PC1512 v2 differences

The design of the PC1512 changed gradually over the course of its life. Mostly this involved fairly minor changes such as the addition of ventilation slots in the 'sunroof' at the back, or the use of slightly different floppy drives. However, the differences between the original PC1512 and Version 2 are a little more substantial:

• The case appears to be made of paler plastic (this may be caused by less ageing of the plastic compared to a v1 PC1512).
• There are now ventilation slots on the top and side of the case, to either side of where the monitor sits.
• The Amstrad logo and PC name are in red and grey. On a v1 PC1512 they are brown.

The above three features are also seen on PC1640 cases. Probably Amstrad simply decided to consolidate the two designs of case.

• The motherboard is the same, but the BIOS and CGA character ROM are both different. The BIOS displays a "(v2)" on boot, and has a copyright date of 1987 (as opposed to the original BIOS, which is dated 1986). The CGA character ROM includes a Greek character set not present on the v1 PC1512.

The pictures on the web of Sinclair PC500s show the extra ventilation slots, so (bearing in mind the date of the PC500) it is likely that they were all based on the v2 PC1512. Then again, all the pictures on the web of the PC500 are of the same computer.