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6,654 pages: 1,289 machines, 702 software, 460 companies, 64 history, 17 articles, 59 fun.
4,336 media files so far; references to files not downloaded yet are left out.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01YDRjtmAiNpo5mK5N3d7QwZ
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---
title: Dick Smith VZ300
categories:
- Computers
types:
- Home Computer
origins:
- Hong Kong
years:
- '1985'
cpus:
- Zilog Z80 A
params:
name: VZ300
company: /companies/dick-smith
company_name: Dick Smith
specs:
- label: NAME
value: VZ300
- label: MANUFACTURER
value: Dick Smith
- label: TYPE
value: Home Computer
- label: ORIGIN
value: Hong Kong
- label: YEAR
value: '1985'
- label: END OF PRODUCTION
value: '1987'
- label: BUILT IN LANGUAGE
value: Microsoft Basic
- label: KEYBOARD
value: QWERTY, 46 mechanical keys, Basic instructions and graphic symbols
- label: CPU
value: Zilog Z80 A
- label: SPEED
value: 3.54 MHz
- label: CO-PROCESSOR
value: 'Video chip : Motorola 6807'
- label: RAM
value: 16 kb (up to 64 kb)
- label: VRAM
value: 2 kb
- label: ROM
value: 16 kb
- label: TEXT MODES
value: 32 columns x 16 lines, 8 colors (Mode 0)
- label: GRAPHIC MODES
value: 128 x 64 dots, 4 colors (Mode 1)
- label: COLORS
value: '8'
- label: SOUND
value: built-in piezzo loudspeaker 1 voice, 2.5 octaves, 9 note lengths
- label: SIZE / WEIGHT
value: 30,5 x 18,5 x 5,5 cm
- label: I/O PORTS
value: Tape-recorder (600 bauds), TV (RF modulator), Composite video, Memory expansion port, general expansion port
- label: BUILT IN MEDIA
value: None
- label: POWER SUPPLY
value: External AC adaptor 10V DC 800 mA
- label: PERIPHERALS
value: 16 and 64 KB RAM plug-in modules, tape recorder, FDD unit
- label: PRICE
value: $99.00 AU Dollars (Australia, 1985)
tabs:
- photos
- hardware
- software
- emulators
- links
- docs
photos:
- title: LARGER VIEW
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: null
hardware:
- title: LASER 16K RAM EXPANSION
subtitle: ''
text: This thing fits in the memory expansion port and adds 16k RAM. It cost 590fr in 1984.
image: /media/museum/hardware/vtehc_laser200_16k_cart.jpg
- title: LASER LIGHT PEN
subtitle: ''
text: Cool little light pen... But the only software using it was the on demo tape sold with it !
image: /media/museum/hardware/vtech_laser200_lpen.jpg
- title: LASER JOYSTICK
subtitle: ''
text: Nice shape. Two joysticks and their interface cost 320fr in 1984.
image: /media/museum/hardware/vtech_laser200_jstck.jpg
- title: DR-10 / DR-20
subtitle: Tape-recorder
text: |-
A originally designed tape-recorder available for the whole Laser family.\
It cost 590fr in 1984..
The DR-10 and DR-20 tape-recorders seem identicals in all points. Apparently, the DR-20 was sold for Dick Smith models, and the DR-10 for Laser machines...
image: /media/museum/hardware/vtech_200_dr10.jpg
- title: DR-30
subtitle: Tape-Recorder
text: |-
Another cool tape-recorder for the Laser serie.\
This one was also found for many other computers of that time.
image: /media/museum/hardware/vtech_200_dr30.jpg
- title: DD-20
subtitle: 5''1/4 Disk-drive
text: A small 5"1/4 floppy disk drive for the Laser computers. But its capacity is a bit short with only 78k per formated disk. One disk drive and its controller cost 2380fr in 1984.
image: /media/museum/hardware/vtech_dd20.jpg
- title: DD-20
subtitle: The inside
text: ''
image: /media/museum/hardware/vtech_dd20_2.jpg
- title: PARALLEL PRINTER INTERFACE
subtitle: ''
text: This enables the Laser computers to use ''parallel'' printers.
