The MSX concept is born in 1983. The idea behind the MSX is to define a new standard for the home computer. This concept was invented the ASCII company & Microsoft Corp on behalf of Masushita and Sony. This bring us to the controversial origin the term MSX. Some people say that MSX means 'Masushita Sony X-Machine', others say that MSX means 'MicroSoft eXtended'. Indeed MSX computers provide an extended version of the Microsoft Basic language. Whatever. The MSX had an enormous success in Japan but not in the USA and Europe. It is impressive to see the total numbers of MSX systems that were built in Japan. Here are some of the most famous actors of the MSX world:  Sony, Canon, Fujitsu, Hitachi, JVC, Pionner, Sanyo Yamaha, Panasonic, Toshiba, Daewoo, Philips... 

A MSX computer is a machine that complies to the following minimum specs:

• A Z80 CPU running at 3.58Mhz. The speed has been doubled on MSX2 Turbo R systems
• A minimum of 8Kb RAM (64Kb is recommended)
• 32Kb ROM with the MSX Basic. MSX computers run MSX Basic 1.0, MSX2 computers run MSX Basic 2.0
• About the video: text mode->32x24, bitmap mode -> 256x192 16 colors
• A cartridge port, An expansion port
• A sound chip with 3 channels and 8 octaves each
• A cassette recorder with a speed of 1200 or 2400 Bauds

There are four types of MSX computers: MSX, MSX2, MSX2+ and MSX2 Turbo R

Model	Philips VG 8000 MSX
Description	In 1985, the VG 8000 is the first MSX computer designed by Philips. This computer has 32Kb RAM and 32Kb ROM. Its main drawback was that the memory was not sufficient: 16Kb out of 32Kb RAM are used by the video chip. This model was soon replaced by the VG 8010 which is the same as the VG 8000 except that it has really 32Kb RAM and 16Kb Video RAM. Apparently, this one is a European version because it has some gray parts. There is also a french version of this computer that is completely black.
Remarks	Working: not tested yet because no power supply Boxed: no Green monochrome monitor (BM-7552)
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Model	Philips VG 8020 MSX
Description	The VG 8020 is the third MSX computer designed by Philips. Like all MSX computers, it uses a Z80A micro-processor running at 3.58 Mhz. It has 64Kb RAM and 32KB ROM. The machine is well designed and the keyboard is much more robust than its predecessors the 8000 & 8010.
Remarks	Working: not tested yet because no power supply Boxed: no
Picture

Model	Philips Odyssey 2001
Description	The Odyssey 2001 is a Pong console. A pong is a console that does not have a cartridge port, the games are directly built-in in the ROM. Pong games are simplistic: most of the time, you have one or more vertical bar that you move up dans down in order to send a ball in the oposite side of the screen. The odyssey 2001 has 3 built-in games: Tennis, Hockey and Squash. This pong has two particularities. First of all, it has a higher quality graphical chip than its competitors. The other particularity is that the sound comes from the television set instead of the console as it is often the case for Pong systems.
Remarks	Working: not yet tested Boxed: yes
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Model	Philips Videopac G7000
Description	Although this machine has a keyboard, this is not a computer but a game console. Sold in 1978, it uses a Intel 8048 CPU cadenced at 1.51Mhz. It has a 320bytes RAM and 4Kb ROM. There are a lot of games for this system. All games are numbered. The cartridges have 2,4 or 16Kb of storage. The graphical resolution is 128x64 with 16 colors. Except from one cartridge, the keyboard is only used to key in your name when you perform a high-score.
Remarks	Working: I don't think so provided that the cartridge port is in bad shape. Boxed: no Some games (see picture below)
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Last update: August the 14th 2002