The Catalogue for your Amstrad PCW

Whether you’re looking to make a major purchase, or just for ribbons, printwheels or discs, the PCW Catalogue makes these easy to find and simple to order. This is an updated version of our printed catalogue.

You’ll find out about how LocoScript 4 can make your documents look brighter and more professional. Add a spelling checker, a "mailmerge" program or a database and give your PCW far more uses than you ever thought possible. There’s also a great range of other programs from Rocket, the PCW’s spreadsheet to a selection of games and educational software.

You’re no longer restricted to your PCW’s printer either. You can add one of our printer packages or just the items you need to add your own printer.

And if your PCW is showing its age, the answer’s here too! We have Do-it-yourself kits to let you replace or maintain your disc drives and your printer, and now even include complete refurbished PCWs.

All prices are inclusive of VAT but exclude postage.

Call for more details or to order on 08700 736427

LocoScript 4 now at the new low price of just £29.95

 

LocoScript 4 is the latest version of LocoScript for your PCW.

If you are still using the version of LocoScript that came with your PCW, you’re just not getting the best from your PCW.

With LocoScript 4 you can print in colour, lay out your text in columns, add pictures, draw boxes, and use impressive looking typefaces.

The great thing is how these features all work together. Imagine what you could do to a simple newsletter. Using columns, fonts, sizes and colours will make your ideas stand out. Our option to print odd and even pages will make it easy to print on both sides of the paper.

But it’s not just newsletters that LocoScript 4 can help with. Even simple documents look great after a "LocoScript 4 makeover"!

And, of course, LocoScript 4 can work with all your existing LocoScript documents – you won’t need to retype anything.

LocoScript 4 now just £29.95

Upgrade from LocoScript 3 just £19.95

 

The new features of LocoScript 4 include:

Our collections of extra fonts help brighten up your documents.

Use the Decorative and Display collections to jazz up invitations and newsletters and the Business collection to give your correspondence more impact.

 

Business, Decorative and Display sets now just £19.95 each

Buy two sets, save £10; buy all three, save £15.

 

Add extra programs....

LocoSpell

LocoSpell £19.95 or just £10 if ordered together with LocoScript 4.

LocoSpell checks the spelling of your LocoScript documents and offers corrections for most simple errors. It’s ideal for spotting your typing mistakes.

Just press f7 and select one of the spell check actions to check your spelling against a 78,000 word UK English dictionary from Longmans. You can choose to check the whole document, just part of the document or maybe look up a single word that you’re not sure of.

If there are words you use regularly that don’t appear in the dictionary, you can put these in a list of extra words known as a User Dictionary. The contents of the User Dictionary can be changed when you want, but it is not possible to remove words from the standard dictionary.

LocoFile

LocoFile £19.95 or just £10 if ordered together with LocoScript 4.

LocoFile is just like having a card index inside your PCW – that’s always in perfect order. Store names and addresses, details of your customers, catalogue and cross reference books, photographs etc, – almost anything in fact.

LocoFile keeps your information as a collection of record cards which can be called up onto the screen. We provide a number of standard card layouts or you can design the layout to fit exactly the information you want to store.

LocoFile couldn’t be easier to use. If you are editing a document, you can call up a datafile onto the screen and look up some information - even copy it to your document with just a few keystrokes.

You can print out the cards in the datafile, either singly or the whole file. And if you want to produce a report from the file, or labels perhaps, simply add LocoMail to print using all of LocoScript 4’s printing facilities.

LocoMail

LocoMail £19.95 or just £10 if ordered together with LocoScript 4..

LocoMail lets you produce standard letters, labels and reports which are then personalised by inserting items of information from a datafile. And as each copy is automatically laid out afresh, there are no unsightly gaps in the text and each letter looks individually produced.

You can use LocoMail simply to produce a personalised mailshot or a set of labels; or use more sophisticated features to keep running totals, work out VAT, produce invoices and so on.

You can also arrange for LocoMail to prompt you to type extra information to be filled in, such as the date or a reference number. And if you want, you can arrange for only some of the records to be used - for example, to write only to those members of your club whose subscriptions expire the following month.

LocoScript 3 now re-released at the new low price of £19.95

 If your PCW only has 256K or RAM (such as an unexpanded PCW8256 or PcW9256), you will find LocoScript 4 can be difficult to install. So, we've re-released LocoScript 3 in a special edition with a single scalable LX font alongside the Standard matrix printer font. This means that you can still get many of the advantages of the later versions of LocoScript without having to upgrade the memory of your PCW. You will not, however, be able to use a different printer or LocoFile, LocoMail or LocoSpell — for these enhancements you will need LocoScript 4 and we would recommend a 512K PCW.

