The PCW9512 was launched in 1987 as a replacement for the Amstrad PCW8512. The configuration of the package was changed. The dod-matrix printer was swapped for a daisy-wheel printer, which produced better quality letter documents, but of course did not support graphics. The system however came equipped with a centronix parallel port, that allowed non Amstrad printers to be connected. The PCW9512 came with version 2 of the Locoscript Word Processor, which inluded a spellcheck module and mail merge capabilities. The CRT screen was replaced as well, the green-screen was swapped for a white-on-black type. Besides these changes, the PCW9512 remained functionally similar to the PCW8512.

In 1991 the PCW9512 was replaced by the PCW9256 and the PCW512+. Both of these machines had a standard 3.5" 720KByte double density and double sided disk drive. The machines came with multiple printer options, the standard Amstrad daisy wheel printer, but also a canon inkjet printer for much better quality documents. The PCW9256 was a bit of a reversal, it came with the older dot matrix printer, only 256KByte of RAM and the older Locoscript V1 word processor, making it not much different than the older PCW8256.

The Z80 quickly became popular in the personal computer market, with many early personal computers, such as the TRS-80 and Sinclair ZX80, using the Z80 as their central processing unit (CPU). It was also widely used in home computers, such as the MSX range, SORD, and the Amstrad CPC, as well as in many arcade games. Additionally, it was also used in other applications such as industrial control systems, and embedded systems. The Z80 was widely used until the mid-1980s, when it was gradually replaced by newer microprocessors such as the Intel 80286 and the Motorola 68000.

The Z80 microprocessor was developed by Zilog, a company founded by Federico Faggin in 1974. The Z80 was released in July 1976, as a successor to the Intel 8080. It was designed to be fully compatible with the 8080, but also included new features such as an improved instruction set, more powerful interrupts, and a more sophisticated memory management system.

The Z80 quickly became popular in the personal computer market, with many early personal computers, such as the TRS-80 and Sinclair ZX80, using the Z80 as their central processing unit (CPU). It was also widely used in home computers, such as the MSX range, SORD, and the Amstrad CPC, as well as in many arcade games. Additionally, it was also used in other applications such as industrial control systems, and embedded systems. The Z80 was widely used until the mid-1980s, when it was gradually replaced by newer microprocessors such as the Intel 80286 and the Motorola 68000. The design was licensed to Synertek and Mostek as well as the European SGS.

The Z80s instruction set is binary compatible with the Intel 8080, so that 8080 code such as the CP/M Operating System and Intel's PL/M compiler for the 8080 can run unmodified on the Z80. The Z80 had many enhancements over the 8080 such as 16-bit data movement instructions, block copy and block I/O instructions, single bit addressing of all registers, IX/IY offset registers, better interrupt system and a complete duplicate register file for context switching during an interrupt.