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yann64andClaude Opus 5.5 b274874139 All machines linked to their forum thread (full comment import) 
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Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
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2026-10-13 17:26:43 +02:00

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title, categories, types, origins, years, cpus, params
title categories types origins years cpus params
Philips VG 8235
Computers
Home Computer
Netherlands
1985
Zilog Z80 A
name image company company_name specs tabs forum_thread photos hardware emulators links related oc_id source
VG 8235 /media/museum/photos/philips_8235_system_2.jpg /companies/philips Philips
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NAME VG 8235
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MANUFACTURER Philips
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TYPE Home Computer
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ORIGIN Netherlands
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YEAR 1985
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BUILT IN LANGUAGE MSX-BASIC
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KEYBOARD Full stroke 73 keys with function keys and arrow keypad
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CPU Zilog Z80 A
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SPEED 3.58 MHz
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CO-PROCESSOR V9938 (video), S3527 (RAM, I/O, Keyboard, Tape, Centronics, Sound)
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RAM 128 KB
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VRAM 128 KB
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ROM 64 KB
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TEXT MODES 40 or 80 chars x 24 lines
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GRAPHIC MODES seven graphic modes : 512 x 212 pixels maximum
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COLORS 256 simultaneously maximum among 512
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SOUND three channels, 8 octaves
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I/O PORTS Centronics, Cardridge (2), Floppy Disk, Tape, RGB, Joystick (2)
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BUILT IN MEDIA One single sided 3.5'' FDD
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OS MSX DOS
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POWER SUPPLY Built_in power supply unit
photos
hardware
emulators
links
261
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ANOTHER VIEW /media/museum/photos/philips_8235_system_1.jpg
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BOX /media/museum/photos/philips_vg8235_box_1.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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fMSX for MS DOS Homepage http://www.komkon.org/~dekogel/fmsx.html MS DOS
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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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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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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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RuMSX http://members.ping.at/lexlechz/msx.html Windows A MSX Emulator for Win95 and Win NT + Direct X
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Virtual MSX http://www.msxnet.org/vmsx/ Windows An other MSX 1 emulator for Win 95 / Win NT
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fMSX for MAC OS Homepage http://www.emulation.net/msx/index.html Apple
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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 Other platform 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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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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/museum/casio-mx-10-mx-101
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/museum/epcom-sharp-hotbit-hb-8000
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/museum/pioneer-palcom-px-7
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/museum/yamaha-cx5
/museum/yamaha-cx5m-music-computer
/museum/yamaha-sx-100
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/museum/yamaha-yis-503-diabolik
/museum/yashica-yc-64
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251
url date
https://web.archive.org/web/20230606202319/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=251 2023-06-06

The Philips VG-8235 belongs to the MSX 2 standard.

For its release, Philips presented the VG-8235 as the first link of their audio-video-micro concept, being able to use the newly announced CD-i system, but few VG-8235 were actually seen connected to a CD-i.

It was the successor of the the short-lived VG 8230, wich only had 64K RAM and a single sided disk drive.

Contrary to other MSX computers, the Philips used a custom chip for the sound instead of the "classic" Yamaha YM-2149.

The computer could use all of its 128 KB memory, the MSX-2 standard allows a computer to have 4 slots, whish in turn can all have 4 sub-slots, which can each hold a memory-mapper, which can be up to 4MB in size. In theory, therefore, an MSX-2 computer can hold 4x4x4 = 64MB RAM. However, the system ROM etc usually needs a (sub)slot, and so do other peripherals.

It was followed by the NMS-8245, a VG 8235 with a new case, no tilted keyboard and double-sided disk drive; then by the NMS-8250, an MSX-2 model with detached keyboard, the NMS-8255, same as the NMS8250, but with two floppy drives built-in, and the (legendary) NMS-8280, an MSX-2 computer with video-processing capabilities built into it.

Taneli Lukka from Finland adds:
VG-8235 is one of the few MSX2 computers to be at least semi-widely distributed in Europe, mainly in The Netherlands.
The machine is quite solidly built and the keyboard can be tilted between two different positions for better ergonomics. The only real problem is the disk drive which is single sided and can so only use half of the disks capacity. Most commercial disk based MSX2 software refuses to run on the machine for the same reason. The drive is also quite fragile and most of them are no longer in working condition.

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.
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