The Philips VG-8230 was a MSX2 standard compatible

personal computer A personal computer, commonly referred to as PC or computer, is a computer designed for individual use. It is typically used for tasks such as Word processor, word processing, web browser, internet browsing, email, multimedia playback, and PC ...

released in 1986. It was the first MSX2 machine from

Philips Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), simply branded Philips, is a Dutch multinational health technology company that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, its world headquarters have been situated in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarter ...

, aimed at home users with a focus on gaming and productivity. The VG-8230 was only released in

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. With only 64 KB of RAM, it was quickly replaced by the

Philips VG-8235 The Philips VG-8235 is a Philips MSX, MSX2 compatible home computer, released in 1986 in Europe. It was developed and manufactured by the NEC. The machine was the successor to the Philips VG-8230, VG-8230, and features a dark case with 128KB o ...

which offered 128 KB of memory.

Description

The machine featured a dark case with a built-in keyboard and a 360 KB capacity 3.5-inch

floppy disk drive A floppy disk or floppy diskette (casually referred to as a floppy, a diskette, or a disk) is a type of disk storage composed of a thin and flexible disk of a magnetic storage medium in a square or nearly square plastic enclosure lined with a ...

on the right side. The VG-8230 came with

MSX BASIC MSX BASIC is a dialect of the BASIC programming language. It is an extended version of Microsoft's MBASIC Version 4.5, adding support for graphic, music, and various peripherals attached to MSX microcomputers. Generally, MSX BASIC is designed to f ...

built into the

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 * ...

, allowing users to write and execute their own programs. This version of BASIC was extended to take advantage of the improved graphics and memory of the MSX2 standard. The machine came with two discs, containing productivity software: ''MSX-DOS 1'', ''MSX Home Office'' and ''MSX Designer''.

Specifications

The Philips VG-8230 had the following technical specifications: *

CPU A central processing unit (CPU), also called a central processor, main processor, or just processor, is the primary processor in a given computer. Its electronic circuitry executes instructions of a computer program, such as arithmetic, log ...

: Zilog Z80A, running at 3.58 MHz *

RAM Ram, ram, or RAM most commonly refers to: * A male sheep * Random-access memory, computer memory * Ram Trucks, US, since 2009 ** List of vehicles named Dodge Ram, trucks and vans ** Ram Pickup, produced by Ram Trucks Ram, ram, or RAM may also ref ...

: 64 KB *

VRAM Video random-access memory (VRAM) is dedicated computer memory used to store the pixels and other graphics data as a framebuffer to be rendered on a computer monitor. It often uses a different technology than other computer memory, in order to ...

: 128 KB * Graphics:

Yamaha V9938 The Yamaha V9938 is a video display processor (VDP) used on the MSX2 home computer, as well as on the Geneve 9640 enhanced TI-99/4A clone and the Tatung Einstein 256. It was also used in a few MSX1 computers, in a configuration with 16kB VRA ...

(up to 512×212 pixels with 16 colors from a palette of 512, and 80×24 text mode) * Sound: Yamaha AY-3-8910 PSG (Programmable Sound Generator), providing three channels of sound * Storage: 3.5" floppy disk drive (360 KB capacity per disk) * Ports: Two joystick ports, RGB video output, composite video output, audio output, centronics printer port, cartridge slot *

Operating system An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware and software resources, and provides common daemon (computing), services for computer programs. Time-sharing operating systems scheduler (computing), schedule tasks for ...

: MSX Disk BASIC, MSX BASIC

References

{{Philips MSX2 microcomputer VG-8230 Z80-based home computers