, a full-size 102-key keyboard, a built-in liquid crystal display (not backlit) that could emulate the CGA or MDA and either one or two 720k 3.5" floppy drives (the model was either the PPC512S or PPC512D depending on the number of drives it had). The PPC640 was otherwise identical except that it had 640 KiB of memory, a built-in modem, and its case was a darker shade of grey. Both versions of the machine had an empty socket on the main circuit board so that an Intel 8087 coprocessor could be installed to permit hardware processing of floating point arithmetic.
Podcasts:
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by Ani Difranco
Back Back Back
by: Ani DifrancoBack, back, back in the back of your mind
Are you learning an angry language?
Tell me boy, boy, boy are you tending to your joy
Or are you just letting it vanquish?
Back, back, back in the dark of your mind
Where the eyes of your demons are gleaming
Are you mad, mad, mad about the life you never had
Even when you are dreaming
Who are these old, old, old people in these nursing homes
Scowling away at nothing like big rag dolls
Just cursing at the walls and pulling out all of their stuffing
Every day is a door leading back to the core
Yes, old age will distill you
And if you're this, this, this full of bitterness now
Some day it will just fill you
When you sit right down in the middle of yourself
You're gonna wanna have a comfortable chair
So renovate your soul before you get too old
'Cuz you're gonna be housebound there
When you're old, you fold up like an envelope
And you mail yourself right inside
And there's nowhere to go except out real slow
Are you ready boy for that ride?
Your arrogance is gaining on you and so is eternity
You better practice happiness, you better practice humility
You took the air, you took the time
You were fed and you were free
Now you'd better put some beauty back
While you got the energy
You'd better put some beauty back, boy