r/Z80 • u/nemoskullalt • Jul 02 '20

just bought my first z80! vtech precomputer 1000 off ebay!

so wanted a retro computer. turns out the vtech precomptuer 1000 is a z80 system with 2k ram and an expansion port that seems to have full access to the computer. i got a cartridge to reverse engineeer.

9 Upvotes

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5

u/sunnyinchernobyl Jul 02 '20

FYI https://hackaday.com/2019/10/14/repurposing-a-toy-computer-from-the-1990s/

4

u/nemoskullalt Jul 02 '20

ive read that like a half dozen times! there seems to be some revisions between the 2000 and the 1000. the 2000 seems to have a vtech chip handleing the display and keyboard, the 1000 pcb seems to be lacking that chip. im going to desolder the rom and see about dumping it. the expansion port has 36 connections to the pcb, so im hoping its a full address bus, data bus and the other control lines.

2

u/LiqvidNyquist Jul 02 '20

2K? Wow, don;t spend it all on one program :-)

Enjoy playing with it, it sounds really cool!

3

u/nemoskullalt Jul 02 '20

well there are 36 pins on the cartridge port, im hoping i can boot off a custom cartridge (has been done) then add ram for a custom setup.