Custom PC - UK (2020-07)

difference between Xenon 2: Megablast in black and with

beepy music on the PC200, compared with full colour with a

Bomb the Bass soundtrack on the Atari ST, was pretty stark.

To make matters worse, there was no hard drive – you

had to boot up the machine with a floppy disk each time you

switched it on, resetting the time and date manually yourself.

The lack of a hard drive wasn’t a problem for simple games

and text-based applications, but it was a severe limitation

when it came to running a GUI.

The PC200 came with Gem 3, but there was little

software available for it. We also had Windows 2.03 running

onit, butit wasdifficulttogettheoperatingsystemandthe

softwareyouwantedtorun

onjustone720KBfloppydisk.

Largegames,suchasSierra’s

adventures,alsoresultedin

constantdiskswapping.

Upgrades

LikeallgoodPCs,therewas

potentialtoupgrade,butfewoftherouteswerereally

practical.ThePC200camewith512KBofmemory,which

youcouldupgradefurtherif youdared.Therewerespaces

onthePCBtoinstallyourownDRAMchipsandupgradeto

640KB.Anotherroutewastousea LotusIntelMicrosoft

(LIM)card,whichmountedextramemoryonanexpensive

ISAexpansioncard.

Thereweretwo8-bitISAslotsatthebackofthemachine,

underneatha flip-uplid.UnlikeyourusualPCcase,though,

therewasnowaytosecurethecardsinplaceviabackplate

screws.Infact,mostcardswouldn’tevenfitinthecase.We

addeda 2,400bpsAmstradmodemtoourmachine,andyou

justhadtoproptheopenlidagainstthemodem.

Therewerenoextraharddrivebays,orevena spareMFM

controllerfora harddrive,either.If youwanteda harddrive,

youneededa hardcard– a kindofWhackyRacescontraption

thatmounteda fullmechanicalharddriveandcontrolleron

anISAcard.

Withjusttwoslots,youhadtochooseyourupgrades

carefully.Youcouldn’taddEGAgraphics,anAd-Libsound

card,a hardcardandupgradeto640KBofRAMatthe

sametime.Theotherexpansionoptionswerea paralleland

25-pinserialportontheback,aswellasanexternalfloppy

driveconnector,plusa sparesocketforan 8087 maths

coprocessor(floatingpointunit).

Meanwhile,atthefrontwasa 9-pinconnectorforthe

supplied(black)Amstradmouse– a horriblecontraption

witha highlyuncomfortableridgebetweenthebuttons,and

a standard15-pinjoystickconnector.Ina rarepluspoint,the

includedanalogueSinclairjoystickwasgreat– I stillhave

mineandit stillworks.

Legacy

Notsurprisingly,thePC200bombedonrelease.Quality

controlproblemsmeantsomemachines(includingourfirst

one)weredeadonarrival.Gamerslaughedatitssoundand

graphics,whilePCuserswereunimpressedbyitslimited

specsandupgradepotential.

I stillhavea softspotforthePC200though.It wasmy

introductiontothewonderfulworldofPCs,andgettingthe

mostoutofit requiredyoutoreallyfiddleaboutwithit. Unlike

mostPCsatthetime,it wasalsoblack,ratherthanbeige.

Theremighthavebeenbettermachinesatthetime,butI

spenthoursonit everyday.

In2004,I decidedtogutmyoldPC200andreplace

theinnardswitha Pentium4.I wasquitepleasedwiththe

resultatthetime,butinretrospect,I wishI’dkeptit asit was.

Bizarrely, the PC200’s rarity has now made it a holy grail

among Sinclair computer collectors, and they go for good

money on eBay.

There’s also now a great group on Facebook called

the Sinclair PC200 Users Club (facebook.com/groups/

SinclairPC200Users), where people swap tips and tricks for

turning the PC200 into a half-decent machine.

You can find out how to add CompactFlash storage, which

low-profile VGA cards will fit in a slot and enable you to still

close the lid, and you can also 3D-print your own expansion

slot plate.

The last computer to feature the Sinclair brand might have

been a compromised PC with a number of quirky flaws, but

there’s clearly still a lot of love for it.

Unlike many

PCs at the time,

a 15-pin joystick

connector was

included, as well

as a half-decent

analogue joystick

YOU JUST HAD TO

PROP THE OPEN

LID AGAINST

THE MODEM

There were two 8-bit ISA slots, but the lid wouldn’t close properly

if you installed (most) cards in them