Getting into MSX

[bluejay]

I've been considering acquiring an MSX machine for a while after finding out that my dad owned a Daewoo IQ-1000 many moons ago; in the hopes of shifting my hobby towards what he can feel more directly nostalgic for and perhaps enjoy together. MSX systems are relatively easier to find here, having been quite popular through the 1980s (that is, it's actually possible to find them as opposed to being completely unobtainium) but I know very little about the architecture and what to look out for.

 

As I understand it, there's an MSX, and an enhanced MSX2, an MSX2+, and some other souped up variant? Will I be missing out on something crucial if I were to opt for a base MSX as opposed to any of the more powerful systems? Also, it appears that software came predominantly on ROM cartridges and to a lesser extent cassette tapes, but the Wikipedia page notes that there was a significant shift towards 3.5" floppy drives that were MS-DOS compatible once that became available. How much software became available on disk and are there methods and utilities for transferring "legally acquired" cartridge ROMs from the intenet and run them via floppy disk as is possible on Commodore machines? What's the aftermarket support like, and is there something that I "must get" to improve quality of life?

 

Lastly, the particular machine on my radar is a Daewoo CPC-400 (MSX2), which struck me as especially interesting because it comes in a cool matte black desktop case with a built in floppy drive, but being a Korean system it comes with an English/Korean character set. Should I expect any hiccups from this? 

[bluejay]

Oh, and what should I expect to pay for a system, depending on specs, peripherals, and upgrades?

[Boschloo]

7 hours ago, bluejay said:

Oh, and what should I expect to pay for a system, depending on specs, peripherals, and upgrades?

My (Japanese) "very good" National CF3000 was under $200, but a much nicer one is going for $285+ on eBay USA. My (Brazilian) Gradiente Expert XP-800 was like new and cost $300. It's definitely the beauty contest winner but it has a bunch of proprietary connectors that make no sense in 2023. 

[Hakogame 箱亀]

Most of the games will run on an msx1, but a lot of the more well respected games are msx2 only.

I'd probably recommend a msx2 for most people, as it lets you play more games, is more likely to have a disk drive, and supports 80 column mode which is good if you want to program on it.

[carlsson]

Yeah. Unless you can find a bargain MSX1, I believe these days you may as well go for a MSX2 system, ideally one with 128K RAM or more, plus VRAM of course. Some of the lower end MSX2 models "only" had 64K RAM and no floppy drive, which might limit your software choices anyhow. I think getting an MSX2+ really doesn't add a lot, and a Turbo-R would only be for collectors. More recently there have been homebrew hardware with a proposed MSX3 base but that never was original.

 

If you get a MegaFlashROM SD or similar device, you probably will have less use of a floppy drive, unless you find a lot of original disks somewhere.

[Hwlngmad]

Throwing my two cents into the discussion, I would recommend getting an MSX2.  Sure, you can play lots with the MSX1, but the true sweet spot for the system was the MSX2.  Regardless, take care and best of luck in your endeavors as the MSX line of computers are pretty cool and a very capable gaming platform.

[Gory-Glory]

MSX is a cool computersystem.

 

I had a MSX Spectravideo 728 back inte 80s with games on cassettetapes and cartridges.

 

I had these games on cartridges Hypersport/Track & Field, Gradius/Nemesis, Green Beret, a motorsportgame and I think I even had Gooinies.

 

On cassettetapes I had s lot of budgetgames. But some real games like Ghostbusters.

 

I sold all to get insteed Nintendo NES.

 

I classmate of me had MSX Spectravideo 738 Xpress with intern 3.5 inch floppy disk drive.

Edited February 5 by Gory-Glory

[+AtariPhreak]

did these machines even have anything other than games and basic? i’ve stumbled across them before - some of them even having 2 5.25” drives - but you never see application software, or even terminal programs or bbs software for them. just seems like a very odd little animal..

[CatPix]

There were LOTS, especially in Japan, where most where sold as "Word processors". In Brazil, if I recall, they were used in the administration before being replaced by IBM PC.

One of the few MSX sold in the USA was sold as part of a MIDI music creation and edition set.

Heck, even the Soviet Union got MSX for school computing programs, and they weren't alone.

There's no picture specifically but testimonies of people seeing MSX used in offices, including in a French nuclear power plant (tho I assume it was for office work, not for dealing with the reactor itself )

 

I'll give it to you, those uses are rarely mentionned for the MSX, but they were real.

 

And perhaps the most undisputable famous use of a Sony MSX 2 is aboard the MIR station :