Computers: The National FS4500 - a different 'Type' of MSX

Typewriters have gone through several iterations, from the bulky mechanical machines to the single purpose word processing computers to the simple Word Processing apps we use on our computers. But there was another, less popular type.

Chapters
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00:00 Intro
01:15 The Hardware
05:49 The Software
11:38 Outro and Patrons

Background music: Walk through the park by TrackTribe

[adamknight]

found one on Ebay and was searching for info about it and came across this video. Thank you so much! it is nice to see this stuff archived somewhere. Have you tried the thermal print function?

[DubiousEngineering]

To be fair... that’s quite a cool piece of kit!!! ... :-)

[RetroBytesUK]

What an interesting machine, if I did not know it was an msx machine, I would have guessed electric type writer or a teletype. Well a small but of software and a serial port and I guess it could become a teletype.

[esseferio]

I love these "specialiazed" MSX machines. I only mostly new machines dedicated to video editing, though. Nice find. Japanese computer of that era are a different world altogether :)

[NumptyMcNumptyface]

That serial port is actually a standard printer port. My guess it's there so the device adheres to the MSX2 standard rather than have people use an external printer.

[MrDustpile]

That WAS a good idea, as home computers were just about powerful enough to hold some decent pages and as the quality dedicated integrated word processors came out.

Though can't help thinking if the likes of Interword, the C64's Amiga-like word processor with 80 column display, came out around 1984, that whole 'office with a home micro' thing would have been a tad more eyecatching. It was seen more like a gimmick as it was.

Also nice how the paper feed clicking's in time with the background music past the 9-minute mark. Could do with a loop of that.

[PondersRetroGoodness]

That looks like a machine well worth fully restoring. Have you tried to find any replacement ink carts?