Amstrad Notepad NC100
I have main unit,
type notepad computer
country German
year 1992
os BBD Basic
cpu Z80
speed 4 MHz
ram 64 MB
graphic LCD 80 x 8
colors mono
sound
ports serial, parallel, PC card
The Amstrad NC100 — The Pocket Professional
Released in 1992, the Amstrad NC100 Notepad Computer was one of the most practical and thoughtfully designed portable computers of its era. Conceived explicitly as a mobile word processor and organiser for business professionals, the NC100 delivered genuinely useful functionality in a compact, battery-powered package running over 20 hours on four AA batteries — an extraordinary figure for any portable computer of the time.
Design Philosophy — Usefulness Over Glamour
The NC100 was designed by Amstrad in collaboration with Cambridge Computer, drawing on experience from the earlier Sinclair Z88 portable. The design brief was clear: create a machine that professionals could actually use on trains, in meetings, and away from power sockets — something the expensive laptops of the early 1990s consistently failed to deliver. The result prioritised battery life, keyboard quality, and instant-on operation above all else.
Hardware
The NC100 was powered by a Zilog Z80 processor at 4 MHz — chosen for its extreme power efficiency. It featured a 480×64 pixel LCD display showing 8 lines of 80 characters, a full-size QWERTY keyboard, and a PCMCIA card slot for storage — genuinely forward-thinking for 1992. Serial and parallel ports allowed printer connections. Built-in BBC BASIC provided a programming environment, while the included word processor, address book, diary, and calculator covered core business needs. Crucially, turning the machine on was instant — no boot time whatsoever.
Legacy
The NC100 and its successors (NC150 and NC200) anticipated the netbook and ultrabook categories by over a decade, proving that the market for simple, long-battery-life portables was real and underserved. In an era when ”laptop” meant heavy, expensive, and short battery life, the NC100 offered something genuinely different: a tool that simply worked, wherever you were.