LGR - NEC PC-8801 Update: It Works!
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 8 ก.ย. 2024
- After sourcing an RGB cable for my Sony KV-1311CR display, I was able to check out a little bit of the functionality of the original PC-8801 computer from Japan! More work to do still, but it's a start.
Here's the video where I first got the computer:
• LGR - Got a Huge Box o...
Background music is "All Is Good Again 2" by Magnus Ringblom
"Look! It's a computer--and it works!" nicely sums up what I love about this channel.
Ahhh! I'm excited. I know nothing about PC's (besides what i've learned from your videos, thank you), but you manage to make me excited about all them PC related things. Good luck with all this, can't wait to see more updates on it.
x2
The guy's enthusiasm is certainly infectious! I hope you will learn a lot of stuff on this channel. :-)
Jenna Newman your profile pic...
Yes, I know my child. Are you gonna be da worm face?
Doesn't seem like he made any more updates.
I kinda like the cream and brown look of the computer and keyboard. The keyboard keys have a slight rounded look to them from what I can see, which is cool.
Me too, it looks like what would happen if Noctua made a computer in the 80's
Are we sure the computer hasn't just yellowed?
Yes, it's a beautiful machine and setup!
The cream and brown is much warmer and nicer than the rather boring beige common at the time!
It looks like such a futuristic machine to me! (probably because it's from Japan). Compare this with an IBM PC and you'll see!
@@thomase13 PC-88 also has superior sound capabilities compared to the other computers at the time.
Cream and brown are absolutely my favorite colors. My aesthetic.
Your videos are dangerous. I don't need anymore old junk. But now I want an old PC
JHMBB2 true
This computer looks amazing. I LOVE how classy things looked back in the 80s
"It's a computer! And it works!" should be the tagline for LGR, and I mean that in a good way.
It's amazing that you got it working! Can't wait for the review!
That tape deck was probably for the NEC PC-6001, the PC-88 (as far as I know at least) primarily used floppies for its data, but if it works with the original PC-8801 model then that will probably be a very nice way to get data to load on the system!
I remember reading somewhere that the western version of the PC-88 was named the APC III, but it was indeed quite rare and I don't know of any software for that particular version of the system...
I also remember reading that the NEC PC-8801 was released in 1982 as a budget home version of their 1980 NEC PC-8001 business computer, however the PC-88 actually out-performed the PC-80 in some (but not all) aspects, but that was not their first attempt at making a home computer, the previous year they've released the aforementioned PC-6001...
***** Well, I'm quite fascinated about obscure Japanese retro gaming, so I read a lot about it... There's an amazing article by Hardcore Gaming 101 on the subject, it's a must-read for anybody who's even slightly interested on old school Japanese computers!
The later PC-88 machines used floppies, but this one primarily used cassettes. This tape deck was indeed sold with the PC-6001 and also worked with the PC-8001, but the PC-8801 is completely compatible with it, which led to lots of its software being released on cassette :)
Lazy Game Reviews That sure explains a lot, it's the later PC-88 versions I'm most familiar with since, you know, that's where the games are >w>
Hehe, yeah decent gaming I plan to get a mkIISR or one of the later variants. But this one is just so cool-looking and largely forgotten, even if the games kinda suck!
Lazy Game Reviews Make sure you get a V2 compatible model so that you can enjoy most good games on the system! Final Crisis is a must-have horizontal shooter that will only run on V2 mode, but you also gotta have Thexder and Silpheed, both of which run on V1 mode...
That monitor is sexy.
That damn side IO is awesome.
+television and cheese Righttt??? I agree!!!
In-case you need more reason to love it, the same monitor features in 'Honey I Shrunk the Kids'
YES U
I love these old japanese computers. They have such nifty software.
This is what the first Ys released on! And Ys Seven is out on PC now! I'm pretty glad Ys is returning to its PC roots lately.
wow thats an amazing monitor! you could almost do an entire review on that alone lol
I really could, it's one of the most useful displays I own.
