VTech PreComputer 1000: BASIC, Typing, Quiz Games - Just a Toy?

Unlike most toy computers and other electronic gadgets, besides the regular math and trivia games, the VTech PreComputer 1000 has a decent keyboard that's good enough to touch-type on, and is programmable in BASIC, called "Pre-BASIC V1.0"! While it lacks a tape interface or any other permanent storage, and just has a one-line LCD screen, it's a fun self-contained and portable device that for $70 would have been great to bring to Grandma's in the '80s if you weren't rich enough to afford a TRS-80 Model 100 or 102 for $500 to $1000.

Thanks very much to DJ Sures for lending it to me! Check out his channel with lots of NABU fun:

To support 8-Bit Show And Tell:

VTech's original name was Video Technology Limited.

Index:
0:00 Kid's toys?
2:30 Look at system and box
9:36 Trivia / quiz games: General, History, Geography, Sciene
16:47 Math: Quiz, Fractions, Decimals, Mixed Calculation, Story Problems
22:54 Calculator Mode
24:22 Games: Typing Fun, Hangman, Scramble
29:12 Typing Course
33:49 Computer Drill: Example Programs, Guessing Z80 MHz
38:10 BASIC Computer: 10 PRINT?
45:01 No POKE, PEEK, SYS: but it does have SOUND
47:13 Type-In Time: Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star
51:24 Dream Machine? Laser 50, Laser PC4? Thanks!

[DJSures]

Thanks for the shoutout, Robin! Great video and sorry you had to rush itl

[AntaresVids]

That was very nostalgic! As a child, I got my parents to get me one of these (the German "Mister X" variant) because I was fascinated with electric typewriters and wanted to do the typing course. When I found the BASIC mode, however, I forgot all about typing and spent all my time learning that. The one-line display was really the limiting factor here, so at one point I convinced my parents to upgrade me to a C64 (which would even let you _save_ programs, so you wouldn't have to type them in each time!). Even as a child, I realized that despite the happy colors and tunes, the potential of this machine went far beyond everything you'd usually see in a "toy". I went on to do a PhD in Computer Science, but it all started here. Thank you so much for refreshing those memories!

[sloopymalibu]

Robin, this had me on the floor...
V-Tech- What is the capitol of Morrocco?
Robin- Time to go to Science!
🤣🤣🤣🤣

[c__cross]

I learned BASIC on this thing as a kid. I loved it so much. I have one in a box with a few carts because I love it so much. It was my first introduction to programming. I should bring it into work and let everyone see how I learned. Good job showing it off!

[nibble]

I also had this thing and i learned BASIC on it. It made me interested in programming in the first place. Loved my Mister X

[JustWastedHoursHere]

That one line display is definitely this computer's Achilles Heel. But as "kid's computers" go, it is definitely a step above 99% of them out there.

[mizFahrenheit]

My mom got me one of these in the early 90s. Man, you couldn't tell me anything!! I would carry it to school and everyone was so jealous I knew a little BASIC (but I was a big nerd anyway) and could type do fast. It's all thanks to this device. I'm looking to find one on ebay and your video unlocked a memory, I know I need to look for the book, too. Thank you!

[scubaspi]

My mom got me one of these from Montgomery Ward for Christmas. That manual was impressive and a great introduction to Basic.

[mikafoxx]

For the z80, the DJNZ instruction can be effectively infinitely long.. its a crazy single instruction good for copying large chunks of data around, though not the most efficient way of doing it since there's conditional per iteration.

[SteveGuidi]

10:27 I'm Canadian too, albeit living in the US, and the only reason I know the answer is from dialog from a popular 90's-era cartoon: "Six white stripes, seven red stripes, and a helluva-lot of stars!". I'll leave the name/episode of the cartoon as a bonus trivia question 🙂

[SellamAbraham]

You've happened to stumble across a niche that I've been developing for years. You've merely scratched the surface of toy computers. Nice video.

[hotkeymuc]

16:27 There are actually two bytes in the cartridge header, which determine what to do with the data. There are trivia-only ones (compatible with VTech devices using a different screen), but they can also include raw Z80 code. A "special" header can even make the code auto-run on boot, which is very handy for development, as it skips the lengthy intro 🎶
More info is available in my unofficial SDK called "VGLDK".

[AndyHO]

This was great, also "moulting"/"molting" elicited the same response I regularly give to Wordle 😁

[siliconinsect]

Good thing Mom was a newspaper reporter with a Tandy 102. Great vid as usual!

[neilis]

I had one of these as a kid. Loved playing on it at the time but man if it had had an RF output to output to the TV I'd have been in heaven.

[philsmith]

I just got a Super Memory Expander which adds 32K to the Pre Computer 2000 and can be used with Power Pad, Power Pad Plus and other Vtech machines with Basic built in! (not Pre Computer 1000 sadly) Bearing the cartridge came out in 1992, mine was sealed and the CR2025 Battery that came with it still works! You can store up to 7 programs into the Ram Cartridge and load them back into memory. I saved 8 programs to test it, so the manual is clearly wrong. It uses Save ", Load ", Erase, Format and even Dir commands to list saved programs on the cart. Saving onto a Ram Cartridge for me means it's much more than a kids toy. It uses Microsoft Basic 80. I am using it on a Power Power Plus which has a display of at 4 lines. I am going to type in some simple word and numbers programs. I'm hoping I can get a text adventure I help write in TI Basic for my TI74/CC40 to work on my Vtech. I love the thing!

[ladymctavish]

Totally had one. Wash over me, sweet sweet nostalgia

[GCCEO]

I got this for Christmas for either 4th or 5th grade and played around on it for about a year or so - the keyboard was one of its nicer features although keep in my mind my fingers at the time were quite a bit smaller so it was a perfect fit. I also already knew how to, more or less, touch type at around 30-40 WPM (which was otherwise unheard of in my school) and had been using computers since I was approximately 3 years old. The fact that it had a simple programmable BASIC was the other nice feature -- I wrote some simple programs and even was able to modify some pre-existing BASIC programs from books I got at the school library. I wrote them down in a spiral notebook which, sadly, has been lost to time. I eventually just moved to program on our 386 as by 6th grade we had more regular access to computers at school and it was no longer a "once-a-week special treat".

[TanielaLigairi]

Thanks for the upload - this was my first computer - man it was quite a machine
🙂

[Muldrf]

I'm pretty sure mine is up in the attic. I enjoyed using it, I was around 11 at the time. I was thinking of looking for it awhile ago. I'll keep an eye out on DJ's channel.