The PV-7 is an MSX-compatible home computer released by Casio Computer on October 15, 1984. At the time the standard MSX computer price was over 50,000

yen The is the official currency of Japan. It is the third-most traded currency in the foreign exchange market, after the United States dollar and the euro. It is also widely used as a third reserve currency after the US dollar and the euro. T ...

, but the PV-7 was released at the low price of 29,800 yen. Positioned as a successor to the

PV-2000 The PV-2000, also known as ''RakuGaki,'' is a home computer manufactured by Casio and released in Japan in 1983, with a launch price of ¥29,800. It has similar hardware to MSX machines, but uses a different sound chip, memory allocations and BIOS. ...

home computer, released by Casio the previous year, it inherited the PV-2000's octagonal "joypad" at the right of the keyboard. Due to the small amount of

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installed, many of the software written in

BASIC Basic or BASIC may refer to: Science and technology * BASIC, a computer programming language * Basic (chemistry), having the properties of a base * Basic access authentication, in HTTP Entertainment * Basic (film), ''Basic'' (film), a 2003 film ...

couldn't be run, and the keyboard was barely large enough to input characters. These limitations meant that the machine used mainly for games provided on ROM cartridges.

History

Utilizing the

calculator An electronic calculator is typically a portable electronic device used to perform calculations, ranging from basic arithmetic to complex mathematics. The first solid-state electronic calculator was created in the early 1960s. Pocket-si ...

technology that Casio mastered at the time, the PV-7 used a single-sided

circuit board A printed circuit board (PCB), also called printed wiring board (PWB), is a laminated sandwich structure of conductive and insulating layers, each with a pattern of traces, planes and other features (similar to wires on a flat surface) ...

to reduce manufacturing costs. The intended release price was 19,800 yen, which would be competitive with the

Famicom The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on 15 July 1983 as the and was later released as the redesigned NES in several test markets in the ...

. Although the actual price exceeded the initial target, it was successful in being priced under 30,000 yen. The emphasis on price led to the sacrifice of specifications, with

limited to 8 KB, the minimum capacity allowed by the MSX standard, a single cartridge slot and no tape interface. Despite its low specs, sales were strong during the Christmas season. However, the price slash caused by the Casio PV-7, caused other MSX machines to plummet in price, leading many electronics manufacturers to withdraw from the standard as it was no longer profitable. Nishi Kazuhiko, a proponent of the MSX standard, states: "Casio's price cuts almost killed off the MSX of other companies. I thought, 'Oh no!'".

Technical details

The PV-7 has 8 KB of RAM, expandable to 64 KB by using a dedicated expansion or RAM expansion cartridge. The CPU is a

Z80A The Zilog Z80 is an 8-bit microprocessor designed by Zilog that played an important role in the evolution of early personal computing. Launched in 1976, it was designed to be software-compatible with the Intel 8080, offering a compelling altern ...

running at 3,579 Mhz. Graphics are handled by a

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graphics chip capable of generating 256×192

pixel In digital imaging, a pixel (abbreviated px), pel, or picture element is the smallest addressable element in a Raster graphics, raster image, or the smallest addressable element in a dot matrix display device. In most digital display devices, p ...

s graphics with 16

colours Color (or colour in Commonwealth English; see spelling differences) is the visual perception based on the electromagnetic spectrum. Though color is not an inherent property of matter, color perception is related to an object's light absorpt ...

and 32 sprites. The machine has 32 KB of

ROM Rom, or ROM may refer to: Biomechanics and medicine * Risk of mortality, a medical classification to estimate the likelihood of death for a patient * Rupture of membranes, a term used during pregnancy to describe a rupture of the amniotic sac * ...

housing MSX BASIC v 1.0. There are two color variations: black with gray keys, and red with black keys.

Software

Software released by Casio for the PV-7: * GPM-101:

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* GPM-102: Hot Battle at Koshien * GPM-103: Ski Command * GPM-104: Pachinko UFO * GPM-112: Ice World * GPM-113: Eagle Fighter * GPM-114: Casio World Open * GPM-117: Iga Ninja Scroll * GPM-118: Car Fighter * GPM-119: The 7 Adventures of Sinbad * GPM-120: Exoid Z * GPM-123: Monster House * GPM-124: Kitten's Great Adventure * GPM-125: Philosopher's Stone * GPM-128: Iga Ninja Scroll: Battle at Full Moon Castle * GPM-129: Exoid Z Area 5 * GPM-130: Moai Treasures * GPM-131: Crest of Hades, the Dragon King of Darkness * GPM-132: What is the problem with Issun-boshi? * GPM-501: Game Land * GPM-501S: Game Land Special * GPM-502: Introduction to

* GPM-503: Drawing Contest * GPM-505: Introduction to BASIC II * GPM-506: Introduction to Computers

Related machines

These models inherited the basic concept of the PV-7 as an inexpensive computer, and all of them were equipped with a joypad.

PV-16

Released in 1985, this machine had 16KB of RAM at the same price as the PV-7. It also had a built-in cassette interface. The exterior was the same as the PV-7, but the internal circuit board was double-sided.

MX-10

Released in 1986, this machine was even smaller than the PV-16, with a price of 19,800 yen. It had a

chiclet keyboard A chiclet keyboard is a computer keyboard with keys that form an array of small, flat rectangular or lozenge-shaped rubber or plastic keys that look like erasers or " Chiclets", a brand of chewing gum manufactured in the shape of small squares ...

and the cassette interface was optional.

MX-101

Released in November 1986, this machine allows the RF output be wirelessly transmitted to a TV using transmitting and receiving antennas.

References

{{Casio Casio products 1984 in video gaming Computer-related introductions in 1984 Products introduced in 1984 MSX microcomputer