This monitor kinda looks like it has the same functionality as a Sony PVM, just made to look more like a home computer monitor, compared to a professional grade monitor. Something sweet you can do, is hook up some older systems without mods (the Genesis, the SNES, the Playstation, ETC.) through that analog RGB connector, and it will look stunning. A channel that goes by the name "My Life In Gaming" has a lot of information about what RGB is, and what it does for video quality.
Lazy Game Reviews Please do, or at least make it a hearty segment for the desktop PC. It's a fascinating monitor.
You can use a cassette adapter (fake tape) and hook the 3.5"mm jack to your android or whatever sound source to load games even when the belt is broken.
Makes me appreciate being from that Era. But also glad we are no longer this limited.
You now LGR, I was born in 1994 so most of the things you cover aren't from my own childhood. But I still binge watch your stuff all the time. I don't what it is that I love about old computers. But you make such fantastic videos about them.
Love checking out old PC-8801 game art. That monitor is awesome!
I just love this guy's love for old computers...
That's one of the best looking keyboards I've ever seen
I love the regular car reviews channel. Obviously Clint does as well since he made the brown reference.
Always nice seeing a piece of computer hardware out of the norm. Hope the restoration of the tape drive functionality goes well in addition to compatible software.
Watching Clint getting excited over a new retro PC like a kid at Christmas is always a good time.
It's been 7 years and we are still waiting for that review video...
That Trinitron KV-1311CR looks amazing.
Definitely a sweet set/monitor.
oh that's fun.
I'm an owner of a KV-1311CR myself, picked it up for $2.50 from the local thrift shop chain many years ago when CRT TVs were starting to go out. Mine needs to be professionally degaussed, however, because one of my siblings thought it'd be a splendid idea to place a neodymium against the tube. I'm told that Weller soldering irons are a good help for this, since they do produce their own inductive magnetic field. What I'm hoping to do is fix my tube issues to the point the damage isn't noticeable anymore and hopefully I'll have a usable 1311 again.
I own a NEC 8001 computer that ran on the S-100 bus, with CPM operating system. It was equipped with a dual disk 5 1/4 disk drive, expansion box and color monitor. It also has the matching dot matrix printer, N-Basic DOS as well as Wordstar, and a very early Excel-like spreadsheet application. Those programs were office grade and quite expensive in the early 80s.
I believe I also installed a 32k ram board in the expansion box with room for additional boards. Each box had it's own power supply and this setup was rather large compared to computers today. I also have all the manuals and a NEC
There was a very common problem in this particular tape player, I used to have one back in the days and I even used it for my MSX also, anyway most likely you just need to spin the motor by your hand a few times while its off and then put the bottom shell back, and it should work fine I even remember I left the bottom shell unscrewed because of this problem, it was very common, thank you for sharing it brings back great memories.
"Farts... hehehe! Isn't this neat?". Came for the tech... stayed for the farts.
The boyish excitement in your voice is infectious lol. Never stop, Clint. You're the man.
I can't count the hours I spent programming in BASIC on this machine in 1982. It had advanced graphics commands in the BASIC ROMs that could easily do circles, fill shapes with a color, etc. This is the thing you won't believe... I still have the PC-8801A ("A" denotes American version) in my basement along with a matching 640x480 RGB monitor and dual 5" floppy disk drives. This system STILL works! It powers up, the drives spin, the loud-as-hell drive heads clack away and it boots up to the disk operating system. The blinking prompt then shows up, just like yours, and I simply enter a filename of something on the 5" floppy and it loads and executes. It used to be a nice tan color when it was new, but it has turned mostly orange like many other old plastic computer/monitor cases. I actually managed to use up all of the 64K of memory with BASIC programs filled with endless loops and graphics commands. Its Z-80 clone processor also ran CP/M and a primitive word processing program similar to the MS DOS "Wordstar" all-text word processor of the day. Graphics-wise, it was the best available in 1982 with a monochrome 640 x 400 graphics mode and several sub-modes with less horizontal resolution, but support for 8 colors and there was a graphics command that allowed areas to be filled with any color by placing different colored dots next to each other. There are a series of DIP switches on the rear and one