Included with LocoScript 3 is the full and original LocoScript 3 manual, giving full details of the program.

LocoScript 4 now just £19.95

 

The main features of LocoScript 3 include:

It’s easy to change to a modern printer

 If you’ve been thinking about upgrading your printer to get faster printing, or perhaps better quality printing or simply some peace and quiet, now’s the time. And, with LocoScript 4 and a suitable colour printer, print in colour, too.

LocoScript Printer Packages

The easiest way of changing your PCW’s printer is to add one of our tailor made Printer Packages. Choose either a monochrome inkjet printer or a colour inkjet printer.

It’s as simple to use a new printer as your existing one - our printer packages come with everything you need. So just unpack the printer, load the ready prepared LocoScript 4 Start-of-day disc and you’re away. And all your old documents can be used straight away with LocoScript 4 too.

Purchase a suitable printer at a local retailer but PLEASE ENSURE THAT IT IS NOT A WINDOWS-ONLY MODEL, as many now are!

We can supply the extras you’ll need. With LocoScript 4 and the Printer Support Pack you can print straight away on most PCWs, but on the 8256/8512 and 9256 you’ll also need the Locomotive Power Pack.

LocoScript Printer Packages

Locoscript compatible inkjet printers available from £99+VAT 

Details supplied on request.

 Note

Like most inkjet printers you cannot print on continuous stationery or print on carbon or multi-part stationery. The JP 170 can be upgraded to colour, but this is not supported by LocoScript 4. The printers come with a RTB or RTM warranty depending on the model.

Use your own printer

Printer Support Pack

The simplest way to add another printer is by ordering one of our packages, but if you already have a suitable printer or prefer to purchase locally we can supply the extras you need to use your printer with your PCW.

The Printer Support Pack is a disc containing the extra instructions LocoScript 4 needs to print using any of over 750 printers that you can add to your PCW. When you install LocoScript 4 the installation program puts together a new LocoScript Start-of-day disc to print on your new printer - either instead of or alongside the Amstrad PCW printer.

Printer Support Pack for LocoScript 4 £19.95
Printer Support Pack and LocoScript 4 together £49.90

Printer Interface

The PCW8256, 8512 and 9256 need to have a printer interface fitted to work with a new printer. If you have not already fitted an interface, you will need the Locomotive Power Pack or as a cheaper alternative on the PCW8512 (or 8256 with 512K of memory) a CPS8256 Printer Interface.

Locomotive Power Pack

The Power Pack gives both an extra 512K of memory and a printer interface at an economical price. It also includes a printer cable suitable for attaching most modern printers to your PCW.

Even if your PCW already has 512K of memory, you can still add the Power Pack and boost your PCW’s memory to 1024K. You’ll find this useful if you want to use a large number of fonts in LocoScript, produce large spreadsheets with Rocket or complete high resolution pages in MicroDesign.

Locomotive Power Pack — call for availability and price
Printer Interface from £29.95.

Note that we are currently having problems with supplies of the Power Pack. Please call us to check availability before ordering. If we are not able to supply a Power Pack we may be able to suggest an alternative. We reserve the right to supply tested used Power Packs and Printer Interfaces where new units are not available.

Software to help you get more from your PCW

The Rocket Spreadsheet

Everyone needs to do calculations and the Rocket spreadsheet lets you do in minutes what can take hours with a calculator. Once you’ve laid out your calculations, if any of the numbers change it’s almost instantaneous to work out the new results.

You don’t need to be an expert to use Rocket. Just lay your figures out on Rocket’s grid and set up how the figures should be used - and you’ve done it. If you need to show the figures as a graph, that’s easy too. Mark out the figures that you want to plot, choose the graph you want and Rocket does the rest - in 3D if you want!

 

Whether you’re working out whether you can afford next year’s holiday or producing a school project, you’ll wonder how you managed without Rocket.

Graphs cannot be printed on a daisywheel printer. Supports Amstrad PCW printers, FX 80 and BJ-10 compatible printers.

Rocket spreadsheet £29.95

 Family Tree

Family Tree is a simple, menu-driven genealogy program. Enter details of all family members and their relationships and save to disc. Then you can select reports on lineage and ancestry and plot family trees. And of course you can print out the family trees too. The program comes with concise user notes.

Family Tree £14.95

Clip Art

If you’re not an artist yourself, you can still include pictures in your MicroDesign 3 and LocoScript 4 documents.

