Although the Memotech MTX has had excellent reviews, and PCN has itself endorsed them, Memotechs have failed to sell in great numbers. The fault is not in the machines themselves - the hardware and firmware are excellent, most peripherals are available and it is the only sub-£200 micro capable of expandability to a true 80-column CP/M machine. Moreover, despite the fact that most major software houses have ignored it (Level 9 excepted), software is really no problem, as a large number of titles are available.
The MTX is the only Z80 micro that allows Basic programs over 64K in length - if the box says 128K on it, that's how much Basic will fit in it. And if success is measured in terms of game playing ability the Memotech should be at the top.
The reason the Memotech has not been as successful as it deserves lies in the fact that other than readers of PCN, no-one has heard of it - neither the retailers, nor the public, not even fellow enthusiasts.
This is where Memotech's failing has been - the marketing of the machine has been weak since the machine's conception. The result showed in the disappearance of the MTX from the PCN's charts in the few weeks before the event. What is now required is an intensive marketing campaign to make the public well aware of the advantages of the MTX.
16th February 1985
