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title, categories, types, origins, years, cpus, params
title categories types origins years cpus params
GRADIENTE Expert XP-800
Computers
Home Computer
Brazil
1985
Zilog Z80A
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Expert XP-800 /media/museum/photos/gradiente_xp800_system_s1.jpg /companies/gradiente GRADIENTE
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NAME Expert XP-800
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MANUFACTURER Gradiente
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TYPE Home Computer
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ORIGIN Brazil
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YEAR December 1985
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BUILT IN LANGUAGE Microsoft Extended Basic (MSX Basic V1.0)
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KEYBOARD Full-stroke keyboard with numeric keypad, 5 function keys and 4 arrow keys. 89 keys.
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CPU Zilog Z80A
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SPEED 3.58 MHz
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CO-PROCESSOR TMS-9128NL video processor
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RAM 64 KB
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VRAM 16 KB
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ROM 32 KB BASIC/BIOS ( MSX BASIC V1.0)
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TEXT MODES Mode 0 : 40 x 24\ Mode 1 : 32 x 24
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GRAPHIC MODES Mode 2 : 256 x 192 with 16 colors (Hires mode)\ Mode 3 : 64 x 48 with 16 colors (Multi colour mode)\ 32 sprites
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COLORS 16
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SOUND General Instruments AY-3-8910 Programmable Sound Generator\ 3 channels, 8 octaves
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SIZE / WEIGHT 420 x 110 x 280 mm / 4,7 Kg\ Keyboard : 420 x 47 x 170mm / 1 Kg
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I/O PORTS BUS Expansion port, Keyboard connector, 2 controller ports, 2 cardridge slots, Tape interface (1200/2400 bauds), RGB video output, Composite video output (PAL-M), Parallel port, Audio output, Two power out connector (Max 100W)
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OS MSX DOS
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POWER SUPPLY Built-in PSU - AC 120/220V 50/60 Hz
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PRICE Unknown
photos
hardware
software
emulators
links
813
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XP-800 1.1 /media/museum/photos/gradiente_xp800_system_s2.jpg
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FRONT PANEL Notice the two cartridge slots and the two joystick connectors at the bottom-left side. /media/museum/photos/gradiente_xp800_keyboard_s1.jpg
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FRONT PANEL #2 /media/museum/photos/gradiente_xp800_frontpanel_s1.jpg
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IN USE Here with a monochrome composite monitor. /media/museum/photos/gradiente_xp800_running_s1.jpg
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BOOT-UP SCREEN Some of the MSX BASIC messages were translated into Brazilian language. The Character generator was also modified. /media/museum/photos/gradiente_xp800_bootscreen_s1.jpg
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REAR PANEL Probably the most complete MSX 1 I/O panel.\ **(1)** Ground terminal\ **(2)** Bus expansion connector\ **(3)** Keyboard connector\ **(4)** Parallel printer connector\ **(5)** Switched AC outlets\ **(6)** TV channel selector\ **(7)** RF modulator output\ **(8)** Colour composite video output\ **(9)** 6V DC output used to supply the tape recorder\ **(10)** RGB video output DIN socket\ **(11)** Tape recorder DIN socket\ **(12)** Monochrome composite video and sound output jacks\ **(13)** Speaker level knob. /media/museum/photos/gradiente_xp800_rearside_s1.jpg
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MAIN BOARD A very classical MSX 1 main board.\ **(1)** 64 KB RAM bank (8 x 4164 chips)\ **(2)** G.I. AY-8910 sound generator\ **(3)** NEC 8255 I/O chip\ **(4)** Zilog Z80 processor\ **(5)** MSX-BASIC ROM chip\ **(6)** T.I. TMS 9128 video chip. /media/museum/photos/gradiente_xp800_mainboard_s1.jpg
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INSIDE Below the main board, the left card **(1)** holds the RF modulator, the right one **(2)** is in charge of the tape recorder, RGB, composite and sound interfaces. /media/museum/photos/gradiente_xp800_inside_s1.jpg
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NATIONAL CF-2131 16 KB RAM expansion /media/museum/hardware/national_cf2131_16k-cart.jpg
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CASIO OR-216 - 16 KB RAM EXPANSION Box /media/museum/hardware/casio_or216_16kbramexpansion_box.jpg
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PHILIPS RAM EXPANSION RAM expansion and LOGO language cartridges. Thanks to Daniele from Italy /media/museum/hardware/philips_vg8020_cartridges_s1.jpg
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MEGA RAM DISK 256 from DDX (Brazil) This is the famous Megaram cartridge made in Brzail, used to play all Konami cracked Megarom games.6401999243 /media/museum/hardware/msx_megaram256-ddx_1.jpg
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PANASONIC FS-IFA1 & FW-RSU1W Scanner/Printer interface The FS-IFA1 is the printer/scanner interface (left on the picture) and the FW-RSU1W is the handheld scanner (right on the picture). These expansions are for MSX2 systems. /media/museum/hardware/msx_fs-ifa1_fw-rsu1w.jpg
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SONY HBI-232 RS232c cartridge Used to connect serial printers. /media/museum/hardware/sony_msx_rs232c-cartridge.jpg
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YAMAHA MOUSE #1 This mouse was compatible with all MSX systems. It connects to the first Joystick port. Thanks to **www.zonadepruebas.com** /media/museum/hardware/yamaha_mouse_s2.jpg
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YAMAHA MOUSE #2 Brand new! Thanks to **www.zonadepruebas.com** /media/museum/hardware/yamaha_mouse_s1.jpg
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PHILIPS VW0020 80-col dot-matrix printer This printer was a rebadged version of the Seikosha GP-500.\ It was a 80-column, 50 CPS model with a 7x5 dot matrix head.\ Commodore and Atari used same hardware basis for their MPS-801 and 1029 printers. /media/museum/hardware/philips_vg8020_printervw0020_s1.jpg
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SANYO PHC-DR II Side /media/museum/hardware/sanyo_phc-drii_side_1.jpg
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SANYO PHC-DR II Front /media/museum/hardware/sanyo_phc-drii_front_1.jpg
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SANYO DR-202 The ADSS system allowed to quickly search a specific program in a cassette tape and load it. Seach time for a C60 cassette was less than 1 minute. /media/museum/hardware/sanyo_phc28_dr202tapedrive_s1.jpg
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NATIONAL RQ-8030 tape-recorder /media/museum/hardware/national_tape_rq8030.jpg
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BIT-CORDER Cassete recorder dedicated to Hit-Bit MSX systems, though it could be used with any home computers. /media/museum/hardware/sony_hb201_bitcorder_1.jpg
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TITLE SCREEN /media/museum/software/gradiente_expert-1_ss_boot1.jpg
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START SCREEN /media/museum/software/gradiente_expert-1_ss_boot2.jpg
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fMSX for MS DOS Homepage http://www.komkon.org/~dekogel/fmsx.html MS DOS
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BlueMSX http://www.bluemsx.com/ Windows Excellent free MSX emulator
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BrMSX http://www.lsi.usp.br/~ricardo/brmsx.htm Windows A Bresilian MSX Emulator written in 100% assembler
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CompuJunk's MSX Emulator http://ftp.castel.nl/msx/ Windows A MSX1 and MSX2 Emulator
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RuMSX http://members.eunet.at/lexlechz/msx.html Windows A MSX Emulator for Win95 and Win NT + Direct X
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fMSX for MAC OS Homepage http://www.emulation.net/msx/index.html Apple
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fMSX official Homepage http://www.komkon.org/fms/fMSX Multiplatform fMSX is a portable MSX emulator ported on : Amiga OS, Mac OS, MS DOS, OS/2, Sony Playstation, Risc OS, Towns OS, Unix / X, Win95 / NT, X68K.
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openMSX - The MSX emulator that aims for perfection. http://openmsx.sourceforge.net/ Multiplatform This new MSX emulator can reproduce, among many other MSX, MSX2and MSX2+ machines, both Panasonic Turbo-R models. Be sure to get the catapult frontend and the system roms from FUNET.
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Baboo! http://www.baboo.net/baboo.shtml MSX dedicated Yahoo clone. Essential !
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FILE-HUNTER.COM http://www.file-hunter.com/ Excellent! All MSX emulators, sources and utilities!
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FTP da MSXBr-L/MSX.Org.Br http://www.caetano.eng.br/msxsoft/ Excellent brasilian software archive
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MOAI TECH http://www.moai-tech.com/ Spanish/English website with interesting content
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MSX Hardware List http://www.faq.msxnet.org/hardware.html An impressive list of MSX hardware. The Bible !!!
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MSX Ressource Center http://www.msx.org/ Essential site !
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Possi's Konami MSX Page http://dynamo.geol.msu.ru/MSX/ Nice page dedicated to all Konami MSX games (roms, scans, mids, etc.)
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The MSX Games Box http://www.msxgamesbox.com All about MSX gaming (games, covers.etc.). More Fun, Less Mhz!
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The MSX Museum BOX http://www.msxmuseumbox.com More than 190 different MSX models in pictures.
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The ultimate MSX Faq http://www.faq.msxnet.org Here, you can find near all hardware pieces related to MSX.
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Web Wiz CAPTCHA http://www.webwizcaptcha.com The MSX home computer system
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url date
https://web.archive.org/web/20230609190203/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=832 2023-06-09