Our two libraries of clip art include lots of ready prepared pictures you can simply slot into your documents. Set 1 contains over 500 pictures ranging from a bicycle to the space shuttle, including animals, designs and everyday objects. Set 2 contains fewer but larger pictures.

 

Clip art picture library 1 £14.95
Clip art picture library 2 £19.95

Buy both at £29.95

Ansible Index Plus

An accurate index adds professional quality to written work, whether it’s an academic thesis, research papers, an article ... or even a full-length book. AnsibleIndex Plus is a reliable indexing program, simultaneously simple to use and very powerful, and it works with ordinary LocoScript documents. It indexes by extraction. You start with your document in LocoScript, using normal LocoScript commands to identify the words and phrases you wish to index. AnsibleIndex Plus does the rest: it sorts your subjects into alphabetical order and lists the page numbers on which they appear. (If you want to make changes later, you can.) The program will index all documents, long or short – a full-length book is easily within its scope.

Ansible Index Plus £29.95

Touch ‘n’ Go Typing Tutor

Self-paced lessons to help you learn to touch type. In just 24 hours, with a little concentrated effort, you can be touch typing at 40 words per minute.

Touch ‘n’ Go makes sure you don’t go on to the next lesson until you are ready. It displays all your mistakes and also the speed and accuracy with which you complete each lesson. You can keep log files of progress and resume at any time, just where you left off.

Touch ‘n’ Go £14.95

Upgrading your PCW

Disc Drives for PCW8256, PCW8512 & PCW9512

 If your 3" drive is unreliable, our 3" Drive Maintenance Kit may help to keep the drive going. New 3" drives are no longer made, so if the 3" drive is beyond help, change to a 3½" drive or fit a refurbished 3" drive.

Our 3½" disc drive kit is straightforward to fit yourself and comes complete with full fitting instructions.

The kits include replacement software to operate the new drives correctly. We include a new CP/M disc and even give a free LocoScript start-of-day disc and free exchange for any 3" LocoScript master discs with our drive A kits. The Drive A kit requires LocoScript 4, which you should order separately, on 3½" disc - either on its own or as part of a printer package.

Our drive A kit will replace your existing 3" drive A (increasing the capacity to 720K start-of-day discs on a PCW8256 or 8512); the drive B kit replaces your existing 8512 drive B or will fit in the spare slot on an 8256 or 9512. We strongly recommend you choose the Drive A product and take advantage of our free exchange of master discs. This brings up to date the drive you rely on most. You can continue to use the 8512’s 3" drive B, or on an 8256 or 9512 use our Drive B conversion cable to reuse the old drive A in the drive B position. This will give you access to all your old document discs. If your old drive is failing completely, don’t worry, we have a service to copy your old documents discs for as little as £2.50 per disc.

Our refurbished 3" drives simply replace your worn out drive. They come with clear instructions for fitting and with a three month warranty. If you return your old drive after replacing it, we’ll give an additional £10 discount.

3½" Disc Drives for PcW9256, PcW10 & PcW9512+

 If you have a PcW9256, PcW9512+ or PcW10, then we can also supply replacement or additional drives. But these do not need to be supplied with software, as they are identical in performance to your original disc drives.

Disc Drive Kit prices

3½" Drive Kit including LocoScript 4 £99
3½" Drive Kit £85
(requires LocoScript 4 on 8256/8512/9512)
Drive B Conversion cable £5.00
Refurbished 3" Drive* £49.95 or £45.00 in exchange for your old drive.

* Note. PCW 8256/8512 A Drive only. 9512 A or 8512 B Drives are no longer available.

256K Memory Chips

 The PCW8256 and PcW9256 only include 256K of memory. This limits the size of Drive M and restricts the programs you can run on these models. Our 256K of extra memory lets you increase the memory to 512K so that you can run LocoScript 4, MicroDesign and other programs. DIY fitting instructions are included.

256K Memory Chips £19.95

Locomotive Power Pack

This small plug-on unit fits all UK models of PCW and adds 512K of memory and a printer interface.

Locomotive Power Pack — call for availability and price

Refurbished PCW

If you’re not happy to fit the disc or daisywheel maintenance kit, or you are having other problems with your PCW, then a refurbished PCW could be the answer.

We normally have most models of PCW available, either immediately or within a short time.

Refurbished PCW from £69.95

Refurbished PCW daisywheel or matrix printer £45

Refurbished keyboard £19.95

Drive Maintenance Kit

A DIY solution to the dreaded Disc address mark missing. Disc drive errors can simply be a dirty or tired disc drive. The 3" Drive Maintenance Kit can help. It consists of a new drive belt with fitting instructions and cleaning pad and fluid. Note that you will need to remove the computer case and the worn drive belt.

