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buying an MSX COMPUTER for the first time, any suggestions?


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You don't really need a Turbo R. If your playing games, an MSX2 will do you fine. Try to get a unit with two drives, like the nms8250 or 8280, remember, these computers don't have hard drives or anything, so to copy games, and to avoid "Deejaying" two drives is such a luxury. And DO NOT order from that guy on ebay in the netherlands. Your almost guaranteed to have a broken unit on arrival because that guy is a deadbeat packer, waste of money.

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I'd go for an MSX2 system with a built-in disk drive, not just because they have AV out (most MSX1 systems actually have AV out), but mainly because you'll be able to play MSX2 games like Metal Gear, Vampire Killer, Snatcher, etc. And yes, if you're in the US, you'll want to get a Japanese system since you won't have to worry about NTSC/PAL or power supply issues.

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MSX is a good sys. to collect for especially for cart games and disk games (though whether the games will output properly on a US telly is another thing, unless you are buying US versions and not the Japanese originals)

 

 

Actually the Japanese games and systems are what to get for anyone in the U.S. since Japan uses NTSC and a similar power rating, that being 100v. The only U.S. made MSX computers were the couple made by Yamaha and Spectravideo. There were no U.S. specific games/carts that I'm aware of. I use a Japan made Sony F1XV MSX2+. Every cart that I own for it is the original Japanese made ones. They and the system work perfectly with any normal TV or composite monitor. One thing to note though is that with any Japanese system the voltage rating is 100v and not the 110v normal here in the States. Now you can just simply plug it into any wall socket and it will work but the extra voltage will make it run hot. I feared that this would shorten it's lifespan so I invested in a voltage converter to alleviate that concern. So I would suggest a MSX2 from Japan as your best bet. There were not that many + specific programs so unless you're really concerned about those a 2+ isn't that important.

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What's the ratio of cart to disk games? I was looking to download some games for my MSX 2+, but all I could find were cartridge roms. Were cartridge games more common than disk games?

 

Tempest

 

 

That's hard to say definitively but using the advanced search on Generation MSX returned the results of programs on Disk = 1224 matches and those on a standard rom/cart = 1043. Although that site, nor any other that I'm aware of, is all inclusive it does have a very good amount of them in their database.

There is a repository of MSX 1 games on disk referred to as MSX Mania which is available here:

MSX Mania

 

In addition there's a great program called simply Disk-Manager by Lex Lechz that is great for writing these to an actual floppy on your PC for use on an actual MSX.

 

http://www.lexlechz.at/en/software.html

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I think planetemu had mostl/all the msx cart games and disk games on their w/s

 

http://www.planetemu.net/index.php?section...&machine=38

 

 

i think all their stuff is in tosec naming format

 

just to pont ouit that on their site you'll see lots of different versions of the same rom/disk where you only need the one (what i call 'dupes')

Edited by carmel_andrews
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You don't really need a Turbo R. If your playing games, an MSX2 will do you fine. Try to get a unit with two drives, like the nms8250 or 8280, remember, these computers don't have hard drives or anything, so to copy games, and to avoid "Deejaying" two drives is such a luxury. And DO NOT order from that guy on ebay in the netherlands. Your almost guaranteed to have a broken unit on arrival because that guy is a deadbeat packer, waste of money.

I bought a TurboR from him. The packing was fine but the drive appears to be bad.

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See? I don't trust that guy. He screwed me over, I received a unit with a smashed case, and both disc drives were faulty. On top of that, my friend had one unit arrive broken, totally not working. He ordered another one, so if he's lucky, it will be A-okay, he forked out for the more expensive shipping, to try to cut out as much time it could get smashed as possible. I remember once some guy complained he received some games literally wrapped in a single layer of news paper, and they were all wet.

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See? I don't trust that guy. He screwed me over, I received a unit with a smashed case, and both disc drives were faulty. On top of that, my friend had one unit arrive broken, totally not working. He ordered another one, so if he's lucky, it will be A-okay, he forked out for the more expensive shipping, to try to cut out as much time it could get smashed as possible. I remember once some guy complained he received some games literally wrapped in a single layer of news paper, and they were all wet.

 

did the guy give you or your friend a replacement or refund? he says it's insured?

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Hmm, I think atari ones work straight up, but only one button of course, and for the genesis to work, you have to modify the plug header. About the guy, my pal just sold me his broken one, and I fixed it. To ship that crap back to the netherlands is ridiculous. Shipping is a huge part of the cost, you pretty much lose money sending it back to him. Just keep away, there's many better ways to get a computer. Like risingstuff.com. If you pay them up front, they can find you any vidoe game related item in Japan.

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What's the ratio of cart to disk games? I was looking to download some games for my MSX 2+, but all I could find were cartridge roms. Were cartridge games more common than disk games?

 

Tempest

 

 

That's hard to say definitively but using the advanced search on Generation MSX returned the results of programs on Disk = 1224 matches and those on a standard rom/cart = 1043. Although that site, nor any other that I'm aware of, is all inclusive it does have a very good amount of them in their database.

There is a repository of MSX 1 games on disk referred to as MSX Mania which is available here:

MSX Mania

 

In addition there's a great program called simply Disk-Manager by Lex Lechz that is great for writing these to an actual floppy on your PC for use on an actual MSX.

 

http://www.lexlechz.at/en/software.html

Thanks for the links there. The only non-cart based list/collection I could find (back when I looked) was the offline list set and that was a bear to get a hold of!

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