CPC Schneider International

A German magazine for the CPC and PCW.

The magazine name changed several times between CPC/PC and Schneider/Amstrad International:

• CPC Schneider International - (03-1985 .. 10-1986)
• CPC + PC Schneider International - (11-1986 .. 12-1986)
• PC Schneider International - (01-1987 .. 03-1988)
• PC Schneider / Amstrad International - (04-1988)
• PC Amstrad International - (05-1988 .. 08/09-1991)
• CPC Amstrad International - (10/11-1991 .. 12/01-1992/1993)
  • special edition - CPC Schneider International (Sonderheft) - (01-1986 .. 06-1988)
  • special edition - CPC International (Sonderheft) - (07-1988/1989 .. 08-1989/1990)

• Scans of CPCSI magazine isssues
• All availabe DSK images (as of July 5, 2010) in one 6.1 MB ZIP file
  • The file menu application is usually started on disks with: run"cpcdatab

Normal Issues

1985
First issue occured in March 1985		CPC Schneider March 1985	CPC Schneider April 1985	CPC Schneider May 1985	CPC Schneider June 1985
CPC Schneider July 1985	CPC Schneider August 1985	CPC Schneider September 1985	CPC Schneider October 1985	CPC Schneider November 1985	CPC Schneider December 1985
1986
CPC Schneider January 1986	CPC Schneider February 1986	CPC Schneider March 1986	CPC Schneider April 1986	CPC Schneider May 1986	CPC Schneider June 1986
CPC Schneider July 1986	CPC Schneider August 1986	CPC Schneider September 1986	CPC Schneider October 1986	CPC + PC Schneider November 1986	CPC + PC Schneider Dec 1986
1987
PC Schneider January 1987	PC Schneider February 1987	PC Schneider March 1987	PC Schneider April 1987	PC Schneider May 1987	PC Schneider June 1987
PC Schneider July 1987	PC Schneider August 1987	PC Schneider September 1987	PC Schneider October 1987	PC Schneider November 1987	PC Schneider December 1987
1988
PC Schneider January 1988	PC Schneider February 1988	PC Schneider March 1988	PC Schneider/Amstrad April 1988	PC Amstrad May 1988	PC Amstrad June 1988
PC Amstrad July 1988	PC Amstrad August 1988	PC Amstrad September 1988	PC Amstrad October 1988	PC Amstrad November 1988	PC Amstrad December 1988
1989
PC Amstrad January 1989	PC Amstrad February 1989	PC Amstrad March 1989	PC Amstrad April 1989	PC Amstrad May 1989	PC Amstrad June 1989
PC Amstrad July 1989	PC Amstrad August 1989	PC Amstrad September 1989	PC Amstrad October 1989	PC Amstrad November 1989	PC Amstrad December 1989
1990
PC Amstrad January 1990	PC Amstrad February 1990	PC Amstrad March 1990	PC Amstrad April 1990	PC Amstrad May 1990	PC Amstrad June/July 1990
PC Amstrad August/September 1990		PC Amstrad October/November 1990		PC Amstrad December/January 1990/1991
1991
PC Amstrad February/March 1991		PC Amstrad April/May 1991		PC Amstrad June/July 1991
PC Amstrad August/September 1991		CPC Amstrad October/November 1991		CPC Amstrad December/January 1991/1992
1992
CPC Amstrad February/March 1992		CPC Amstrad April/May 1992		CPC Amstrad June/July 1992
CPC Amstrad August/September 1992		CPC Amstrad October/November 1992		CPC Amstrad December/January 1992/1993

Special Issues (Sonderheft)

CPC Schneider International Sonderheft 1 - 1986	CPC Schneider International Sonderheft 2 - 1986	CPC Schneider International Sonderheft 3 - 1986	CPC Schneider International Sonderheft 4 - 1987
CPC Schneider International Sonderheft 5 - 1987	CPC Schneider International Sonderheft 6 - 1988	CPC International Sonderheft 7 - 1988/1989	CPC International Sonderheft, 8 - 1989/1990

Target market

The CPC Schneider International originally aimed at the semi-professional CPC user.

It contained market news, game and software tests, hardware modification tips (8th printer bit, CP/M switch, and similar), software listings and much more.

In late issues there were even reviews of scene demos.

Its names

During its lifetime, the magazine changed its name quite a few times:

The first rename took place after Schneider started to sell the PCW/Joyce and PC-1512/PC-1640 computers in Germany.

The CPC Schneider International was renamed to "PC Schneider International" (with "CPC" written vertically inside the "P" in PC, which was going to last until they should rename to CPC again) to reflect the fact that it also covered the PCW/PC models.

The second and third rename happened after Schneider Computer Division stopped distributing the CPC computers in Germany, and Amstrad stepped in.

The magazine was named "PC Amstrad/Schneider International" for a short time and to "PC Amstrad International" later.

As of 10/1991, the publisher decided to drop the PC section and concentrate on the CPCs and PCWs/Joyces only, so the magazine was renamed a fourth and last time: "CPC Amstrad International".

The early years

The magazine started in 03/1985 as CPC Schneider International.

Schneider because the Amstrad CPCs were sold as Schneider CPCs in Germany and International because the magazine had contacts to other publishers abroad.

The early years also were the best in the magazine's lifetime: The CPC was selling quite well in Germany and as the magazine lived from readers participating (all listings printed were sent in by readers before) there was enough content to print.

The hardware and software test sections were well supported by the hardware vendors and software distributors and there were enough advertisers to ensure the magazine earned money.

Adding PC coverage

The magazine was renamed to PC Schneider International to reflect the additional PC coverage inside.

The PC coverage was limited to the Schneider PC-1512/PC-1640 models (and their matching portables) as well as the PCW/Joyce.

The editors were concentrating on the features unique to the Amstrad PCs, e.g. the included GEM and DOS plus.

At this time, the CPCs and the magazine were still going strong.

The Schneider → Amstrad name change

To reflect the changeover from Schneider to Amstrad, the magazine was renamed to PC Amstrad/Schneider International first and PC Amstrad International later.

The history behind this was that in 1988, Schneider Computer Division dropped the distribution of all Amstrad computers in Germany, and Amstrad opened a German branch.

Sadly Amstrad couldn't keep the change seamless: After about half a year, the supply in Germany was interrupted and the shops went out of stock.

This was less of a problem if you already owned a CPC, because the supply with games was widely not depending on Schneider/Amstrad and furthermore, many add-ons were imported by the shops themselves.

However, original Amstrad parts like the CPCs themselves, monitors, disk drives and so on became harder to get.

As at about the same time new, more powerful home computers like the Amiga and Atari ST were announced or even became available, this was the beginning of the end for the CPC in Germany.

The final years

The magazine was renamed "back" to CPC Amstrad International again.

In order to keep the magazine up, DMV tried a lot of things.

For example, the printing technology was changed to a cheaper one (two colours instead of four), the magazine no longer appeared monthly but only every second month and as last resort, they no longer sold it at every newsstand but only at railway station bookstores and via subscription in order to reduce the amount of magazines returned.

With the PC-1512 and PC-1640 becoming more and more outdated and more and more magazines coming up covering PCs only, the editors decided to drop the PC section in favor of the CPC/PCW again.