Are Spectravideo SV318 possible to find?

[+eebuckeye]

I believe they were released in the US but I am having a hard time finding anything related to buy for it including the computer..

 

Are they very rare?

[Tempest]

Yes. The 318 and 328 are very hard to find in the US. I have a 328 and it was really hard to track down (I bring it to MGC every year). They do pop up now and then though so keep your eyes open.

 

Games appear to be region free though.

[+eebuckeye]

Thanks for the info.. I saw a youtube video on one the other day and I had not even thought about those machines since seeing advertisements in magazines during the 80s. It surprises me the Aquarius is easier to find.

Edited November 2, 2014 by eebuckeye

[am1933]

As mentioned, just keep ypur eyes open, the 318 and 328 pop up on ebay from time to time, I have also seen the SV318 for sale with the joystick missing-so beware!!!!

[0078265317]

Never heard of it.. Is this what you are looking for.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1983-Spectravideo-SV-318-computer-photo-vintage-print-ad-/361096616724?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5413091b14

[+eebuckeye]

Yep.. I remember seeing ads in the 80s for it.. apparently did very poorly. :-)

[jaybird3rd]

I've had my eyes open for an SV-318 for a while, too. I used to check eBay for them, but all I ever found were cassettes and magazine ads, never the systems themselves.

[carlsson]

Did any non-US home computer ever hit off on the US market?

 

The Spectravideo models are a bit more common over here in Europe, although the market isn't really swamped with them. In this case, it seems you'd really need a step-up adapter if you import a computer as the power supply is not commonly replaceable unlike e.g. various ZX Spectrum or PAL Commodore models.

[Maggoo]

I managed to find a 328 with the SVI Tape recorder and a few games last year but I had to look for nearly a year before finding it. I have not been able to find a 318, I would assume very few were sold.

[juice980]

I've Spectravideo SV 318 here in Finland if you're interested... My mother bought this one to me 1983. It's useless for me. I've some games too.

[am1933]

They received a good deal of advertising space in the computer press here in the UK, they had one large ad which kind of berated the competition and another lesser known ad with the then James Bond "Roger Moore".

[Tempest]

I have a 601 Expander for my 328, but I haven’t been able to test it because it came with a PAL power supply (my 328 is NTSC). Can I just get a US power supply and use it with the Expander or do I need to use the PAL power supply and get some sort of power adapter? I'm not sure if the peripherals are generic or region specific.

 

BTW this is the best page for Spectravideo knowledge. Lots of good stuff: http://www.samdal.com/spectravideo.htm

[Bill Loguidice]

In my experience, in the US, the SV/SVI-328 is relatively easy to find for relatively modest prices, while the 318 is much more difficult. I have four 328's and only one 318, and that's not in the best of shape.

[krslam]

Did any non-US home computer ever hit off on the US market?

 

 

The Timex-Sinclair 1000 did pretty well, if that counts. Also, for some reason, I've found half a dozen Panasonic JR-200U's over the years so somebody in Seattle must have carried it.

[Bill Loguidice]

 

The Timex-Sinclair 1000 did pretty well, if that counts. Also, for some reason, I've found half a dozen Panasonic JR-200U's over the years so somebody in Seattle must have carried it.

 

I really wouldn't say that counts. Sinclair's own efforts with the ZX80, ZX81, and Sinclair QL didn't exactly take off here. Even Timex's time in the sun was quite short. Of course, prior to the NES, the videogame market was also US-centric. That's just the way things were in both market segments. The only related area where "foreign" products really hit it big early on were the arcades, though of course those also often had US distributors.

[carlsson]

As for the power supply question, I understand the SVI takes 9VAC + 16VAC input. Does a step-up that converts from 115VAC to 230VAC also alter the line frequency? While I'm not sure it is important in this application, I think it is the only thing that could matter. Of course if you have another form of dual voltage transformer (*) and a spare connector e.g. from a broken SVI, ColecoVision or TI-99/4A power supply (**) you might be able to hack together your own 115V PSU without going through a step-up.

 

Edit: Oh well, the question was about the 601 Expander. I didn't look that one up, does it take the same kind of power as the computer or something different? I understand if it is powered on its own though.

 

(*) 9+16V supplies are quite uncommon as far as I've noticed. The Creativision shares the voltage requirements, possibly drawing fewer ampere on each line and having a standard 5-pin DIN connector, and so far I've only found one reasonably inexpensive replacement supply from Australia that thus takes 230V input.

 

(**) Those have the same connector, but different pinouts and voltages so the power supplies are not interchangable, only the connector would be. There probably is a name for the connector, but I don't think it is easily found. Perhaps somewhere a crafty person has modelled and printed new ones?