of them allowed it to boot up in the PC-8000 mode and was able to talk to the older drives that also made a lot of noise. I started with the 8001A in 1980 and moved up to the 8801A when it was available in America by NEC around 1983. I still love this relic. It never dies. Yes, the clock battery has been dead for decades, but it still allows me to enter current time. I still have all the manuals and even the schematics I bought from NEC. I think it never dies because it's so slow and uncomplicated and can obviously run only one thing at a time. It's filled with simple TTL chips and some custom large ones made by NEC for the graphics and memory handling. I can still sit down and create programs with it today. I was still in high school when I bought this thing. There were no hard drive options and the 5" floppies were not so dense that they could be corrupted easily. This thing was/is a ROCK! It never hangs, hesitates, and it is impervious to computer viruses. Unless someone out there is making viruses for 64K Z-80 computers. Yes, it has an on-board serial port that could talk to a 300 baud modem. I remember helping a friend get remote access to one of Northwestern University's dial-in DEC VAX 11/780 computers, whatever that was, and it worked just fine as a terminal. It still works today. I don't know how the capacitors in the power supply have stayed working all these decades, but they do. I miss it's simplicity and reliability. If I made a mistake, it would stop the program at the line number the error was located and allowed me to edit. It NEVER hung up or even crashed a floppy. I wish I could demonstrate this computer today. I didn't know anyone even remembered this odd early 80s computer. It lives today and will probably keep living as long as I'm around. So simple... but so reliable!
That monitor is amazing looking.
All of your videos are a treasure to behold. It's so fascinating to see some of this old stuff brought back to life.
I bought last week 2 pc8801 markII SR (integrated FM sound!❤️)
And just found out this old video from you👍👍👍👍 congrats man i just love your work
I cannot express enough how much I love those buttons on the Sony KV.
Damn them oldschool Pcs really have you in awe in how much Technology has changed. Its just awesome to go back and look at these old rigs.
I have been "subscribed" to your channel for some time now and I can say that you are hardly "Lazy" with your reviews. Thanks for sharing!
Appreciate it, and thanks for watching!
Fascinating. One day when I get a bigger place I'm gonna dedicate a room to things like this ("DOS machine" etc)
I like the front-facing buttons on the front of the monitor. I was trying remember, during your last video, what I used to drool over for monitors, and you just reminded me that it was the Sony Trinitron, which seemed impervious to all the annoying problems that plagued early colour CRT monitors.
5:34 The NEC-PC8801 "it will print farts, for ever, wich is wonderful" xDD
Clint, your enthusiasm is infectious!
Thanks fer showing the thing. It made me smile. The monitor is one of the coolest I've seen. Can't wait for the proper review (of this and any other obscure/Japanese computers you might get your hands on!)
Tape players these days are a collection of dried out rubber transport components -belts pinch rollers, etc.
The trick is finding that stuff. -That and delicate nylon parts brittle with age.
-I'm pulling my hair out in sympathy on that one.
Battery? That's NOTHING. Replace the battery before your tears activate the dried acid residue.
Sorny Trinitron? -Just another reason to be jealous of all of your crazy cool stuff! -and yeah the styling is nearly spot on. Don't go nuts on the monitor that Sorny is super sweet and you know it.
It would be nice if higher quality (longer lasting) replacements were available for those age-sensitive internals. Good business idea, perhaps.
it is a WONDERFUL theme that I am sad never got more attention. I want to spend a day upgrading your little system here and enjoying some ys 1 with some coffee
Absolutely LOVE your Sony monitor!!!!!!
Thanks!
Fun fact: NEC is still around today and they're mostly known for "Computer Solution" devices, which is a fancy word for expensive machines somewhere between Business and Supercomputer systems (starting at $8k). While they do still make home PCs (and even high end tablet computers), their primary consumer base is infostructure companies.
Regardless of performance and limitations, it's an outright beautiful setup.
Awesome! The condition of your machine seems great, a super discovery! This is nowadays a rare machine and was a dream machine for a kid like me in 80s... I think this PC is still fascinating.
love you lgr, rewatching all of your content for like the 4th time. lol keep being amazing
Beautifully ugly sums it up perfectly. It has such an amazing aesthetic! Also that monitor is truly unique, what a beast.
