The Dick Smith VZ-200 and VZ-300 were very popular in Australia and New Zealand from 1983 to 1990. The VZ200 was the same model as the VTech Laser 200.
Despite of its poor chicklet keyboard and short RAM space, users could find hundreds of programs from local magazines, Dick Smith store or from several very active VZ user clubs.
Several peripherals and add-on were quickly available, among them, a 16 KB RAM plug-in module, a tape recorder, a mouse, a Speech Synthesiser and later a floppy disc drive unit.
See a complete review of the VZ 200 in the 'Read more' page.
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I just remember having the keyboard. Did you have to buy a cassette reader seperately?
Friday 4th June 2021
Peter Crichton (Australia)
I was a subscriber to the Dick Smith mail-order catalogue. IN CANADA. I was attracted to the Dick Smith VZ200, but the cost of getting to Canada was enough to deter me. I really liked the specs though.
Monday 24th May 2021
Greg Bzdell (Canada)
I own a Zenith VZ-200 with the 16K memory module, cassette and joysticks. The base system has 8K ROM Basic and 4K RAM (2KB user, 2KB video). I had a good start on a Sub Commander style game (never finished) with nice wave action working on the horizon. I''m digging it out again to give to my 3 year-old grandson (he LOVES keyboards!). This system (along with a T/S 80) gave me a start towards a Robotics degree and an IT career that lasted 20+ years. In my retirement I''ve moved to Arduino UNO and Raspberry PI (both together cost less than the $99.00 US I paid for the base VZ).
Saturday 23rd May 2020
J D Brantley (Kentucky, USA)
NAME
VZ200
MANUFACTURER
Dick Smith
TYPE
Home Computer
ORIGIN
Australia
YEAR
1982
END OF PRODUCTION
Unknown
BUILT IN LANGUAGE
Microsoft BASIC
KEYBOARD
45 rubber keys, Basic instructions and graphic symbols
