looking to buy a Sony HB-F1XDJ MSX2+

Supporter (1)

09-12-2018, 18:23

I am new to the msx community. I do like the games and I love how the system looks. I've heared that the Sony HB-F1XDJ MSX2+ is a good machine as it incorporates a floppy drive has good ram and will play most games one can throw at.

Do you guys have any advise on where to look for when purchasing one? And what is a decent price to pay?

Thank you

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Van Sylvester

Hero (589)

09-12-2018, 20:23

Did you have a look at https://www.msx.org/forum/msx-talk/trading-and-collecting/ms... ?

Van Grauw

Ascended (10768)

09-12-2018, 22:16

Also https://www.msx.org/forum/msx-talk/trading-and-collecting/ms...

In general for MSX2+ machines, pay attention to daniel683104’s posts or contact him.

I think the Sony’s nice, but a Panasonic WX / WSX would also be a good choice. Or any MSX2+ really, for me it would mostly come down to aesthetics :).

Van meits

Scribe (6544)

10-12-2018, 02:37

Panasonic makes more solid MSX machines.
No original MSX2+ has "good ram", they all have just 64K. A Megaflashrom scc+ sd + 512K makes up some of it, but not all.
A pro of a Sony 2+ is that you can slow down the machine with a slider (handy when playing Gradius games). A Panasonic MSX2+ can go faster (by software switch).
I really like the Sony machines as they look great, but durability (without servicing) is not their strongest point. I'd ask Daniel683104 for a WX/WSX machine. He can (and often does) expand the internal RAM from the native 64K to 256K and 512K. And he can place a direct drive PC disk-drive to avoid the silly belt problems in the future.

ps. avoid Sanyo MSX2+ machines. (a bit subjective but) They look like crap. That's not the biggest thing. There's audio issues with them. The Panasonic WX seems to be the best on audio.

Van meits

Scribe (6544)

10-12-2018, 11:18

After having some zzZZ I couldn't resist making a top 8 of the official MSX2+ machines.

Panasonic FS-A1WSX (S-Video port. No cassette port. Turbo mode. said to require a different RGB cable, for some reason mine does not).
Panasonic FS-A1WX (I read that it has very good audio. Turbo mode)
Panasonic FS-A1FX (A basic MSX2+. Just like the above, just no FM. Turbo mode. Its looks are great though)
Sony HB-F1XV (Speed controller. Not sure what the differences are with the F1XDJ, but it's newer so probably a bug fix here and there. Still it likes to silently kill itself)
Sony HB-F1XDJ (Speed controller. The pretiest MSX2+ I've ever seen. Yet a notorious suicide machine. This is mine two years after in mint condition)
Sanyo PHC-70FD2 (You've to love it, I hate it. The most advanced model they made. Still way too big, weird shape and slots and drives on unexpected/not always handy places. The second FDD made it lose the auto fire which the previous model had. It won't accept audio from the Megaflashrom SCC+ SD. It has some serious audio mixing issues)
Sanyo PHC-70FD (Same as the PHC-70FD2, now with one FDD)
Sanyo PHC-35J (N) (Same as the others, now withough any FDD at all. Like an MSX1+)

Because of their flaws and awful looks I do not have any of the Sanyos. The other ones are in my possession though. The Sonys win on their looks and the Panasonics win on their utter sturdiness while still looking nice. A bit like a black turbo R.

All the above have 64kB RAM. This is just not enough. Back in the day, with cracked megaroms on a floppydisk 128kB was already too little. In present time it's still not enough to run Nextor/MSX-DOS2 which is required to make mass storage devices/flash cartridges meaningful.
All are Japanese (not sure if the Sanyos have Arabic clones) and have a 100V PSU. You will need a stepdown converter for that if you live in a region with a different voltage. American 110V does work and it even fits the wall socket without conversion, yet it's not prevered. Using a 110V adapter can easily result in this. Happened to me twice. That made me decide to have a 230V PSU in my turbo R and find a real Japanese 100V converter for the other computers.

I concider this my treasure :)

Van Grauw

Ascended (10768)

10-12-2018, 13:27

Meits wrote:

Luckily pretty much all flash cartridges come with extra RAM nowadays .

Van rderooy

Paladin (686)

10-12-2018, 13:29

There was indeed a Arabic version of the Sanyo PHC-70FD, the Sakhr AX-370. But while it has the MSX2+ VDP, it lacks the updated BIOS to make it a real MSX2+.

I agree with your list, with the minor exception that I think the Sony HB-F1XV looks slightly prettier then the XDJ :-)

Van meits

Scribe (6544)

10-12-2018, 14:56

rderooy wrote:

I agree with your list, with the minor exception that I think the Sony HB-F1XV looks slightly prettier then the XDJ :-)

I'm slightly (heavily) biased since the XDJ was the only MSX2+ that got some attention in the dutch magazines and as a young teenager that was the dream machine. Some kind of unreachable ideal. I was very sad noticing it killed itself horribly in just two years. Therefore: Panasonic.

Van rderooy

Paladin (686)

10-12-2018, 15:24

Meits wrote:

rderooy wrote:

I agree with your list, with the minor exception that I think the Sony HB-F1XV looks slightly prettier then the XDJ :-)

Ohh I agree with the practicality of it. Clearly the Panasonic machines have fewer issues.

But you may be pushing up the prices of those Panasonic machines on the 2nd hand market with lists like these :-)

Van lintweaker

Champion (464)

10-12-2018, 16:42

Those Panasonic 2+'s can be RAM upgraded if you have some soldering skills. I never got around to it because I also got a Turbo-R :-)

Van hamlet

Scribe (4106)

10-12-2018, 21:18

What a nice family photo, Meits!
I do really like the design of the Sanyo machines, in special the 35er. It is very smooth and organic and do some design, you will only find at the end of the 90‘s.