Philips VG 8000

The Philips VG-8000, released in 1983, was the first Philips MSX computer, although it was not 100% compliant with the standard (as it lacked a Centronics printer port, expansion bus, or audio out, and had a custom video out).^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5]^[6]^[7]

The VG-8000 was built in France, at Le Mans by Radiotechnique.^[8] It was released in Belgium, Finland, Germany, and Italy (as the Phonola VG-8000).^[1]^[9]^[10]

The computer had a poor chiclet type keyboard, with two cartridge ports above it. The keyboard layout was qwerty or azerty, according to the market the computer was sold. It had five double function keys (F1 to F10) on top, and four arrow keys on the right. There were three color LEDs: Power (red), Caps (orange) and Code (green).^[9]

There were three versions of this machine:^[9]

VG-8000/00, with qwerty keyboard and PAL composite video output;
VG-8000/19, with azerty keyboard and RGB video output (planned but never released according to service manual);
VG-8000/20, with qwerty keyboard and RGB video output.

The machine was expensive and not successful.^[1]^[2]

Philips VG 8010

The VG-8010, released in January 1984, was a more advanced model with 32 KB of RAM and popular in the Netherlands.^[2]^[11]^[12]^[13]^[6]

It was built in France, at Le Mans by Radiotechnique, with a retail price of 2290 Fr in September 1985.^[8] It was sold in Italy as the Phonola VG-8010.^[14]

There were two versions of this machine:^[9]

VG-8010/00, with qwerty keyboard and PAL composite video output;
VG-8010/19, with azerty keyboard and RGB video output.

Besides the mentioned Phonola branding, these machines were also sold under the Schneider and Radiola brands:^[9]

Schneider MC 810, with 48K RAM, azerty keyboard and RGB video output;
Radiola MK 180, with 48K RAM, azerty keyboard and RGB video output.

The VG-8010 was replaced with the Philips VG-8020, a more advanced machine.^[2]^[8]

Specifications

Z80A processor running at 3.58 MHz^[6]
RAM: 16 KB (VG-8000),^[1] 32 KB (VG-8010),^[2] 48 KB (MC 810 and MK 180)^[9]
ROM: 32 KB (MSX BASIC V1.0)
Video processor: TMS9918^[6]
Sound: AY-3-8910^[6]
Ports: two cartridge slots, tape-recorder connector, RGB video output, two joystick sockets

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Philips VG-8000". HomeComputerMuseum. Retrieved 2023-05-23.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "VG 8000 / 8010 Philips". www.old-computers.com. Retrieved 2023-05-22.
^ "Philips VG 8000". www.silicium.org. Retrieved 2023-05-22.
^ "Philips - VG 8000". www.system-cfg.com. Retrieved 2023-05-22.
^ "Philips VG-8000". www.8bit-homecomputermuseum.at. Retrieved 2023-05-22.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Philips (1984). Philips VG8000/VG8010 Service Manual (GB).
^ Valoroso, Amedeo (2023-01-13). "How to build an audio/video cable for MSX Philips VG 8000 VG 8010 VG 8020". Amedeo Valoroso. Retrieved 2023-05-23.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Philips VG-8010". www.obsolete-tears.com. Retrieved 2023-05-23.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Amor, Jose Antonio Ortigueira (2020-05-17). "Retro Ordenadores Orty: Philips VG-8000 (versión VG 8000/00) (1984)". Retro Ordenadores Orty. Retrieved 2023-05-23.
^ "Phonola VG-8000". MSX.org. Retrieved 2024-08-11.
^ "Philips VG-8010". HomeComputerMuseum. Retrieved 2023-05-23.
^ "Philips VG 8010". www.silicium.org. Retrieved 2023-05-22.
^ "Philips - VG 8010". www.system-cfg.com. Retrieved 2023-05-22.
^ "Phonola VG-8010". MSX.org. Retrieved 2024-08-11.