#z80

[ui-alcoholic]

SONY Hit-Bit HB-101 (1984)

The Sony Hit-Bit HB-101 is one of the best-known and most distinctive Sony MSX1 home computers from the 1980s. “Hit-Bit” was Sony’s MSX product line name, and the HB-101 is still popular among retro collectors because of its compact, highly recognizable design.

Technically, it’s a classic MSX1 machine: a Sharp LH-0080 (Z80A-compatible) CPU at ~3.58 MHz, 16 KB RAM (the European HB-101P version often had 32 KB), 16 KB VRAM, and 2 cartridge slots, which made it very practical for games and expansions.

The video chip can vary by region (TMS9118NL / TMS9129NL), while sound is handled by the YM2149F PSG. It wasn’t the most powerful MSX model, but its Sony styling, colorful variants, and iconic look are exactly why it became such a cult favorite.

[yodaprod]

Sharp MZ-731 (1982)

[deeliteyears]

With the Z80 towards the stars. To the edge of the galaxy

-

MSX Screen2, displayed via MSXBook

[commodorez]

Long Live the Z80! - David Henderson  

VCF West XVIII

[assembly-official]

ld hl, text call ti.PrintS text: db "Opinions of Z80?"

I must admit I haven't used Z80, or any 8 bit assembly languages, so can't speak from first hand experience. But I just read up on it a bit, and it seems cool. I like that it's compatible with the older 8080, when possible I think backwards compatibility is something that should be strived for. And it seems they added a bunch more instructions, and simplified some things, which is obviously a nice thing for the programmer.

It being 8-bit based makes its applications in 2024 limited, but I'm sure it was great in its time!

[piratesexmachine420]

Of all the extensions to the 8080 instruction set I would've made, "second set of 'shadow' registers you can't interact with directly, only exchange with the primary set" would not have been one of them. In retrospect I can totally see why it would be useful, but it absolutely would not have occurred to me in vacuo. I guess that's why they let Federico Faggin design microprocessors and not me.

[koney-scanlines]

iNiZiAMO CON Lo Z80

[inc-b]

Selections from The Personal Computer Handbook by Peter Rodwell (1983)

Some of my thoughts while reading:

- I forgot how old ASCII is

- MOS 6502 my beloved (with 8086 jumpscare)

- That one page I misread as "Computer Erotica"

- Program listings printed on dot matrix and scanned as images for publication, because that was the best option - normal in magazines, a suprise in a hardcover book

- CP/M being a more noteworthy OS than something called MS-DOS