Daewoo CPC-300
Encyclopedia
The Daewoo CPC-300 was a home computer
based on the MSX
standard, and produced by a Korea
n company Daewoo Electronics Co. Ltd.
as one of several models of series of MSX computers. It also has the logo IQ 2000 on top of the case.
port.
The CPC-300 also exists in two regional versions - Korean, and an export version (no information about export variant for CPC-300E is known). The Export version does not have a special name.
and a special key (with the label «Hangul» in hangul), which switches input mode between English and hangul. This key has a LED indicator
(similar to the CAPS LOCK
key).
The power-on splash screen
is different from the standard MSX splash screen, and displays the label "IQ 2000" in hangul. In the case of the CPC-300, which does have a real-time clock
, the current date and time is also shown. After the splash screen, the MSX BASIC
version screen appears. It contains the labels MSX BASIC version 2.0 Copyright 1985 by Microsoft (in English) and MSX Hangul version 3.00 Copyright 1986 by Daewoo (where Hangul and Daewoo written in hangul). After that, the MSX BASIC prompt appears on the screen (there is no standard prompt with version strings).
MSX-BASIC on this computer has a special monochromatic high-resolution display mode, for displaying hangul symbols. This mode can be enabled by the command SCREEN 9. Technically, this mode is a software-modified SCREEN 6 mode. So, VDP
of this computer is a standard Yamaha V9938
. The Mode SCREEN 9 in many Korean computers is a reason for rumors that they used a custom VDP, unofficially named the "V9948".
marks are used. The input mode key in this version does not have an LED and is lettered 'CODE'.
No information about the power-on splash screen for the export version is known.
The CPC-300E does not have the MSX-TUTOR SET SYSTEM command with any parameter the use of which just causes the message 'Syntax error' to be displayed.
. However, Daewoo computers, used for this purposes, were the standard Korean versions, and they do not contain Russian letters on the keyboard, as Yamaha's models did. Also an English manual is packaged with these computers.
Home computer
Home computers were a class of microcomputers entering the market in 1977, and becoming increasingly common during the 1980s. They were marketed to consumers as affordable and accessible computers that, for the first time, were intended for the use of a single nontechnical user...
based on the MSX
MSX
MSX was the name of a standardized home computer architecture in the 1980s conceived by Kazuhiko Nishi, then Vice-president at Microsoft Japan and Director at ASCII Corporation...
standard, and produced by a Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
n company Daewoo Electronics Co. Ltd.
Daewoo
Daewoo or the Daewoo Group was a major South Korean chaebol . It was founded on 22 March 1967 as Daewoo Industrial and was dismantled by the Korean government in 1999...
as one of several models of series of MSX computers. It also has the logo IQ 2000 on top of the case.
Description
The computer was made in the form of a keyboard. All the circuits of the computer are in the keyboard case. Two possible color versions exist - black with gray keys, and white with gray and blue keys. Both have a built-in power-supply. This version of an MSX computer does not have a floppy drive, and only one slot for cartridges on the top of the case.Modifications
Two varieties of this computer exist - the CPC-300 and the CPC-300E. The CPC-300E is a cut-down version of the CPC-300 for educational purpose, so it doesn't have joystickJoystick
A joystick is an input device consisting of a stick that pivots on a base and reports its angle or direction to the device it is controlling. Joysticks, also known as 'control columns', are the principal control in the cockpit of many civilian and military aircraft, either as a center stick or...
port.
The CPC-300 also exists in two regional versions - Korean, and an export version (no information about export variant for CPC-300E is known). The Export version does not have a special name.
Korean version
The keyboard contains symbols of HangulHangul
Hangul,Pronounced or ; Korean: 한글 Hangeul/Han'gŭl or 조선글 Chosŏn'gŭl/Joseongeul the Korean alphabet, is the native alphabet of the Korean language. It is a separate script from Hanja, the logographic Chinese characters which are also sometimes used to write Korean...
and a special key (with the label «Hangul» in hangul), which switches input mode between English and hangul. This key has a LED indicator
Light-emitting diode
A light-emitting diode is a semiconductor light source. LEDs are used as indicator lamps in many devices and are increasingly used for other lighting...
(similar to the CAPS LOCK
Caps lock
Caps lock is a key on many computer keyboards. Pressing it sets an input mode in which typed letters are uppercase by default. The keyboard remains in caps lock mode until the key is pressed again...
key).
The power-on splash screen
Splash screen
A splash screen is an image that appears while a game or program is loading. It may also be used to describe an introduction page on a website. Splash screens sometimes do not cover the entire screen, but only a rectangle near the center...
is different from the standard MSX splash screen, and displays the label "IQ 2000" in hangul. In the case of the CPC-300, which does have a real-time clock
Real-time clock
A real-time clock is a computer clock that keeps track of the current time. Although the term often refers to the devices in personal computers, servers and embedded systems, RTCs are present in almost any electronic device which needs to keep accurate time.-Terminology:The term is used to avoid...
, the current date and time is also shown. After the splash screen, the MSX BASIC
MSX BASIC
MSX BASIC is a dialect of the BASIC programming language. It is an extended version of Microsoft Standard BASIC Version 4.5, and includes support for graphic, music, and various peripherals attached to MSX Personal Computers. Generally, MSX-BASIC is designed to follow GW-BASIC, which is one of the...
version screen appears. It contains the labels MSX BASIC version 2.0 Copyright 1985 by Microsoft (in English) and MSX Hangul version 3.00 Copyright 1986 by Daewoo (where Hangul and Daewoo written in hangul). After that, the MSX BASIC prompt appears on the screen (there is no standard prompt with version strings).