image: /media/museum/hardware/vtech_vz300_printer-interface.jpg
screenshots:
- title: CIRCUS
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/software/vtech_ss_circus.png
- title: CRASH
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/software/vtech_ss_crash.png
- title: DAWN PATROL
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/software/vtech_ss_dawn.png
- title: DEFENCE PENETRATOR
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/software/vtech_ss_defpen.png
- title: DIGOUT
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/software/vtech_ss_digout.png
- title: DRACULA'S CASTLE
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/software/vtech_ss_dracula.gif
- title: DUEL
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/software/vtech_ss_duel2.png
- title: GALAXON
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/software/vtech_ss_galaxon.png
- title: GHOST HUNTER
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/software/vtech_ss_ghosth.gif
- title: HAMBURGER SAM
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/software/vtech_ss_hamsam.png
- title: HOPPY
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/software/vtech_ss_hoppy.gif
- title: INVADERS
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/software/vtech_ss_invaders.png
- title: KAMIKAZE
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/software/vtech_ss_kamikaze.png
- title: LADDER CHALLENGE
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/software/vtech_ss_ladder.png
- title: LUNAR LANDER
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/software/vtech_ss_llander.png
- title: MISSILE ATTACK
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/software/vtech_ss_missile.png
- title: PENGUIN
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/software/vtech_ss_penguin.png
- title: SPACE RAM
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/software/vtech_ss_spaceram.png
- title: STAR BLASTER
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/software/vtech_ss_starblst.png
- title: VZ PANIK
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/software/vtech_ss_vzpanik.png
emulators:
- title: VZEM
url: http://www.powerup.com.au/~intertek/VZ200/vz.htm
platform: MS DOS
text: The emulator is written in Borland C++. It emulates a VZ200/300 with 34k RAM
- title: Emulator2001
url: http://www.gstsoftware.co.nz/
platform: Windows
text: The VZ-200 has been added to this multi-emulator
- title: James's VZ 200 emulator
url: http://www.geocities.com/EMUCOMPBOY/
platform: Windows
text: Emulator for the NTSC version of this computer
- title: WinVZ
url: http://vzalive.bangrocks.com/emulators/
platform: Windows
text: Play your VZ games in Windows
- title: MESS Project
url: http://www.mess.org/
platform: Multiplatform
text: Emulates a lot of systems for all platforms.
links:
- title: Planet VZ
url: http://www.fortunecity.com/skyscraper/laser/184/
text: Useful infos here...
- title: Steve75 Laser 310 page
url: http://utenti.lycos.it/STEVE75/laser.html
text: Pictures, info, games, emulators and online manual.
- title: The VZ200
url: http://vz200.tripod.com/
text: Growing website aimed at the new modern user.
- title: Tricky's VZ200 page
url: http://www.trickynz.com/VZ200.html
text: Photos and downloadable docs
- title: Video Technology official site
url: http://www.vtech.com
text: Nothing remains about the old computers...
- title: VZ Alive
url: http://vzalive.bangrocks.com/
text: Excellent site dedicated to the VZ computers
- title: VZ Online
url: http://www.vz200-online.de.vu/
text: a German VZ 200 homepage
- title: VZ-200/VZ-300
url: http://www.geocities.com/Baja/Dunes/6771/vz/
text: Lots of information and links about the Dick Smith VZ series.
- title: Yahoo Discussion Group - The VZ Color computer mailing list
url: http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/vzemu/
text: Quite active discussion group
docs:
- title: VZ-200 - GETTING STARTED MANUAL
url: null
cover: /media/museum/docs/couvs/vz200_getting-started_cover.jpg
text: |-
**VZ-200 - GETTING STARTED MANUAL**\
written by Tim Hartnell/ Neville Predebon / Dick Smith
 compiled/archived by Unknown\
 type of document : PDF\
 size : 325 KB\
 source : [ManualZZ.com](https://manualzz.com/download/1086812)
- title: DICK-SMITH VZ200 USER MANUAL
url: https://archive.org/details/manualzilla-id-5639672
cover: /media/museum/docs/couvs/vz200_user-manual.jpg
text: |-
[**DICK-SMITH VZ200 USER MANUAL**](https://archive.org/details/manualzilla-id-5639672)written by Video Technology
 compiled/archived by Archive.org\
 type of document : PDF\
 source : [Achive.org](https://archive.org)
- title: VZ-200 TECHNICAL REFERENCE MANUAL
url: https://archive.org/details/VZ200-technical-reference-manual
cover: /media/museum/docs/couvs/vz200_technical-ref-manual_cover.jpg
text: |-
[**VZ-200 TECHNICAL REFERENCE MANUAL**](https://archive.org/details/VZ200-technical-reference-manual)written by Jamieson Rowe / Dick Smith
 compiled/archived by Archive.org\
 type of document : Online reader\
 source : [Archive.org](https://archive.org/)
- title: VZ-200 FIRST BOOK OF PROGRAMS
url: https://archive.org/details/vz-200-first-book-of-programs
