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6,654 pages: 1,289 machines, 702 software, 460 companies, 64 history, 17 articles, 59 fun.
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Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01YDRjtmAiNpo5mK5N3d7QwZ
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---
title: Eaca VIDEO GENIE 1 / EG-3003
categories:
- Computers
types:
- Home Computer
origins:
- Hong Kong
years:
- '1980'
cpus:
- Zilog Z80A
params:
name: VIDEO GENIE 1 / EG-3003
company: /companies/eaca
company_name: Eaca
specs:
- label: NAME
value: VIDEO GENIE 1 / EG-3003
- label: MANUFACTURER
value: Eaca
- label: TYPE
value: Home Computer
- label: ORIGIN
value: Hong Kong
- label: YEAR
value: '1980'
- label: BUILT IN LANGUAGE
value: Microsoft Basic Level II
- label: KEYBOARD
value: Full stroke keyboard, 54 keys, QWERTY
- label: CPU
value: Zilog Z80A
- label: SPEED
value: 1,77 MHz
- label: RAM
value: 16 KB (up to 48 KB)
- label: ROM
value: 12 KB (Microsoft Basic Level II)
- label: TEXT MODES
value: 16 x 32 / 16 x 64
- label: GRAPHIC MODES
value: 128 x 48
- label: COLORS
value: Monochrome
- label: SOUND
value: None
- label: I/O PORTS
value: 50-pin expansion Bus, video output (DIN), tape-interface (DIN)
- label: BUILT IN MEDIA
value: Built-in tape-recorder
- label: OS
value: TRS-DOS, NEWDOS 80 (with disk-drives)
- label: POWER SUPPLY
value: Built-in power supply
- label: PERIPHERALS
value: Printers, Memory expansion, Sound generator, Disk drives
- label: PRICE
value: 3950 FF (France, January 1981)
tabs:
- photos
- adverts
- links
photos:
- title: VIDEO GENIE I / EG-3003
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: null
- title: VIDEO GENIE II / EG-3008
subtitle: ''
text: |-
A Video Genie 1 with a numeric keypad instead of the tape-recorder...
Thanks to www.homecomputer.de for this picture.
image: null
- title: HUNGARIAN CLONE
subtitle: ''
text: |-
This EG-3003 clone was manufactured by Hiradástechnika Szövetkezet, the name of the system was HT-1080Z School Computer.
Thanks to **Varga Zoltán** - Picture from **www.ht.homeserver.hu/**
image: null
- title: BOX
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: null
adverts:
- title: FRENCH ADVERT (JAN. 1981)
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: null
- title: US ADVERT (NOV. 1980)
subtitle: ''
text: The Video Genie was also sold in America as the Simutek PMC80.
image: null
links:
- title: Dick Smith System 80
url: http://www.webweavers.co.nz/system-80/
text: A site dedicated to the Australian version of Genie 1
comments:
- author: Kevin Littlejohn (Australia)
date: Friday 4th May 2012
text: |-
These machines were expandable with after-market parts - you could purchase Exabyte "stringy floppy" drives (an eternal loop tape that held 4 programs, pretty much regardless of size, and ran somewhere between tape and disk speed). You could also purchase memory chips, which you added by soldering onto the top of the existing chips. There were a few magazines dedicated to the System 80/TRS-80 in Australia/New Zealand, which carried basic program listings. My high school had a lab of them with a locally-produced "network" chip, that allowed one machine to take control of another via I think the S100 bus - so the lab had one flobby drive, and all the machines could access it.\
They also didn''t have a volume control on the tape drive - it wasn''t uncommon to see second hand units that had had that added.\
The System 80 came with a Dick-Smith tape that, amongst other things, had a program that played "flight of the bumble bee" - badly $)
- author: Fritz Chwolka (germany)
date: Wednesday 9th March 2016
text: |-
Hi.. I used the Colourgenie in 1981/82 in germany and got it from Schmidtke$Aachen. Since then I have fun with those computers and collected a lot of informations. Nice that there was a lot of german support from TCS Trommeschlaeger
Look at:\
http://oldcomputers.dyndns.org/public/pub/rechner/eaca/
Greetings
fritz
- author: kayleigh (caridf)
date: Monday 9th March 2015
text: |-
hey guys, i have a eaca genie eg 3003 in box with original documents and receipt on ebay, how much is it worth ect...
thanks in advance
ebay item no: 321686082839
- author: Martin M. (Germany)
date: Wednesday 19th February 2014
text: |-
I had a Video Genie I EG3003 (with cursor keys, CLEAR key, VU-Meter, Volume control) when I was a child.