MSX-BASIC on this computer has a special monochromatic high-resolution display mode, for displaying hangul symbols. This mode can be enabled by the command SCREEN 9. Technically, this mode is a software-modified SCREEN 6 mode. So, VDP
Graphics processing unit
A graphics processing unit or GPU is a specialized circuit designed to rapidly manipulate and alter memory in such a way so as to accelerate the building of images in a frame buffer intended for output to a display...
of this computer is a standard Yamaha V9938
Yamaha V9938
The Yamaha V9938 is a Video Display Controller used in the Geneve 9640 enhanced TI-99/4A clone, as well as MSX 80s home computers ....
. The Mode SCREEN 9 in many Korean computers is a reason for rumors that they used a custom VDP, unofficially named the "V9948".
Export version
The keyboard does not have hangul symbols. Instead diacriticDiacritic
A diacritic is a glyph added to a letter, or basic glyph. The term derives from the Greek διακριτικός . Diacritic is both an adjective and a noun, whereas diacritical is only an adjective. Some diacritical marks, such as the acute and grave are often called accents...
marks are used. The input mode key in this version does not have an LED and is lettered 'CODE'.
No information about the power-on splash screen for the export version is known.
Technical specifications
These specifications are the same for all versions:- TV standard: NTSCNTSCNTSC, named for the National Television System Committee, is the analog television system that is used in most of North America, most of South America , Burma, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines, and some Pacific island nations and territories .Most countries using the NTSC standard, as...
- Outputs for connection with a TV set or computer display:
- RF modulator output
- Audio and video connector (sound output is mono)
- RGB
- «Monochromatic/Colour» switch
- RF modulator channel switch
- Connectors:
- PrinterComputer printerIn computing, a printer is a peripheral which produces a text or graphics of documents stored in electronic form, usually on physical print media such as paper or transparencies. Many printers are primarily used as local peripherals, and are attached by a printer cable or, in most new printers, a...
port - Cartridge port
- Tape recorderTape recorderAn audio tape recorder, tape deck, reel-to-reel tape deck, cassette deck or tape machine is an audio storage device that records and plays back sounds, including articulated voices, usually using magnetic tape, either wound on a reel or in a cassette, for storage...
in/out port
- Printer
- Power supply voltageVoltageVoltage, otherwise known as electrical potential difference or electric tension is the difference in electric potential between two points — or the difference in electric potential energy per unit charge between two points...
: 110/220 V, 60 HzHertzThe hertz is the SI unit of frequency defined as the number of cycles per second of a periodic phenomenon. One of its most common uses is the description of the sine wave, particularly those used in radio and audio applications....
(voltage switch on the underside of the case) - Power consumption: 21 WWattThe watt is a derived unit of power in the International System of Units , named after the Scottish engineer James Watt . The unit, defined as one joule per second, measures the rate of energy conversion.-Definition:...
CPC-300
- RAM: 128 KBKilobyteThe kilobyte is a multiple of the unit byte for digital information. Although the prefix kilo- means 1000, the term kilobyte and symbol KB have historically been used to refer to either 1024 bytes or 1000 bytes, dependent upon context, in the fields of computer science and information...
- VRAM: 128 KB
- Other features:
- Real-time clock with battery backup
- Two joystickJoystickA joystick is an input device consisting of a stick that pivots on a base and reports its angle or direction to the device it is controlling. Joysticks, also known as 'control columns', are the principal control in the cockpit of many civilian and military aircraft, either as a center stick or...
ports - one Light penLight penA light pen is a computer input device in the form of a light-sensitive wand used in conjunction with a computer's CRT TV set or monitor. It allows the user to point to displayed objects, or draw on the screen, in a similar way to a touch screen but with greater positional accuracy...
port - A built-in tutorial program called "MSX-TUTOR"
CPC-300E
- RAM: 64 KB
- VRAM: 128 KB
- Other features:
- No real-time clock
- No joystick ports
- No light pen port
MSX-TUTOR
The Korean modification of the CPC-300 has a built-in tutorial program (아이큐 교실 in the Korean language, means "IQ Tutorial"), named MSX-TUTOR. This program starts automatically after the computer powers on. The program can be exited manually by pressing the SELECT key, after that the MSX BASIC prompt appears. To disable MSX-TUTOR, the command SET SYSTEM 1 can be used. This setting is stored in the real-time clock memory. To re-enable MSX-TUTOR the command SET SYSTEM 0 can be used.The CPC-300E does not have the MSX-TUTOR SET SYSTEM command with any parameter the use of which just causes the message 'Syntax error' to be displayed.
Usage in Russia
A modified version of the Daewoo CPC-300E was one of the types of MSX-computers which had some distribution in Russia during the mid 1980s - 1990s. At the present time, in some cities, 10-15 new and sealed computers can be found (some owners sell them at Russian online auctions). These computers were a property of some schools. These computers were bought to replace older MSX-based computer in classes which used the Yamaha YIS503 and Yamaha YIS805 (Yamaha distributed these computers in the USSR during the mid-1980s). For example, the Daewoo-based computers were used in the schools of Primorsky KraiPrimorsky Krai
Primorsky Krai , informally known as Primorye , is a federal subject of Russia . Primorsky means "maritime" in Russian, hence the region is sometimes referred to as Maritime Province or Maritime Territory. Its administrative center is in the city of Vladivostok...
. However, Daewoo computers, used for this purposes, were the standard Korean versions, and they do not contain Russian letters on the keyboard, as Yamaha's models did. Also an English manual is packaged with these computers.