Great to see this up and running, looking forward to seeing more from it!
Love that design of the 8801 here, especially this Sony monitor and the keyboard makes it look unique and special.
The computer's case itself rather reminds me of early desktop systems like the IBM Model 30.
OMG that monitor is SUPERB! Sony always made monitors I wanted it. Still does.
I hope you manage to fix the tape player soon.
Thank you for sharing.
I'm looking forward to see that nice day when there is a new video about basically anything that is included on this video.
I like to think that somewhere in some disused dark basement in some university somewhere there is an old computer that has been long forgotten hidden behind boxes and dust since the mid 80's that has just been loyally repeating the word 'fartz' and will continue to do so until the power is cut or the computer dies.
i'd probably steal it and turn it into a walking humanoid ai robot or something
I think the whole setup looks fantastic !
10 PRINT "BALLS"
20 GOTO 10
PRINT "Balls"
PRINT "Of Steel"
DO
PLAY "O1 MS L16 F# A P16 B P8 F# B P16 O2 C# P8 O1 F# O2 C# P16 D P16 O1 F# P16 O2 L8 C# L16 O1 B A F# L5 E G P16 O1 L16 F# O1 E"
LOOP UNTIL INKEY$ ""
Gotta play first chords of grabbag in qbasic. :D
Smoke Fumus does this work in regular basic? Dont want to pull my c64 Out just for Not working
10 GOTO 10
RUN
@@PicturesqueGames Sounds like Duke Nukem...
@@qallincha nah really?
I like all the computers you collected over the years.
Great video, love your excitement for the old tech. These last couple of months I've been so drawn back to my early years with computers, C64 with tape drive, my fav time was the middle nineties.
Please keep this type of stuff coming, its fascinating.
Thank you, I'm glad you've been enjoying! More to come :)
it's pretty amazing how that monitor you found looks like it was made specifically for that kind of setup, even the colors seem to match
Twinned with that monitor, this is just an effortlessly cool looking setup!
Thank you, I think so too! Almost like they were meant to be together.
+Lazy Game Reviews definitely, so aesthetically pleasing with an air of cyberpunk/neo noir sprinkled on top.... pure hardware indulgence!
+Lazy Game Reviews oh and dude, your channel continues to prove TH-cam can still be a great platform. Cheers for the vids man ^^
LGR - The only TH-cam channel that makes me moist every time i get a notification.
3 Years later and no further update?
More firsts from your channel for me LGR. That Trinitron was my first personal television in about 2005. It was barely color but I played my PS2 on it and had fun.
Your lucky to have it. And it's a great monitor for use with ps2
Damn i love the amazing retro-ness of this computer, its now my favourite in terms of aesthetic
And the trinitron looks great with it
Dude you just pasted the 400.000 subs! Congratulations, you really deserve this. You're video's are very educational and fun to watch! Keep it up!
I really enjoy seeing these vintage computers; they are fascinating. By the way, I hope you get a hold of a Unisys Icon computer one day. They were all over the place when I was in elementary school and then faded into nothingness after they were retired by the Ontario government.
Wow nice Sony monitor/TV those are rather rare and expensive when you do find them! Thats also such a kick as keyboard. I love all the chunky brown plastic...
Love the channel keep it up
Had to replace the belts in a tape player once myself. It was old and the belts just broke with age so I opened it up and put in some new ones I got from a local parts store. Was super easy.
I seen video ports like that when I was doing video production on a lot of Sony gear back in the early 90s.
I've always wanted a pc-98 or a pc-88
Good luck with this!
Its always interesting watching him have nerdgasms. I mean I have my own, but he just seems so much more excited.
We are over due for another update for this thing!
He should play Space Harrier on it
I like how some old computers open Basic almost immediately, from off to programming in a second.
cant get enough of your hardware videos... just love em.. thanks
Glad you're enjoying :)
If the tape unit belts need replacing and you can't find replacement kits for that unit; try to measure the belt path as accurately as you can with a piece of thread, then subtract 10%-15%. While you have it open, look for the record switch (amongst the circuitry, not the record engage mechanism itself). These usually benefit from being sprayed with some deox-it (or similar).
