Alphatext: the WP system that stands alone

Here's an advert for another dedicated word-processing system, in an era where it seems that the idea that general-purpose computers could do word processing as well as other things seems to have passed some companies by.

It's for Triumph-Adler's Alphatext, and is based around the Adler Alphatronic P2 or P3 microcomputer. These 8/16-bit machines were hang-overs from the 1970s as they were still running CP/M.

The Alphatext system wasn't alone: the advert lists some of its competition including the "Wangwriter", for £3,995 ([[3995|1983]] in [[now]]), or IBM's own Displaywriter - a snip at £4,718 - [[4718|1983]] in [[now]]

The top-of-the-range Alphatext, based on the P3 Alphatronic with a TRD170S daisywheel printer and the software, retailed for £3,410 - that's about [[3410|1983]] in [[now]]. 

These sorts of prices were often justified by assuming that several typing jobs could be replaced by one machine, even though typing was generally only a small part of any secretarial role.