Contents |
Description
Spectravideo was a American company that was selling MSX computers in most countries.
The SVI-738 aka X'press, can be considered an a intermediary version between MSX1 and MSX2, as it has the MSX2 video chip and supports 80x24 text mode. But it lacks the MSX2 ROMS and VRAM to be an actual MSX2. It was available in 7 versions to support different QWERTY keyboards:
- International
- Arabic
- Danish/Norwegian
- German
- Polish
- Spanish
- Swedish/Finnish
All versions include a RS-232C ROM and a Western Digital FD 1793 disk ROM. The Polish version was released by Austrian company Prosystem Vienna. The Arabic version includes an additional ROM, produced by Micro-Cat, allowing to use MSX-BASIC in the Arabic language.
This computer was sold with a demo disk.
| Brand | Spectravideo |
| Model | SVI-738 |
| Year | 1985 (Polish version : 1986 - Arabic version : 1987) |
| Region | Europe, Middle East |
| Launch price | BE: 36,990 BF (imported by Electronics Belgium NV) DE: 1695 DM (imported by Jöllenbeck GmbH) FI 3780 FIM (imported by Teknopiste Oy) NL:ƒ1998 (imported by Electronics Nederland BV) UK: £399 |
| RAM | 64kB in slot 1 |
| VRAM | 16kB |
| Media | MSX cartridges, 1DD Floppy Disk |
| Video | Yamaha V9938 (MSX2 VDP!) |
| Audio | PSG (AY-3-8910) |
| Chipset | 2 ULA and standard logic |
| Keyboard layout | (Non-Arabic) QWERTY with variations - (Arabic) QWERTY/Arabic |
| Extras | Floppy Disk Drive, RS-232C interface + RS-232C BASIC - 2 system disks: CP/M 2.2 - MSX-DOS 1.0 (with support for 80 column text), demo disk. |
| Emulation | ROMs for the International, Polish and Swedish/Finnish versions have been dumped and emulated. For the other versions ROM dumps are needed. See this thread for details. Note that the Arabic ROM has already been dumped. |
Pictures
Specifications
Given that the VDP is a V9938 it's possible to upgrade the SVI-738 to MSX2 by replacing the ROM and VRAM. On early versions of the PCB there was also place for MSX2 compatible RTC, battery & other related chips, but these were removed from the last revisions.
The SVI-738 has built-in a single side, double density floppy disk drive (3.5 inch, 360kB) and a SVI-specific DB-25 connector on the back for connecting the SVI-787 as a 2nd drive. The disk interface is only build of logic IC's.
Slot Map for all models except the Arabic model
| Slot 0 | Slot 1 | Slot 2 | Slot 3-0 | Slot 3-1 | Slot 3-2 | Slot 3-3 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Page C000h~FFFFh | 64kB RAM | Cartridge Slot | ||||||||
| Page 8000h~BFFFh | ||||||||||
| Page 4000h~7FFFh | Main-ROM | RS-232C | Disk ROM | |||||||
| Page 0000h~3FFFh |
- The RS-232C ROM is a 8KB ROM - 4000h-5FFFh
- The Secondary Slot Register is mirrored in every secondary slot at page C000h-FFFFh, it's only selected by A15, A14, A1 and A0
Slot Map for the Arabic model
| Slot 0 | Slot 1 | Slot 2 | Slot 3-0 | Slot 3-1 | Slot 3-2 | Slot 3-3 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Page C000h~FFFFh | 64kB RAM | Cartridge Slot | ||||||||
| Page 8000h~BFFFh | Arabic ROM | |||||||||
| Page 4000h~7FFFh | Main-ROM | RS-232C | Disk ROM | |||||||
| Page 0000h~3FFFh |
- The RS-232C ROM is a 8KB ROM - 4000h-5FFFh
- The Secondary Slot Register is mirrored in every secondary slot at page C000h-FFFFh, it's only selected by A15, A14, A1 and A0
Connections
- RF output (RCA)
- Analog sound & Composite video (RCA)
- RS-232C connector (DB-9F)
- Data Recorder connector
- Centronics compatible Parallel port for a printer (A-57/14F)
- 2 general connectors (Joysticks, Mouse, Paddle controlers, etc)
- 1 cartridge slot
- 1 connector for 2nd drive (DB-25) for use with the SVI-787
- 1 female Jack (AC 16V, 32VA input)