Welcome back to part 11 of my SepTandy Spectacular 3. In the last post we took at look at the the NEC PC-8201, which was a clone of the Tandy 100. In this post we're going to take a look at the rest of The Laser Portable Computers.
The Laser Portable Computers (1989-1997)
Introduced in 1985, The Laser Portable Computer line was a line of simple, line of computers meant to teach people to program in BASIC and somewhat similar to the Pocket Computers.
Yep, were talking about VTech's Laser division yet again! Concluding our story on the brand. But before we do, let's have a brief recap of the history of the VTech and the Laser brand. In 1976, 2 Hong Kong entrepreneurial engineers named Allan Wong and Stephen Leung, formed VTech after they witnessed the release of the Intel 4004 and wanted to portable consumer electronics using similar technology.
Allan Wong and Stephen Leung in 1978
VTech initially focused on developing video games, and released its first product, a Pong console, in 1977. Since England used the same PAL video standard as Hong Kong, VTech decided to sell their Pong Console on an OEM basis to any perspective manufacturer in the UK, and the product was soon launched by Grandstand as the 3600 Mk III TV Game.
The Grandstand 3600 Mk III TV Game (1977)
By 1979, VTech managed to expand into the North American market by providing OEM products to retailers like Radio Shack and Sears, as well as expanding into making calculator, LED handhelds, and eventually the type of product they would become known for, kids learning computers. With their first kids learning computer, The Lesson One, being introduced at the New York Toy Fair, in February 1980, with an exclusive version offered to Sears as the Computron shortly afterwards.
Left to right: The VTech 4 in 1 (1979), The VTech Wizard/Grandstand Adam (1979), and The VTech Lesson one (1980)
In 1981, they decided to dip their toes into the water of the personal computer market by releasing the Creativision in 1982. It was a game console that could expand the Creativision into a home computer with the addition of a BASIC Cartridge, a full sized chiclet keyboard, and interfaces for more RAM, Cassette Storage, and serial and parallel ports. VTech took it a step further by forming their own computer brand known as Laser. Initially they just sold rebadged Creativisions with the title of Laser 500, but soon began producing their own line with the Laser 100/110, Laser 200/210, Laser 310, and Laser 350. They soon abandoned making proprietary architectures and began producing Apple II clones, starting with the Laser 128 in 1985.
Left to right: The VTech Creativision (1982), The Laser 110 (1983), The Laser 200 (1983), The Laser 210 (1983), The Laser 310 (1984), The Laser 500 (1985), and The Laser 128 (1985)
Previously, We looked at the first 4 computers in VTech's portable computer range: The Laser 50, The Laser Compumate 1, The Laser Compumate 2, and The Laser Compumate 3 (Or PC4). These machines were more similar to the Pocket Computers which, although incompatible with, did bring a few advantages over them. These are very much the same, however they were more similar to the Tandy 100. We begin our look at these machines with the PC4, released in 1989.
The Laser PC4
On the front of the machine is the LCD display and the keyboard. Much like the previous Laser computers, there are BASIC commands printed on the keys which allow you to type a BASIC commands by holding the control key, However you do have the option for typing them in manually as well.
The front of the Laser PC4
On the right side, there are two knock out sections for an optional built in Modem to access Online Services.
The right side of the Laser PC4
On the back, There is a I/O port for hooking up either a Centronics printer or connecting to a PC to transfer data, a knock out section for a cassette interface, and a DC power port.
The back of the Laser PC4
On the left side, there is the power switch and not much else.
The left side of the Laser PC4
And finally on the bottom is the expansion port, a speaker, the battery compartment, the model information stickers, and a small covered section where the system ROMs are.
The bottom of the Laser PC4
Powering up the Laser PC4, gives you a message saying the RAM has been cleared, and then drops you into the main menu. Theres 12 functions: a Spell Checker, a Calculator, a Telephone Directory, an Appointment Book, an Alarm Clock, a Filer, a Typing Tutor, a Communications Utility, A Word Processor, an Expense Account Manager, a Spreadsheet, and BASIC. Sadly while there is emulation for the PC4, it isn't fully implemented correctly so as a result I dont think BASIC runs correctly.
Storage wise, unlike the previous models, there's no cassette port, so the only way to load and save data, is by using the I/O port on the back. It also has the same cartridge port on the back so you can load programs from ROM cartridge.
The Laser PC4 with a Compumate Thesaurus Cartridge
For the hardware of the computer itself, It uses a Zilog Z80A CPU clocked at 3.58 MHz, 32K of RAM (Expandable to 128K of RAM), 2MB of ROM, a 40 character LCD, a small beeper speaker for sound, and could on either 4 AA Batteries (with a 50 hour battery life), or a 12V DC adaptor.
Much like the previous units, this computer does use a Z80 CPU, So its not compatible with Tandy 100 software, Since it uses the 8085 CPU, its the resolution and BASIC dialect are different than the 100, and some common commands are still missing from the dialect. not only that, but BASIC seems to be more of an afterthought with this computer, as the manual barely mentions it. It doesn't even list all of the commands like the sound command.
Another, flaw is that you still can’t type more than about 20 words per minute or it will start either repeating characters or just skipping characters. On the plus side, the 40 column screen makes the built in applications much more usable than the previous units.