(speaking from experience repairing a heap of regular tape decks/boomboxes etc.)
Woow, i just LOOOVE the looks of that computer
I really love the 80's-90's Japanese tech design. Everything has a switch or nob on the front panel with their little lables and diagrams. Just so cool. I miss tactile controls.
As do I, with all sorts of electronics. This is especially true in vehicles, I like having tactile controls that are easy to use without even looking, but pretty much any new car is full of unappealing touch-sensitive stuff.
Lazy Game Reviews
I know. I have a washing machine where all the buttons are shitty little touch pad things.
They respond to touch about 60% of the time. It's even worse when my hands are wet which they usually are when handling washing. Sometimes they'll register 1 touch as 3 or 4.
Probably more expensive than buttons anyway.
Give me back my buttons!
Somehow when I watch LGR`s videos I feel that cosines of home. Shelves full of colorful game packs and each one of them has a little story in it. Old computers and hardware lying around majestic and peaceful - their time is over but they are not obsolete. Relaxed tune and feel of nerdiness in the best kind of way. You just want to sit and enjoy best quality media during rainy day from within walls of your home.
(I just hate that you Americans don`t use light day curtains on your windows - it breaks cosines. )
That would probably be better in a museum, but have fun figuring it out. Hope you can even find manuals for it ...
It's not really so rare that it needs to be in a museum. Just because they aren't that common in the West doesn't mean there aren't many more in Japan.
That monitor on the other hand...
I really liked that brown and white design
This smells like a classic sci-fi movie to me. Awesome.
That monitor looks really good with that pc!
That monitor is a TV version of the Sony PVM-1390. The analog RGB is great for retro consoles!
Loving the Sony KV-1311CR. We got one in 1986 to use with the RGB output of our IIgs and kept it around as a TV into the late 90s. Eventually it developed some kind of power issue (I think?) but it was an amazing monitor/TV.
That monitor actually goes well with the computer, too!
It really does! What a happy accident.
Ooooh, a hall effect based keyboard! I bet the board in it was made by Honeywell. Awesome to see one working!
Oohmf. Love how the keyboard sounds everytime you press it. CLACK CLACK CLACK
That Sony Trinitron fit perfectly, to my untrained eye it looked like it belonged/came with the NEC PC
It never ceases to amaze me how you find these rare machines. :-)
I've always wanted to see one of these! Thanks for sharing, and I hope you get the opportunity to do a proper review at some point. I'd also be very interested to see the PC-98 series do its things too... that era of Japanese gaming had the most GORGEOUS pixel art.
Damn, such a beaultiful piece of computer
Clint, this Trinitron monitor is actually a great fit aesthetically with your 8801. Plus it's a great little RGB monitor, I suggest that you keep it in this setup :)
Wow that's super interesting. I love learning about all the early PCs before GUIs were the norm
I love how you don't use click bait to get people to watch the videos.
crts never looked as beautiful as before.
In all honesty, the most I'd come across the NEC computers is probably the 9801 thanks to the Touhou series. I really would love both considering all of the amazing homebrew on the 88 and 98 series machines.
I look forward to what will come. Been looking at them a few years and the double tall pixels of it's graphics are unique to Japan mostly, the push to draw kanji on screen. Hard to find any English speaking fans of it but that is challenge on your part, RPGs are wordy so maybe stuff like Popful Mail, Star Trader, Silpheed, Battle Gorilla, Sorcerian, or XZR. Snatcher could be navigated with a walkthrough I guess. Can't wait. :D
And if he gets an NEC PC-98 he can play Touhou!
rewatching 2020 :) this thing is sharp! :D
your old computers collection is freaking awesome. keep up the good work! :)
Thank you!
Cool! Now wait for The Screamer (ザ・スクリーマー) review (it got English translation).
the port on the back of your trinitron was for VTR, or Video Tape Recorders, used in production and broadcast settings.
Wow, the aesthetics of this thing are impressive in that weird 80s way.
While introducing my 12 year old son the the wonders of 'Honey I Shrunk the Kids' I saw something familiar. That Sony monitor you're using is the same as the one used for the shrink ray!