The Gradiente Expert 1 is a Brazilian MSX 1 computer. It is composed of two parts: the main unit and the keyboard. Gradiente is a Brazilian consumer electronic products company. It is not suprising as the unit's design looks like a HI-FI system... Along with the HotBit, the Experts were the only MSX systems available in Brazil.

The Expert XP-800 was in fact a clone of the National CF-3000. It is a quite complete MSX 1 computer with two cartridge slots placed on the front panel and a numeric keypad. The rear of the system is quite populated with a lot of connectors : BUS Expansion port, Keyboard connector, Tape interface (1200/2400 bauds), RGB video output, Composite video output (monochrome), Parallel port, Audio output, 2 x power out connector (Max 100W)... On later models (v1.1) a few connectors were added: 6v output for DataCorder, RCA Color Video Composite (PAL-M) and RF-Out with channel selector (PAL-M). A speaker level control and an AC Switch (120V-240V) can also be found.

Sadly, the cassette interface, RGB connector, keyboard connector, expansion connector and printer connector were not compatible with the MSX standard. Gradiente did this on purpose, trying to set their own proprietary standard in Brazil... Also, a little difference in the ASCII table between the Expert (corrected with the Expert GPC-1) and the Hotbit caused a lot of problems in Brazil...

The Expert XP-800 was later followed by the Expert GPC-1 (1986), the Expert Plus (1989) and finally the Expert DD Plus (1989).


Djogo Patrao reports to us:
MSX2 machines were never launched in Brasil, despite of Gradiente's promisses. Some companies (like DDX and Ademir Carchano, among others) offered then MSX-2 and MSX2+ transformation service (Carchano even developed a MSX2 cartridge!), which were very popular although expansive.