Comparing the 2 computers The Laser has better built in software, more RAM, and sharper contrast than the Tandy. However, the Tandy has a bigger screen, can produce graphics, has a better BASIC, and is capable of doing machine language programs. So whether or not its better than the 100 depends on what your looking for, If your interested in a machine for programing software the Tandy 100 is the better machine, but if your interested in a machine from a usability perspective the Laser is the better machine.
The PC4 also ended up being the last Laser portable computer to have BASIC standard, Because by the time the 90's had rolled around, the line's marketing had shifted one again. Where the Laser 50 was marketed for kids to teach them BASIC and the Compumate 1,2,3/PC3, and PC4 were more or less aimed at the business market, the last 2 models in the range were targeting the educational market. By 1995, dedicated electronic word processors had become very popular with schools due to their price and lack of distracting applications. Devices like the Intelligent Peripheral Devices Alphasmart, NTS Dreamwriter, and Tandy WP-2 managed to carve a niche in that market, and VTech wanted to join them.
Left to right: The Alphasmart Pro (1995), The NTS Dreamwriter (1996), and The Tandy WP-2 (1989)
VTech stopped carrying the Laser Portables in retailers like Sears and offered them mail order through a Florida based company called Perfect Solutions directly to schools and individuals interested. THey also spun off their computer business into a subsidiary company called Tandex.
The first computer sold after this change is PC5, released in 1995. It has 7 functions: A Word Processor, A Spell Checker, A Calculator, A Database, A Spreadsheet, A Telephone Directory, A Utilities Menu, and A Typing Tutor. The PC5 moved the display from a character LCD to a Bitmapped LCD, which allows for the characters to be displayed much sharper.
The Laser PC5
On the Back it still has the same knock out sections for a modem, the same I/O connector, same cassette knock out section, and same DC power port.
The back of the Laser PC5
The bottom is also the same, With the expansion port, a speaker, the battery compartment, the model information stickers, and a small covered section where the system ROMs are. In theory you could plug the Compumate BASIC cartridge into the slot, but I don't know if it's truly possible or not. Perfect Solutions did offered a downgrade program on their website to get BASIC back, but I don't know how many people did that.
The bottom of the Laser PC5
The insides have been upgraded as well, with a Zilog Z100 CPU clocked at 10 MHz, 256K of RAM, and 256K of ROM. The screen has a resolution of 480x64 and is capable of displaying text at a resolution of 80 columns by 8 rows. It also has a small beeper speaker for sound, to give you some warning sounds I suppose.
The Laser PC5 motherboard
And finally the PC6, released in 1998. It has 6 basic functions: A Word Processor, A Spell Checker, A Homework Calendar, A Database, A Typing Tutor, A Database, A Spreadsheet, And A Calculator.
The Laser PC6
One notable feature is that there's both a 40 column and 80 column text mode, accessible via a key on the keyboard. The 80 column text is small but you can fit more words on the screen compared to the 40 column mode. Also they finally fixed the keyboard so now you can type more than 20 words a minute.
On the Back, there's also been some new additions. The knock out sections for a modem and cassette jack are now gone, the I/O connector and same DC power port are still there, but it also has an Video out and an Infrared receiver.
Perfect Solutions also sold other accessories that plugged into the catridge port including the ever present Thesaurus, a Flash RAM cartridge, and a Text to Speech adapter allowing for users to plug headphones into the unit and listen back to what they wrote, which is pretty neat!
The Text to Speech adapter for the Laser PC6
The bottom is also the same, With the expansion port, a speaker, the battery compartment, the model information stickers, and a small covered section where the system ROMs are. In theory you could plug the Compumate BASIC cartridge into the slot, but I don't know if it's truly possible or not. Perfect Solutions did offered a downgrade program on their website to get BASIC back, but I don't know how many people did that.
The insides are also the same, with a Zilog Z100 CPU clocked at 10 MHz, 256K of RAM, and 256K of ROM. The screen has a resolution of 480x64 and is capable of displaying text at a resolution of 80 columns by 8 rows. It also has a small beeper speaker for sound. The only additions are the video out and infrared circutry and thats it.
Tandex continued to sell the PC6 until they filled for bankruptcy and shut down in 2005, However Perfect Solutions continued the line a little longer. Perfect Solutions continued to make and sell the PC6 until 2013, and provided cartridges and support up until as late as 2019! Quite late because by that point, schools were offering students their own laptops and devices like the PC6 were abandoned in basements and special ed class shelves everywhere
And that concludes the story of not just the Laser Portable Computers, but the Laser brand in general, or at least whats known about it, as the brand's about as well documented as life in the Indus River Valley Civilization. Either way the brand seemed to have had a good run. From a brand of Tandy Coco like computers in the early 80's to a brand of low powered word processors for the educational market in the late 90's, while not well known, it had quite a bit of an evolution.
So how do I rate the last 3 models of the Laser Portable Computers series on compatibility? Unfortunately, much like their predecessors, they rank as Incompatible due to the differing BASIC Dialects, ROM, and screen resolutions. Plus, the fact that the last 2 models didn't have BASIC built in at all!
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