website/content/museum/video-technology-laser-100-110.md

title, categories, types, origins, years, cpus, params

title	categories	types	origins	years	cpus	params
Video Technology LASER 100/110	Computers	Home Computer	Hong Kong	1983	Z80A	name company company_name specs tabs photos comments oc_id source LASER 100/110 /companies/video-technology Video Technology label value NAME LASER 100/110 label value MANUFACTURER Video Technology label value TYPE Home Computer label value ORIGIN Hong Kong label value YEAR 1983 label value BUILT IN LANGUAGE Microsoft Basic label value KEYBOARD QWERTY, 45 rubber keys\ Basic instructions and graphic symbols label value CPU Z80A label value SPEED 3,58 Mhz label value CO-PROCESSOR Motorola 6847 video processor label value RAM Laser 100 = 2 KB or 8 KB?\ Laser 110 = 4 KB or 8 KB ?\ Upgradable to 64 KB label value ROM 16 KB label value TEXT MODES 32 columns x 16 lines (Mode 0) label value GRAPHIC MODES 128 x 64 dots (Mode 1) label value COLORS Monochrome label value SOUND Beeper, 1 voice & 3 octaves label value SIZE / WEIGHT 29 (W) x 17 (D) x 4 (H) cm / 800g label value I/O PORTS Tape-recorder (600 bauds), RF tv out, Composite video out, Memory upgrade port, Expansion port label value POWER SUPPLY External 9V AC adaptor label value PRICE Unknown photos title subtitle text image LARGE VIEW null title subtitle text image KEYBOARD CLOSE-UP The spongy keyboard doesn't allow fast typing.\ Most of the keys have 4 functions: letter, graphic symbol and two Basic commands. null title subtitle text image INSIDE #1 The Laser 100-200 series were probably the most poorly manufactured computers ever seen. Glue was used instead of connectors for the keyboard cable, the main power condenser was also sticked to the case. Notice also the mass of solder used to join the metallic cover with other components. null title subtitle text image INSIDE #2 Except for the Motorola 6847 video chip, all other main chips are located below the metallic protection which is soldered to the main board. Not really easy for servicing. null title subtitle text image REAR SIDE From left to right:\ • 9V external AC adaptor jack\ • Tape recorder jack\ • Composite video jack\ • Memory expansion connector\ • Peripheral connector\ • RF/TV output null author date text John (australia) Tuesday 24th August 2021 Laser 100 was a TRS-80 copy, unlike the 200 In the 200 the ROMs are changed substantially and the memory locations are different. The extra commands equivalent to level II Tandy Basic on the 200 (which are in the extra 8 kb of the BASIC ROM) are different and were coded by VTech, they are not direct copies. The 100 afaik was not sold outside of the far east because it would violate Tandy''s copyrights. BTW, is there any reason why the VTech Creativision (aka Dick Smith Wizzard) is not listed ? They were a lot more common than the Laser 100. author date text ohn (australia) Tuesday 24th August 2021 Laser 100 was a TRS-80 copy, unlike the 200 In the 200 the ROMs are changed substantially and the memory locations are different. The extra commands equivalent to level II Tandy Basic on the 200 (which are in the extra 8 kb of the BASIC ROM) are different and were coded by VTech, they are not direct copies. The 100 afaik was not sold outside of the far east because it would violate Tandy''s copyrights. BTW, is there any reason why the VTech Creativision (aka Dick Smith Wizzard) is not listed ? They were a lot more common than the Laser 100. author date text ohn (australia) Tuesday 24th August 2021 Laser 100 was a TRS-80 copy, unlike the 200 In the 200 the ROMs are changed substantially and the memory locations are different. The extra commands equivalent to level II Tandy Basic on the 200 (which are in the extra 8 kb of the BASIC ROM) are different and were coded by VTech, they are not direct copies. The 100 afaik was not sold outside of the far east because it would violate Tandy''s copyrights. BTW, is there any reason why the VTech Creativision (aka Dick Smith Wizzard) is not listed ? They were a lot more common than the Laser 100. author date text Christoph Wednesday 31st October 2012 There was a RAM extension module, which extended the memory by 16KB. It was a quite bulky unit to be plugged into the Laser computer. The price was about 160€ (for 16 KILObyte!!!!) author date text Dinis (Austria) Friday 25th May 2012 I owned a Laser 110. As far as I remember it had 4KB of memory. 448 url date https://web.archive.org/web/20230608154933/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=448 2023-06-08

The Laser 100/110 was the first model of the Laser 100/200/300 family.

The ROM was nearly identical to the one of the Tandy Radio-Shack TRS-80 Color Computer, with only minor changes. It's so close that when people write Laser emulators, they use TRS-80 CoCo ROM documentations (Laser detailed documentations are hard to find, especially about the ROM itslef).

The Basic was a Microsoft Basic just slightly modified to avoid lawsuits, some statements being stored in the ROM but not available on the machine!

Like the most of the Vtech products, the Laser 100/110 was "cheaply" conceived: chicklet keyboard, plastic case, light-weight... It was produced to compete against the first wave of micro-computers like the famous Sinclair ZX-81.

The difference between the Laser 100 and the Laser 110 must be the RAM size (like the Laser 200 and 210), though very little information on the Laser 100 is available.

The biggest difference with its big brother the Laser 200 was that it only had a black & white display.

An obscure VZ-100 version was also released but this wasn't the same machine as the VZ series sold in Australia and New-Zealand by Dick Smith Electronics.

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More information about the BASIC ROM from James Diffendaffer:
Actually, the Laser 100/110 (and VZ200/300 etc...) are TRS-80 Model 1 clones (also Z80 machines). The major difference is in the use of the 6847 video chip which is also used in the TRS-80 Color Computer (based on the 6809 so it's ROMs wouldn't be suitable).

The ROMs are a very close copy of the Model 1 with patches for different hardware (video for example). They use a different line editor than Tandy; and to help keep Tandy off their back, designers intentionally disabled some ROM routines in the BASIC function tables so it wouldn't be 100% compatible. Some of the routines were easily re-enabled by patching the ROM vector table (pointers in RAM to the ROM routines).

People writing emulators use the COCO docs for the video chip but most of the ROM docs are based on the Model 1. It's common to use the Model 1 ROM disassembly.

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.