Welcome to Roger's Spectravideo page !

These pages are dedicated to the Spectravideo computers from the early eighties.
You can read about the history of Spectravideo, view detailed product photos of all the models, check out the technical specs and download software.
Have fun!

In the early eighties, people had fancy hairstyles and where listening to music from Duran Duran, Depeche Mode, Eurythmics and Michael Jackson.  Soap operas like Dynasty and Dallas ruled the TV world, at least here in Norway where NRK the national brodcaster was the only choice for most Norwegians.

Computers was the new thing, and everybody wanted one at home.
This fantastic new technology was the future, so you had to be prepared!
You could do the most fantastic things with the computers. Organize your home economy, keep track of your recipes and learn advanced programming.
The intentions where probably good, but most of us was just playing video games.

There where a lot of different computers to choose from;  Commodore, Atari, Sinclair, Oric, Apple, Dragon  and Spectravideo.  Spectravideo was originally  specializing in video games for Atari and Coleco,  but they soon jumped on the home computer wave with the Spectravideo SV-318.   The SV-318 really stood out from the crowd with its red joystick.   Spectravideo later joined Microsoft in creating a world standard for home computers, called MSX.
Read more about the history of Spectravideo on the history pages on this site.
  
 

My first computer, the SV-318 My first computer was the Spectravideo SV-318.  My parents bought it as a present in 1983.  I didn't know much about computers at that time, my only experience was a home computer training event at my local school, Flat�sen barne og ungdomskole (Trondheim, Norway). We learned how computers work, and programming using BASIC.  All the training was done using a Texas Instruments TI99/4A.  Most of my friends had computers at home: Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, Dragon, Oric and other brands. The Spectravideo had very few games available, so I decided to learn programming my own games. In 1984 I made my first real game called Flipper Man.  That was published in a Norwegian computer magazine, and I was awarded with 200NOK. A few months later I made another game called LABYX, partly inspired by a ZX Spectrum game a friend of mine had.  This was also published in a magazine, and I was awarded with 400NOK.   I was very proud about this :-) I also made a lot of other programs. A music composer and a advanced drawing program with integrated LOGO language. The 16k limmitation of the SV-318 made me upgrade to the SV-328 with 64k of RAM.  I bought a used 328 from a small computer store in Trondheim called Team Data. Unfortunately I didn't keep the old tapes with my programs, so for many years I thought they where long gone.  One evening, over 20 years later i was surfing the web for info about the Spectravideo computers from my childhood.  I visited many websites that night, and suddenly I found a site with two of my programs (Labyx & Flipperman).  I also found a SVI emulator, enabling my to run the programs on my PC.  Seeing the Spectravideo logo pop up, and hearing the beep as the system booted was a very special moment.  Thanks to Magne Marthinsen for taking care of my programs.   My interest in the Spectravideo was overshadowed by new hardware from Atari and Commodore in 1986.  Atari launched their ST series, and Commodore the Amiga. They where both light years ahead of the Spectravideo in terms of hardware power and features.   I bought the Atari 1040ST in 1986, and that also ended my programming career.  There was so many software titles available, so I didn't have the same need to make my own stuff. In 1990 i bought my first PC, and I've been using various PC's until 2010 when I bought my first Mac. It's kind of a full circle. I was considering the Macintosh back in 1984, but ended up with the Atari ST instead. My early interest in computers opened the door for a career in the IT industry. After graduating from school in Trondheim I moved to Oslo. Since then, I've been working for companies like Compaq, HP, EMC, VMware and Sopra Steria.

 
 The SV-328 alive and kicking, 23 years later...
 This is a new and unused SV-328MKII and SV-903 cassette player (loading the game Armoured Assault).


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