Amstrad Plc has confirmed that it will be unveiling a range of new computer products in the UK on October 28. The news comes as gossip of an Amstrad portable Personalike have started to circulate again (CI No 638). According to Computer Trade Weekly, the machine, to be known as the LT-1, will be launched at the Comdex Show in Las Vegas in the first week of November. Despite Amstrad’s recent habit of announcing products in the US ahead of UK launches, it is certainly possible that a new machine could be announced in London and then have its first public appearance at the US show. The LT-1 could help explain why Amstrad did not take up the option it had on Sir Clive Sinclair’s Z88 portable computer. Popular Computing Weekly says the LT-1 – LT stands for lap-top – is likely to be MS-DOS compatible – the Z88 is not – and come bundled with an adapted version of WordStar 1512. The paper says the box – supposedly UKP400 – needs to have a backlit supertwist LCD screen if it is to be competitive with the current generation of portables, although the possibility of a gas plasma screen has been touted. Gas plasma screens are heavier, more expensive and require more power than supertwist LCD. PCW also suggests that it will have the 3.5 floppy drives found in the IBM PS/2 range rather than the standard 5.25 drives. The Amstrad announcement meeting on October 28 is scheduled for the same building and same time as a launch by US portable manufacturer Grid Systems. Both companies say this is just a coincidence. In a bid to play down speculation, Amstrad boss Alan Sugar is reported to have told Computer Trade Weekly that he hoped the paper would print its US launch story because you aren’t half going to make a fool of yourself.
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