Lowercase was enabled by\
SYSTEM\
\*?/12345
It wasn''t documented, so I thought I had found a secret by accident :-)
I remember the garbage-on-screen when turning on the Video Genie. It displayed characters that you could not display once the L2 BASIC came up... and I wonder why.
Some characters were different to the original TRS-80 as the character generator was able to display the German Umlaut (ÄÖÜ...). The up-arrow became "Ä" and so on.
- author: Daniel Smith (Earth)
date: Friday 4th May 2012
text: By entering SYSTEM 12288 into the Video Genie, it would give you lower case letters, a flashing cursor and auto repeat on keys. Remarkable!
- author: Adrian Williams (Australia)
date: Friday 4th May 2012
text: Dick Smith Electronics in Australia brought out a re-badged version of the Video Genie called the System 80. These were identical except of course they carried the Dick Smith Logo. I presume that that came from the same Eaca factory in Hong Kong. They also sold a ''business'' version with the keyboard, two floppy disk drives and expansion box with a clunky little printer.
- author: Eunice Mills (UK)
date: Friday 13rd April 2012
text: We have a boxed Video Genie in our loft. I''m not sure what to do with it. Any ideas?
- author: James Perrett (Melbourne)
date: Monday 17th January 2011
text: |-
I wrote a lunar lander game in Basic on this PC.\
Also learnt Z-80 Machine code on this and my Homebrew PC.. Z-80..2114s,2732''s,4116''s and 41256s ..still have Z-80 Instructions stored in my head.
- author: James Stewart Miller (jersey)
date: Thursday 2nd September 2010
text: |-
I used to have a video-genie too. Tape-deck model with a Nick Kershaw sticker from a weatabix box. I used to play Scott Adam adventures such as the Count and other games as well. It has always been truly inspiring to me how they could get games like android reversi working using ascii character code programming so that the robots had a 3d appearance. I was given mine as a birthday present in 1984 and I have programmed since then (on and off (even my expressions are binary(note the advanced human bracketing system I use))). I would really like to be able to buy an original if anyone still has one. I still have all the games somewhere. There were a lot of scientific programs for them like the game of life, astronomy programs, electronics programs with schemas and databases that fired my imagination in a way that people who prefer to read book than use a computer are now hideously offended by - something to do with money I think but I''m not certain$\
gosub "gosub" their favourite expression. I wouldn''t personally give my children - if I had any - a calculator before the age of 17 but I would give them a computer.
- author: Dave Beck (UK)
date: Friday 22nd January 2010
text: I wrote my first program on mine in Quick Basic, it was a stock control database written from first principles it was 16Kb and it took 10 mins to load from audio tape.
- author: Terry Stewart (New Zealand)
date: Thursday 9th June 2005
text: |-
Hi, I've got a site devoted to this model at http://www.webweavers.co.nz/system-80/
What I really want to find out now though is more about the company that made it, EACA. I know that they were based in Hong Kong and went out of business in 1983 or 84. How large were they? Did they make any other products? Who designed the original EACA Video Genie/System 80? This kind of thing.
If you know anything please email me.
- author: Kevan Vautier (UK)
date: Saturday 21st May 2005
text: I got one of these for my xmas and birthday present. I remember that it was purchased from Lowe Electronics in the UK www.lowe.co.uk. From my memory it is equlivent to a TRS-80 model 2. Its a shame but I sold all my books and parts for it to a local school back in the 1980's. My main memory of it is playing text adventures on it. And learning to write Z80 machine code... ahhh those were the days.
- author: Benny Knudsen (Denmark)
date: Wednesday 22nd December 2004
text: I have one of the EG3003 model with casette deck. I managed to upgrade the internal board from 16 KB to 48 KB RAM and to add a 2KB monitor eprom by myself. Later the model came with this monitor build in i addition to the BASIC program. I also changed the character generator to be able to have both upper and lower case letters, and then I added a little centronic printer interface. Then the PC came and the model became history.
oc_id: 419
source:
url: https://web.archive.org/web/20230618222713/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=419
date: '2023-06-18'
---
The Genie 1 was compatible with the [Tandy TRS-80 Model I](/museum/tandy-radio-shack-trs-80-model-i/).
