LGR - Amstrad CPC 464 Computer System Review

An overview of the history, hardware, and software of the CPC464 from the perspective of a vintage computer collector. How do the pros and cons stack up, what games can you play on it, and is it worth getting a 464 over others like the 6128?

[chrisjones]

My parents bought me one when they first came out. All my mates were into commodores, but I liked the look of the CPC 464. I'll never forget walking into the kitchen on my birthday and it was all set up on the kitchen table. I was totally engrossed. Happy days and happy memories 🙂

[derekprice]

I had both a Commodore C64 & Amstrad CPC 464 thanks to my grandad so grew up with them. Nothing came close to spending 10 minutes of loading times to play Paperboy, Count Duckula, Roland on the Ropes, Stunt Car Racer and my fave Dizzy games. Brings back a lot of memories or late 80's, early 90's gaming :)

[d_rrr_vince]

I found one in the trash many years ago while raining. That broke my heart and I picked him up, two years ago I repaired him. I even made a wooden bottom part for him cause it was broken. Now it is working great. I have a yt video about it. Nice review as always my friend.

[-simon-]

I had the colour version of the CPC464 in the UK and spent ages writing programs on it. I got one of them published in a magazine which people had to then laboriously type out! It was what got me into tech and eventually teaching kids to program. Amazing nostalgia. Thanks.

[GameHammerCG]

The Amstrad CPC was a brilliant machine, the 464 in particular. The numpad can be reprogrammed from BASIC to run programs at the tap of a button. I used to use mine with 3 programs in them at all times: one to change the mode to 80-column text mode and the on-screen colours to easy to read white-on-black, one to list any program I was coding, and one to tell me how much memory was still available. It was so useful.

[TamsinV]

Yes! These are my favorite videos of yours - obviously I like all of them, but knowing as little about technology and its history as I do, I find these really interesting. Really glad to know Patreon helped you do this.

[knurlgnar]

Love the Red Baron and IBM XT in the background on stage left/right at the end.  Great review as always!

[jojos]

The Amstrad CPC 6128 was my first computer, I still have it and shall always be in my heart. There are people who still code for the CPC today! Also you can find a new type of add-on that replaces the floppy drive (or tape recorder?) with an xD card reader (Google "Amstrad SDCard HxC Floppy"). Kudos for showing faith in the CPC, congrats for your channel I have been watching you for years now!

[CMDRBlueeagle]

the time I spent on this machine. My parents got me the colour version. How lucky I felt, especially when a lad I knew had the green monitor.

[DomeCandyGames]

Nice lighting and camera work, my friend. I also appreciated the Red Baron box ;)

[hardgames]

Look at that beast!  Nice in-depth review!

[Neville]

Nostalgia overload... A CPC464 was my best friend during the 1980s. Always had a pile of comics to my side to read during loading times, and I would have given my left hand for a color monitor rather than the green one. Still like to start up an emulator now and then and play "Wec Le Mans" or "Yie Ar Kung-Fu" for a while.

[serginietor]

Definitely one of the best videos you've done lately. Really missed the computer and console reviews. 

[SmoothEmJay]

Awesome hardware with a special nostalgia place in my heart. Being the first computer I ever owned.

[DEVILTAZ]

I had this Amstrad as my very first computer . Always remember the fun i had with Harrier attack and especially Sorcery. That theme music still sticks in my head.
You can play these with an emulator but somehow it is not quite the same though Sorcery still holds up today as a great game.
Thanks for showing spin dizzy, that was another amazing game at the time but so frustrating when you went off the edge :)

[HalfBlindGamer]

Awesome review man, with amazing camera work, really well done!

I grew up on the C64, so have very limited experience with any Amstrad machines. I do own a GX4000, but that's about it really. Never really went after the actual computer systems, as they are rather big. Plus, the 8 bit Commodore and Atari offerings have so much goodness to offer already. There's only so much space to fill with computer stuff ;).

[NateTalksToYou]

I like the infinite white background you have going on in this video. It looks nice and professional.

[texasrattlesnake]

Continuing with my back viewing of classic LGR videos Clint! Another epic review of classic hardware! Really liked that tape slot on the right side of the keyboard! Looking forward to the next one! More power and God bless from the Philippines!

[epiendless]

One neat feature I never saw advertised, even in the manual, was that the 27 colours in the palette actually formed a nice grey-scale when displayed numerically on a monochrome screen. Contrast the Electron, where many of the 8 colours were indistinguishable from each other on a B/W TV.

[q]

Awesome! The Amstrad CPC 464 video is finally up!
I never expected to say that, but I never expected to find someone like LGR who makes these things so darn interesting.