Unfortunately, we cannot guarantee that the Kit will fix your problem, and of course we cannot refund a used Maintenance Kit! But if the Kit does not help, we’ll offer £10 off the price of a new 3½" or refurbished 3" disc drive kit - valid for one month after purchasing the Maintenance Kit.

3" Drive Maintenance Kit £12.50
(New drive belts only, £5.00)

Daisywheel Service Kit

Is your printing faint - even with a new ribbon? Do you get incorrect characters printed despite having the correct printwheel set in your software? Both these problems can be the result of a fractured armature on your Amstrad daisywheel printer. If so, they can be fixed easily by the Daisywheel Service Kit. The Kit consists of a new armature and full fitting instructions.

Unfortunately, we cannot guarantee that the kit will fix your problem, and of course we cannot refund a used service kit! But if the kit does not help, we’ll offer £10 off the price of a new Printer Package - valid for one month after purchasing the service kit.

Daisywheel Service Kit £12.50

PCW Checkup

If you’re not sure about your PCW’s health, give it a check up! This program will exercise the memory, discs, screen, keyboard and printer and let you know of any problems. What it can’t do is necessarily provide a solution for the problem.

PCW Checkup £19.95

Books

Mallard BASIC Guide

Part 1 is for those who have never written a computer program before. Part 2 is a detailed description of all Mallard BASIC’s facilities.

Mallard User Guide £14.95

LocoMail User Guide

All you need to know to use the mailmerge which was supplied with your PCW9512, from writing a standard letter through to producing mailing labels and even producing sophisticated applications to help in your business.

LocoMail Guide £19.95

LocoScript 2 Definitive Guide

This covers in detail the word processing features of LocoScript 2 and LocoSpell. It is mainly for the 9512+ and covers the use of the software supplied in far greater detail than Amstrad’s manual, but if you’ve lost the 9512’s user instructions, this will be a suitable substitute.

LocoScript 3 User Manual

This easy to follow guide covers all the features of LocoScript 3 in detail.

LocoScript 3 User Manual £14.95

Step by Step Guide to CP/M

by John Campbell

A simple guide with 170 pages of information showing you how to manage your files, set up a modem or add an extra printer.

Step by Step CP/M £9.95

CP/M Disc Guides

These two"books on a disc" will tell you more about using CP/M.

The Essential Guide gives an introduction to the principles and practices of CP/M and in-depth explorations of selected topics.

The Advanced Guide gives details of the various system commands, the use of the BDOS and Z80 assembler programming.

CP/M Essential Guide £9.95
CP/M Advanced Guide £9.95

We also have Essential Guides to the following (all @ £9.95 each or any 3 @ £19.95)

LocoScript 2

LocoScript 3 (also good for LS4 users as it covers LX Fonts etc)

Micro Design 2

Micro Design 2 Advanced

Mallard Basic

Novel and Essay Writing

Protext

Accessories

Discs

All supplies of the original Maxell and Panasonic 3" discs have now been exhausted and we have not found new 3" discs to be reliable. We now only supply recycled, reformatted 3" discs.

If you have a PcW9256, 9512+ or 10, or a PCW8256, 8512 or 9512 which has been changed to use 3½" drives, you need DD 3½" discs. If you have a PC or a PCW16 you need HD 3½" discs.

Recycled 3" discs - £2.95 each, pack of 5 £12.50
3½" DD discs - pack of 10 £6.50
3½" HD discs - pack of 10 £5.95

Ribbons

We sell ribbons for the Amstrad printers supplied with the PCW models and also for all printers we have sold. Ribbons for the PCW printers come as fabric or carbon. The fabric (or nylon) type are a continuous loop and continue printing, but just get fainter the more times they go round. The carbon type can only be used once, but give a much darker print.

For prices see our order form.

Inkjet Cartridges

We can supply new black or coloured ink cartridges for all the printers we offer. Different models of printer require different cartridges, so make sure that you select the correct type as we cannot refund cartridges that have been removed from their sealed packs. Note that a sealed cartridge can be left up to about two years before being used. Some printers also occasionally need the print head replaced.

For prices see our order form.

Refill Kits

A cheaper option is to refill your used cartridges. Refill kits come with black or coloured inks. A black refill will typically fill a cartridge several times.

The coloured ink kits include Yellow, Cyan and Magenta inks which can be used to refill a colour cartridge or mixed to give any colour you want.

When you change the colour of ink in a cartridge you will first need to clean the cartridge with a flushing kit. The flushing kit can also be used to free cartridges blocked by dried ink.

