Hi Guys,

I am wondering if any of you has a Spectravideo SVI-728 computer (MSX1)...

Yes, in about three or four day I'll become the proud owner of one of them

I have one, but IMHO they're not too special. Why?

I was lucky enough to buy one almost in brand new condition a few days ago. The seller kept it in the storage for 20 years! It feels like someone used the time machine to pick one up from a store

Anyway, the question I had is about its cassette interface. Loading stored in .wav format via the cassette interface seems to be one of the easiest options, although I am thinking of buying a Nowind USB interface (http://www.myquest.nl/nowind/?q=node/6) when it becomes available (it's supposed to work with MSX1 too). I managed to save games to PC, but could upload anything to MSX. It seems like the standard audio jack to 8-bin cable does not work for SVI-728. Did you have the same problems?

I bought a Spectravideo SVI-767 MSX cassette recorder (comes with a cable), so I should be able to test if I have faulty input (which I hope is not). The recorder arrives in the next few days.

Manuel, how do you upload programs to yours?

I must admit, I like the keyboard layout of SVI-728 and the quality of the build. Otherwise, it's pretty much a standard good old MSX1 with all the limitations of this early standard compared with MSX2, MSX2+ and Turbo-R. (I never programmed the latter).

Quote:

they're not too special

Hey!, at least they've the "brown color" feature!. I'm eager to test it...

jltursan, yes, it's a nice one

<b>vdp(0)=vdp(0)xor1</b>

flips the colours between the normal and "fancy".

BTW, did you buy an FDD controller for yours? How are you planning to load stuff into it?

To be honest, I don't use it/them
I'd just buy a disk drive or the Nowind thingie though.

As Manuel, it will not become my main machine. A MSX2 machine with built-in drive is much more friendly to use
Anyway, you can use a external disk drive as Manuel suggest; but keeping in mind one thing: this machine has only one standard MSX slot; so be wise choosing what kind of peripheral you plug into the slot. The back one is for SVI hardware only, if you can find a SVI drive you can save the main slot for other purposes.

Same here. I will keep the SVI as the secondary MSX computer. I was planning to buy an MSX2(+), but came across a surprisingly cheap SVI. I develop stuff (in Assembler and C) on a PC, cross compile and will then upload to the real MSX hardware (when I get MSX2 or figure out the pin layout for SVN).

BTW, how reliable are those Panasonic Turbo-R's? I have heard the problem with the FDD belt is not uncommon...

Those can be replaced quite easily though.

Manuel: I see. If you were to choose between SONY HB-FX1V and Panasonic FS-A1ST, which one would you pick?

The ST, of course. It's a turboR with 256kB (and all other turboR specs), while the HB-F1XV is only a MSX2+ with 64kB.

The Sony is a bit more special though, you don't see it as often as an ST, especially outside of Japan.

The floppy belt problem can easily be fixed if it is the same problem as the philips vg8235.You just get a replacement belt for it and your drive works like a charm again

I have replaced the belt of drive of my Philips Msx2 Vg8235 easily.(back in 1997 i thought that machine was dead,but about 1999 when i visited the msx archive faq site,i saw how to fix it )

A belt costs practicaly nothing and you can easily find it.

Thanks for your advice, guys! I remember using SONY HB-FX1V back in the good old days. It was an awesome implementation of MSX2+. I have never had an opportunity to try those fancy Panasonic Turbo-R machines. GT's spec seems particularly impressive.

I have owned a SVI 728 for more than 20 years, in the period 1989-1994 it was powered on 24h because it was used as a BBS, its still working