Edited November 5, 2014 by carlsson

[Tempest]

Yes the 601 uses the exact same power supply.

[am1933]

At least I now know that Spectravideo did actually market the machine in the US, there is a full page advert in the April 1983 edition of Compute! magazine.

[Tempest]

You can see my SV-328 in this picture (next to the TRS-80). Mine has a mod so it can use a VGA monitor.

 

[Bill Loguidice]

At least I now know that Spectravideo did actually market the machine in the US, there is a full page advert in the April 1983 edition of Compute! magazine.

 

They did, albeit briefly. I believe it had better distribution in Canada. One of the 328's I have was from a gentleman in Canada whose father was a distributor there. In any case, it was obviously very difficult for computers from relative latecomers like Spectravideo and Panasonic to get any notice in North America. There was this big rush of low end computers in the 1982 - 1984 timeframe, but due to the Commodore 64's incredible price-to-power ratio and strong retail distribution, it became impossible to compete unless you were previously established like an Atari, and even they didn't approach anywhere near the same sales volume.

 

It has been said that the SV/SVI-328 inspired the MSX standard. It was amazing the range of machines that more or less used the same basic mix of technology as those, some earlier, some later, like the ColecoVision/Adam, MTX, Sega SG/SC, etc. While MSX never did have any success outside of Japan, from a historian's standpoint, I always like to look to the evolution of the MSX platform (MSX2, MSX2+, etc.) as one way short-lived platforms like the Coleco Adam might have evolved had the parent company had a better strategy or if market forces would have broken differently. Same thing with the Sega Master System and Genesis for the equivalent on the console side and how the ColecoVision might have evolved.

[Tempest]

The 318/328 are so close to the MSX standard that here's actually an MSX cartridge adapter for them. I believe there's also a MSX compatibility tape as well. I won't claim to have a lot of knowledge on the subject, but I think the difference is just in the location of some memory addresses. SVI later had a fully MSX compatible system called the 728 but I'm not sure if that one got released in the US or not. If it did then it's one of the very few true MSX machines released in the US.

[Bill Loguidice]

The 318/328 are so close to the MSX standard that here's actually an MSX cartridge adapter for them. I believe there's also a MSX compatibility tape as well. I won't claim to have a lot of knowledge on the subject, but I think the difference is just in the location of some memory addresses. SVI later had a fully MSX compatible system called the 728 but I'm not sure if that one got released in the US or not. If it did then it's one of the very few true MSX machines released in the US.

 

I believe the compatibility is hit or miss with those, but I've never seen or experienced/tested one myself to know for sure.

 

As far as my research has uncovered, the only two MSX machines ever officially released in the US were the Yamaha CX5M and CX-5M II/128U Music Computers, both based off the MSX 1 specification. I have both of those in my collection, but prefer Japanese MSX systems for obvious reasons. In any case, I'm not sure how widely the Yamaha computers were available outside of music shops. They really were sold primarily as MIDI "hubs" here. Electronic Games and other magazines at the time were predicting this "invasion" of Japanese MSX computers here in the US, but obviously that never came to pass. By the time they were ready to be released (1984), it would have already been too late, so it was wise they avoided the market.

[+eebuckeye]

Is the CX5M MSX software compatible? Could I get an MSX/SD adapter and run all MSX software?

[Bill Loguidice]

Is the CX5M MSX software compatible? Could I get an MSX/SD adapter and run all MSX software?

 

It is and would, but I wouldn't bother. Get a Japanese MSX2 (or greater) system and use the combo flash/RAM cart on that. You'll have to access to far more software.

[carlsson]

The story I have read went along the lines of this Japanese gentleman at ASCII Corporation whose name I can't remember nor bother to look up, was inspired by the IBM PC and upcoming compatibles, and wanted to make a home computer variant of the concept. He then stumbled across Spectravideo's design using off the shelf chips like Z80 and determined that was a good hardware basis for the MSX concept. For some reason or other, Spectravideo rushed on with the 318 and 328 prior to the standard being settled and made official, but advertised their models as MSX compatible although they aren't immediately compatible.

 

It should be noted though that various other systems, including both ColecoVision and the Japanese Sord M5 were around at the same time as the Spectravideo. Those use the TI PSG instead of the AY chip, but otherwise should be enough off the shelf that ASCII could've addressed e.g. Sord instead of Spectravideo to base the MSX hardware upon.

 

As for success outside of Japan, in countries like Korea, Brazil, Netherlands and possibly a few more central European countries, the MSX computers had a bit of a following. Not that they ever were threatening market leaders, but enough for Dutch company Philips to produce a rather wide range of MSX models. There were a lot of bootlegs in Korea, but also some own made stuff.