website/content/museum/video-technology-laser-350-500-700-750.md

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

title	categories	types	origins	years	cpus	params
Video Technology Laser 350 / 500 / 700 / 750	Computers	Home Computer	Hong Kong	1985	NEC D780c	name image company company_name specs tabs forum_thread photos hardware emulators oc_id source Laser 350 / 500 / 700 / 750 /media/museum/photos/vtech_laser500.jpg /companies/video-technology Video Technology label value NAME Laser 350 / 500 / 700 / 750 label value MANUFACTURER Video Technology label value TYPE Home Computer label value ORIGIN Hong Kong label value YEAR 1985 label value BUILT IN LANGUAGE Basic v3.0 (Microsoft Basic) label value KEYBOARD AZERTY / QWERTY, 77 mechanical keys\ 10 function keys\ INS / DEL / DEL LINE / CLS HOME keys\ 4 cursor keys, CAPS LOCK key with led\ 2 SHIFT keys label value CPU NEC D780c (Z80A compatible) label value SPEED 3,58 MHz label value RAM Laser 350 : 16 KB, up to 128 KB\ Laser 500 / 700 : 64 KB (30 KB free), up to 128 KB\ Laser 750 : 128 KB label value ROM 32 KB label value TEXT MODES 40 x 24 in 16 colors\ 80 x 24 in 2 colors among 16 label value GRAPHIC MODES GR0 = 160 x 96 in 16 colors\ GR1 = 160 x 192 in 2 colors among 16\ GR2 = 320 x 192 in 2 colors\ GR3 = 160 x 192 in 16 colors\ GR4 = 320 x 192 in 2 colors among 16\ GR5 = 640 x 192 in 2 colors label value COLORS 16 label value SOUND 1 voice, 6 octaves (Beeper) label value SIZE / WEIGHT 40 x 23 x 7 cm label value I/O PORTS Tape-recorder (600 bauds)\ RGB DIN plug\ Composite monitor out\ Expansion port\ Laser 350 / 500 : Memory expansion port\ Laser 700 / 750 : 2 floppy disk drive ports\ Laser 700 / 750 : Centronic port label value POWER SUPPLY Laser 500 : 9v 500mA - -(o- +\ Laser 700 / 750 : Power supply built-in label value PERIPHERALS Disk drive\ 64 KB & 128 KB memory expansion\ Centronic Interface\ RS232 Interface\ Joysticks\ Lightpen\ Analogic/Digital converter\ Digital/Analogic converter label value PRICE Laser 500 : 457 with diskdrive (France, may 85) photos hardware emulators 445 title subtitle text image THE LASER 500 /media/museum/photos/vtech_laser500.jpg title subtitle text image THE LASER 700 Thanks to Stephan Walgenbach /media/museum/photos/vtech_laser700.jpg title subtitle text image LASER 500 SIDE /media/museum/photos/vtech_laser500_side.jpg title subtitle text image LASER 500 REAR /media/museum/photos/vtech_laser500_rear.jpg title subtitle text image LASER 500 OPENED /media/museum/photos/vtech_laser500_opened.jpg title subtitle text image LASER 500 MOTHERBOARD We can easily spot the CPU, the 2 ROMs and the memory chips... The mother board is quite small and can easily fit in a Laser 350 case. /media/museum/photos/vtech_laser500_inside.jpg title subtitle text image LASER 700 CONNECTIVITY SKETCH /media/museum/hardware/vtech_laser700_schema.gif title subtitle text image CENTRONIC EXPANSION This was for the Laser 350 / 500 as the Laser 700 / 750 had a built-in Centronic port on their side. /media/museum/hardware/vtech_laser500_centronic.jpg title url platform text MESS http://mess.emuverse.com/ Other platform MESS emulates the Laser 350/500/700 ! 449 url date https://web.archive.org/web/20230601001043/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=449 2023-06-01

Technically the Laser 350 / 500 / 700 / 750 are completely different from the Laser 100 / 200 / 300 family and thus non compatible with them.

All 4 computers are nearly identical but the Laser 350 uses a Laser 300 case while the Laser 500 / 700 / 750 use a "new" case.

Though the CPU is still a Z80A compatible one (the D780c from NEC), its capabilities are better.

There are now 6 graphical modes, ranging from 160 x 96 in 16 colors to 640 x 192 in 2 colors. The memory size is also bigger compared to the old series and ranges from 16K RAM for the Laser 350, to 128K RAM for the Laser 750. The Laser 500 and 700 have 64K.