cover: /media/museum/docs/couvs/vz200_first-book-of-programs.jpg
text: |-
[**VZ-200 FIRST BOOK OF PROGRAMS**](https://archive.org/details/vz-200-first-book-of-programs)written by Dick Smith
 compiled/archived by Archive.org\
 type of document : PDF\
 source : [Archive.org](https://archive.org/)
- title: VZ-200 SECOND BOOK OF GAMES
url: https://archive.org/details/VZ200-second-book-of-games
cover: /media/museum/docs/couvs/vz200_second-book-of-games.jpg
text: |-
[**VZ-200 SECOND BOOK OF GAMES**](https://archive.org/details/VZ200-second-book-of-games)written by Dick Smith
 compiled/archived by Archive.org\
 type of document : PDF\
 source : [Archive.org](https://archive.org/)
- title: VZ-200 FURTHER PROGRAMMING
url: https://archive.org/details/vz200fp
cover: /media/museum/docs/couvs/vz200_further-programming.jpg
text: |-
[**VZ-200 FURTHER PROGRAMMING**](https://archive.org/details/vz200fp)written by Dick Smith / Tim Hartnell
 compiled/archived by Archive.org\
 type of document : PDF\
 source : [Archive.org](https://archive.org/)
- title: VZ200/300 ASSEMBLY LANGUAGE PROGRAMMING FOR BEGINNERS
url: http://vz200.tripod.com/index.html
cover: /media/museum/docs/couvs/vz200-300_assembly-language-manual%5B1%5D.jpg
text: |-
[**VZ200/300 ASSEMBLY LANGUAGE PROGRAMMING FOR BEGINNERS**](http://vz200.tripod.com/index.html)written by Steve Olney
 compiled/archived by The VZ200\
 type of document : PDF\
 size : 6 MB\
 source : Old-Computers.com
- title: USEFUL ROM SUBROUTINES FOR ASSEMBLY PROGRAMMING
url: null
cover: /media/museum/docs/couvs/vz200_useful-lm-subroutines.jpg
text: |-
**USEFUL ROM SUBROUTINES FOR ASSEMBLY PROGRAMMING**\
written by Unknown
 compiled/archived by The VZ200\
 type of document : PDF\
 size : 110 Ko\
 source : [The VZ200](http://vz200.tripod.com)
comments:
- author: Lisati (New Zealand)
date: Thursday 12th June 2014
text: I had one 20-something years ago. It was a good little workhorse, until the conduit that carries the blue smoke it runs on sprung a leak.
- author: dave (Australia )
date: Sunday 16th February 2014
text: just got one today, have spent the last few hours loading tapes and mucking around with it, for me it all started with the commodore 64, the collection just keeps growing, books, magazines, now a Tandy printer, it seems old computers are becoming a bit more of a active hobby for me
- author: Juan Castro (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
date: Wednesday 9th January 2013
text: 'Typo: the video processor is teh 6847, not 6807. And I wouldn''''t call it a "coprocessor."'
- author: Jeremy (Australia)
date: Monday 16th January 2012
text: I still remember the different memory addresses, such as using "POKE 30744,1" to invert the colours in text mode.
- author: Andrew Laird (Mlebourne, Australia)
date: Friday 2nd November 2007
text: |-
I started with a VZ200 and then eventually upgraded to a VZ300 complete with floppy disk drive. I had many hours of fun playing games, learning BASIC programming.
Now I collect them and have a growing collection of computers, peripherals, books and electronics and computer magazines from the era.
- author: James (Melbourne, Australia)
date: Wednesday 30th November 2005
text: |-
I have many fond memories of this machine. A friend owed one, while I opted for the Microbee.
I spent many hours playing with the VZ300 as a kid and learned to like it greatly.
I've just purchased one this evening and hope that it is in working order so I might make a further contribution your fine site.
- author: Steve (Adelaide, Australia)
date: Saturday 4th September 2004
text: |-
Great to see that pretty much every old computer is covered on this site. My Dad bought a VZ300 in the mid 80's when I was a kid, without a tape drive though it's entertainment value was limited, programs had to be laboriously typed in each time. We even spent something like 2 or 3 hours typing in a game with colour graphics, only to have it wiped when switched off.\
The VZ300 gave me an appreciation for text-based adventures (I seem to recall now my father borrowing a tape drive off a workmate once, he still has an old VZ200 tape floating around as evidence of this).\
All in all, it was a pretty frustrating and forgettable experience, kind of a poor man's Commodore 64 although I'm sure it would have got a lot more use if my Dad hadn't skimped on buying a damn tape drive!
related:
- /museum/dick-smith-vz200
- /museum/salora-fellow
- /museum/texet-tx-8000
- /museum/video-technology-laser-200-210
- /museum/video-technology-laser-310
oc_id: 980
source:
url: https://web.archive.org/web/20230608091718/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=980
date: '2023-06-08'
---
Dick Smith released the VZ-300 (same model as the VTech [Laser 310](/museum/video-technology-laser-310/)) in 1985. It was basically a VZ-200 with 16K RAM (the VZ-200 had 8K RAM), a slightly updated BASIC ROM and a better standard keyboard.
The 16K cartridge could be plugged into the VZ300, as well as a new 64K version, but it only gave a total of 34 KB. Only language machine programs could take advantage of the extra 32 KB thanks to the Z80 bank switching facility.