You should check with the printer manufacturer if refilling cartridges will affect any warranty.

Refill kit Black ink £9.95
Refill kit Coloured inks £14.95
Flushing kit £5.95

PCW9512/+ Printwheels

UK Printwheel £12.50

£12.50 — Letter Gothic 10/12  - the ideal replacement for Roman or Courier neither of which are now available.

Business/Accounts  Software

Personal Ledger

A highly-acclaimed home accounts package which received a 9 out of 10 rating in PCW Plus magazine. The Ledger keeps track of bank, credit card and savings accounts with up to 40 categories split between income, expenditure and actual balances. Full statement analysis and the facility to automate your main monthly standing orders.  Ideal for personal or club use.

Personal Ledger £19.95

Business Ledger

This provides simplified cash-book accounting for the self employed or small company. It records all payments and receipts, maintains bank and cash account balances, analyses sales and purchases under various headings and tracks profit/loss and VAT on every entry.

Whilst Business Ledger won’t remove the need for your accountant, it will help you to keep the records and present the information to reduce your accountancy bills. And if your business offers credit accounts, keeps stock and so on, you can use the Business Ledger together with Small Trader to be more efficient (buy both together @ only £49.95).

Business Ledger £29.95

Small Trader

An all in one solution to your administration problems. This covers handling stock, sales, invoicing, statements and purchases, with full integration between these different functions. Using Small Trader means you can produce invoices from your own stock lists and that a single entry updates all files. The program handles up to 199 credit accounts and 999 stock items.

Small trader is easy to use and equally suitable for both stock and service based businesses.

Small Trader £39.95

Invoice Stationery

Continuous two part stationery to use with Small Trader’s invoicing. Supplied in packs of 100 sheets - suitable for dot matrix printers with tractor feed units only.

Invoice stationery £14.95

Educational software

Let the PCW help with your children’s education. All educational programs £9.95, Buy two get one free!

Magic Maths

Early maths and numeracy. Covers addition and subtraction. (Age 4-8)

Maths Mania

Learn arithmetic with excellent graphics. Covers multiplication and division. (Age 8-12)

Better Maths

Hours of tuition, revision and testing to GCSE standards. Covers a wide range of topics. (Age 12-16)

Ultimate Sums

Mathematical problems presented in a structured and entertaining way. (Age 5-12)

Better Spelling

An effective spelling course by a language expert and psychologist. (Age 8–adult)

ABC–123

Teaches preschool children their alphabet, numbers and shapes. (Age 4–8)

Word Play

Uses pictures to help under-7s to recognise a variety of objects and their spellings.

GCSE Tutors

Menu-driven studies, tests and revision aids. Separate versions for:

French,

Physics,

Chemistry,

Biology

French Verbs

Take the pain out of mastering French verbs with this professionally designed aid for students of French at all levels of attainment.

Games

For a little light relief from word processing, try one of our games selections (20 games) or text adventures. All just £9.95 each, Buy two get one free!

Games Disc 1

Includes: Dam Defender, Dominoes, Patience, Mastermind, Solitaire, Twist ‘n’ turn, Danger UXB

Games Disc 2

Includes: 3D Noughts & Crosses, Splat, Word Shuffle, Yahtzee, Pyramid Game, What’s the Number

Games Disc 3

Includes: Startrek, Tetris, Pontoon, Ludo, Typing Lessons, Crash Landing, Mario’s Cement Factory, Airline Pilot, Snakes and Ladders, Simon Says.

Junior Playtime

A collection of ten programs to stretch young minds. Varying levels of difficulty can be selected for ages 5 to 8 years.

School’s Out

Hangman, Reversi, Four in a Row, Wordsearch and Junior Crossgrid. Suitable for ages 7 to 14.

Lord of the Rings

A text adventure based on book 1 of Tolkiens’s Lord of the Rings. Take the role of any of the four Hobbits and try to keep the ring out of Sauron’s hands.

Double Agent

A great spy game in which you arrive at the planet Marengo to help prevent the rebel invaders from overthrowing a neighbouring dying planet.

 Services

Disc Copying Services

If you want to take a PCW disc across for use on a PC or a different format PCW, we can copy the disc for you. We will convert LocoScript 1, 2 ,3 and 4 documents for use with most popular PC word processing programs. Just click here for an order form.

Disc Copying £10.00 per disc

Scanning Service

If you have any black and white line drawings you’d like to include in your LocoScript 4 or MicroDesign 3 documents, we can scan your documents for you. We will supply a PCW 3" or 3½" disc with the picture saved as an MDA file.

Scanning Prices on application - please request a Scanning Order Form.