A 5.25" floppy disk drive (100 KB, 40 tracks). However, 80 track double-sided drives could be used if the operating system supported it. Due to some poor design, only 3 drives could be used and the last drive had to be single-sided. In fact the limitations of the floppy disks depended on the controller. Some controllers were able to drive up to 4 double sided disks. There also was a 'doubler' device available which doubled the capacity of the disks by replacing the 1791(?) controller chip.
A graphic expansion was available as well and provided a maximum graphic resolution of 384 x 192, it was necessary to modify the internals of the machine to fit it.
An expansion interface (similar to the TRS-80’s) could be connected to the expansion bus and provided RAM upgrade (up to 32K), floppy disk, printer interface, and an expansion slot for an optional RS232 interface. An alternative Operating system available from the USA and called LS-DOS could run on this version.
The Genie had an 'expansion' connector on the back side carrying all necessary signals. One of them ('Phantom') could be used to remove Keyboard, ROM and video-RAM from the memory map and provide the whole 64K memory to the CPU. This enabled the machine to run CP/M, which was a nice feature. The only drawback: the video resolution was only 64 characters wide - not 80 as required by CP/M.
For better readability on standard TV-sets (a VHF modulator was build-in) the horizontal resolution could be switched to 32 chars with a switch on the back side. Another Key on the keyboard 'Page' then could be used to display the left or right half of the screen. A nice feature at a time where computer monitors were expensive, but a pain when writing texts! Early versions had 7 bit video-RAM which prevented display of lower case letters.
One year later (1981), a new model was launched : the Video Genie II. Basically, it is Video Genie 1 with a numeric keypad instead of the built-in tape-recorder (see ''more pictures'' section)...
Dick Smith Electronics in Australia brought out a re-badged version of the Video Genie called the System 80. These were identical except of course they carried the Dick Smith Logo. They also sold a 'business' version with the keyboard, two floppy disk drives and expansion box with a clunky little printer.
These machines were expandable with after-market parts - you could purchase Exabyte "stringy floppy" drives (an eternal loop tape that held 4 programs, pretty much regardless of size, and ran somewhere between tape and disk speed). You could also purchase memory chips, which you added by soldering onto the top of the existing chips. There were a few magazines dedicated to the System 80/TRS-80 in Australia/New Zealand, which carried basic program listings.
They also didn't have a volume control on the tape drive - it wasn't uncommon to see second hand units that had had that added. The System 80 came with a Dick-Smith tape that, amongst other things, had a program that played "flight of the bumble bee" - badly ;)
By entering SYSTEM 12288 into the Video Genie, it would give you lower case letters, a flashing cursor and auto repeat on keys.
---
**Contributors** : Lothar Merl, Adrian Williams, Kevin Littlejohn, Daniel Smith
**Kevin Littlejohn** reports:\
These machines were expandable with after-market parts - you could purchase Exabyte "stringy floppy" drives (an eternal loop tape that held 4 programs, pretty much regardless of size, and ran somewhere between tape and disk speed). You could also purchase memory chips, which you added by soldering onto the top of the existing chips. There were a few magazines dedicated to the System 80/TRS-80 in Australia/New Zealand, which carried basic program listings. My high school had a lab of them with a locally-produced "network" chip, that allowed one machine to take control of another via I think the S100 bus - so the lab had one flobby drive, and all the machines could access it.\
They also didn't have a volume control on the tape drive - it wasn't uncommon to see second hand units that had had that added.\
The System 80 came with a Dick-Smith tape that, amongst other things, had a program that played "flight of the bumble bee" - badly ;)
A tip from **Daniel Smith**\
By entering **SYSTEM 12288** into the Video Genie, it would give you lower case letters, a flashing cursor and auto repeat on keys. Remarkable!
<table> <tr> <td></td> <td>We need more info about this computer ! If you designed, used, or have more info about this system, please send us pictures or anything you might find useful.</td> <td></td> </tr> </table>