There are some specs on Wikipedia: "CPU: MN1800A @ 0.89 MHz (MC6802 compatible) + MN1544CJR" "Memory: 36kb (32k + 2k for graphic characters + 2k VRAM)" About the CPU: It's main difference to the MC6802 (or MN6802, the Matsushita/Panasonic variant) is that they eliminated the clock generator for sync reasons. That's likely the reason the CPU in this machine wasn't clocked to its fullest potential (1.5 MHz): They probably used the NTSC frequency and simply divided it by four. It's software compatible to the 6802 however, which itself is a slightly trimmed-down variant of the 6800. This chip is slower than a 6502 at the same frequency or a Z-80 at about 4 MHz. So all in all it is hampered by the slower clock and the old design. Graphics: The only "hi-res" you see from this machine, like in the demo or the game at the end, is from redefined characters. The other graphics are simply twice the text resolution -- 64x48 -- as they simply use the graphics characters like on other machines. At least they had drawing commands in BASIC. Given the low amount of colors this machine likely has no advanced graphics tech built in: No sprites, no hardware smooth scrolling etc. -> "There is also a second processor, the 4-bit MN1544CJR, which is used for I/O and contains 128 bytes of RAM plus four kilobytes of ROM." In other words Panasonic used one of their off-the-shelf microcontrollers as an I/O-chip. It is likely also used to produce the three-channel sounds of the machine: -> "The JR-200 had a general purpose timer - I/O chip, with three of the timer outputs being hooked up to generate square wave tones." The JR-200 is certainly better than the ZX-81 and its main competition in the US was probably the VIC-20. I don't know if the JR-200 came to the UK but the Spectrum would have murdered it. While it had better connectivity there were no peripherals of note so this didn't amount to much. The composite monitor connection is also not that great (or maybe the TV just doesn't cut it?). A word about it's successor, the JR-300: Apparently launched in 1984 it is a much more interesting machine but I don't know if it ever came into the West or if it was actually popular in Japan. Here they use a by then "bog-standard" Z-80 clocked at 4 MHz. It had "82 KB RAM" (likely 64+16+2 KB), hi-res graphics (up to 640x400), a Yamaha soundchip and a much better keyboard. Interestingly it was backwards compatible to the JR-200 by also having a MN1800A-CPU. This is quite funny actually: They marketed the JR-200 by price and then introduced the JR-300 only 2 years later (in Japan) to sell it to the suckers that bought the cheap system. On the other hand they also had a better range of peripherals for this like a disk drive -- positioning this one better against the competition. Competitors included the MSX1-range for example - where Panasonic was actually also heavily invested in. So Panasonic had too ranges of home computers and after probably looking at the sales they killed the JR-line (the next & last one "JR-800" is an incompatible handheld computer).

Aaron well done, and “Thanks for playing my game” .. Peter

What an interesting and obscure computer. I'd never heard of this one before. The chiclet keyboard with the graphics characters and the BASIC commands reminds me of the ZX Spectrum, and the graphics and sound kind of remind me of the TI-99/4A or early MSX machines. It's a pity it never received much market traction--Panasonic generally makes high quality hardware, especially back in the 80s. I can't wait to see what the other games look like.

Thrilled to see some of the games I sold to you on eBay! They were a fun find in a closet of a 50s house I flipped last year here in Little Rock. Their owner worked at 3M for decades and was a professional clown. So glad you got them and they’re being preserved and enjoyed.

Very cool. Thanks for another great video Aaron. I’m looking forward to visiting the museum.

I love that laser writing "JR 200" in the sky, great intro to the demo. The game boxes are rather attractive, I'm sure I would have been drawn to them if I'd been old enough to be browsing in a computer shop at the time (I was only 2 years old when the system was released :)).

Euh what..Panasonic. Ok..legend is born here VINTAGE GEEK.. Wow..never never see that!!.and am 52y..i have a wild collection of 80 and 90 stuff but this is new for me..✌🌹🎈🎉thank

Fun little computer. If I remember, and I probably don't, there was an RGBI connector on the back that could be hooked up to a CGA monitor. This would give the crispest and clearest display, but... some of the games used NTSC smearing dithering to get more colors. The "Joe Junk Man" title screen, in particular, looked awful on the RGB display and better on TV or Composite. You can also see dithering on the Demo. I like to substitute Audio Out from my PC for the cassette audio. If I remember, the Panasonic JR-200U had a switch on the underside for 600/2400 bps. It could load the PC audio okay at the higher speed. The Japan demo had a different tune instead of "Lover's Concerto," and a locomotive animation instead of the merry-go-round. There was an acoustic coupler modem for the system. I got one on eBay, but no software, and I never used it. TMQ software had a copy protection scheme which would interrupt the load. The last time I checked, the emulators did not properly emulate this, so there was a bunch of software, both TMQ and Disney, that didn't work right on the emulators.

As I explained in my review of it, the JR-200U was a competent machine, but it was a failure (at least outside of Japan) due to its price being higher than a Commodore 64 (!), lack of software, the rubber keyboard, and an owner's manual that was written in a terse, technical style that was not friendly to beginners.

@vintagegeek

2 жыл бұрын

When I first obtained one of these your video was the first real piece of information on it that I found, but I actually didn't allow myself to watch beyond the first part because I wanted to experience the system 'fresh' with little firsthand knowledge...now I'm going to go back and watch it in full! Thanks so much for watching by the way....really love your content and I'm so glad you solved the mystery with the pencil in the cassette (I always wondered about that!)

Love this video can't wait for part 2 I got my apple themed vintage geek shirt in the mail I love thnx Aaron keep up the awesome videos

This machine was quickly replaced by the National CF-2000, one of the very first MSX computers, in October 1983.

WHAT ARE THE INTERNAL SPECS? Maybe a a teardown and look at the chips would be nice too.

@retrogamestudios7649

2 жыл бұрын

U tell em....well I am interested too....my wife thought it was Richard karn

You had so many of these home computers flooding the market in that era there must have been 100s of unique platforms released just between 1980 and 1985 and in later years you got almost nothing new that was different it just became pc vs mac forever unless you count different operating systems and portable devices but those have become homogenised too by now.

I love that weird chiclet keyboard. Also the green basic screen is horrendous! thank for the history lesson!

Reminds me of the first Radio Shack CoCo

At ground zero on a channel that’s gonna explode in viewership this next couple of years Cool

You should probably put the name of the system in the title somewhere, so that it is more easily found by people searching for the specific computer.

obscure systems? that is the reason i collect....japan computers are great.....the panasonic... ..great..

the only thing missing was to show inside... if you can in another video. Otherwise awesome!

| Awesome ! | :3

lol a keyboard key titled "Rub Out" - well I guess that's ..handy.

Oh. Oh ho ho. I'll tell you something... I have the Timex/Sinclair 2068, an off-shoot of the famous ZX Spectrum, and I can tell you from experience that packing five different functions into one key is NOT the boon you've made it out to be. The 2068 forces you to use this... you can't just type in commands, but instead you've got to learn cryptic combinations of keys to make anything work. The worst!

@martinlebl631

2 жыл бұрын

It us handy once you internalize it. As a kid I could type in basic faster than most touch typists. Of course it does take a while to internalize that, so that learning curve is an annoyance. It was done to store the basic program as tokens, and not as text, so a longer program fits into the memory, but of course there is a price to pay for that. In the 80s learning arcane key combos was easier than getting more RAM, which isn't the case anymore.

You need a new mic, or bring up the high end when mastering. It sounds very muffled.