Amstrad CPC6128+

The CPC6128+ was the flagship of Amstrad's "Plus" range, a 1990 revamp of the much-loved CPC line. It added hardware sprites, a wider palette of colours and cartridge support alongside the familiar three-inch disk drive, making it comfortably the most capable CPC ever built.

Technically it was a real step forward, and a genuine improvement on the original in almost every respect. The problem was simply when it arrived. By 1990 the home-computer world had moved decisively to the 16-bit Amiga and ST, and against that kind of firepower even a polished 8-bit machine struggled to make a case for itself.

The 6128+ is a handsome, late refinement of a family that the market had largely moved past, the CPC at its most accomplished just as its moment was ending. For devoted CPC fans it is a lovely thing; for the wider buying public of 1990, it was a beautifully finished answer to a question they had stopped asking.