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VideoBrain Family Computer
The good ol' VideoBrain Family Computer Model 101. Give yourself 10 points if you've actually ever heard of one of these before. Based on the Fairchild F8 microprocessor, the VideoBrain could be considered the cousin of the Fairchild Channel F (you know, that cousin that no one likes to talk about). Although considered primitive even by classic console collectors, the VideoBrain was actually a fairly powerful little computer in its day. Visually the VideoBrain is sharply designed. Sporting a wedge shaped design that would later be made popular by Atari in their line of home computers, the VideoBrain featured a 35 key keyboard (48 keys was considered standard), 4 joystick ports, and an expansion port in the rear. Although the keyboard was not very well laid out, it did feature some interesting keys that have not appeared on any modern keyboard including a PI key, Special key, and a Master Control key (in an alarming shade of bright red). Amazingly the VideoBrain is Y2K compliant (not that anyone was still using one in 1999). The VideoBrain had four different built in programs that the user could access if no cartridge was in the slot. None of the programs are particularly interesting but they were a nice touch nonetheless. Text allowed the user to type text onto the screen and then apply special effects to it (such as changing the color), Clock was simply a built in clock, Alarm allowed the user to set an alarm that would go off after a certain time, and Color Bars was your standard colored bars program for checking the TV's color. The VideoBrain accepted cartridges through a cartridge door that popped up when the release button was hit. These cartridges were about the size of Betamax tapes (remember those?), and fit snugly into the cartridge slot. It's interesting to note that the cartridges themselves were not open on the end, instead the cartridge pins were exposed via a rectangular hole cut into the cartridge itself. Graphically the VideoBrain is on par with the earliest Atari 2600 and Channel F games, but the graphics are rarely animated and have choppy movement. The VideoBrain is capable of producing a decent range of notes, but they were rarely used in any programs. Throughout its lifetime the VideoBrain was sold in several different packages, each with a different amount of hardware and software included. The console included with each package was the same however. It is believed that only around 5,500 units were produced.
System 100 (The Basic) This was the lowest priced VideoBrain package. It contained the VideoBrain console and Financier cartridge. It originally retailed for $500.
System 200 (The Family) This package was geared towards families, and contained a mix of educational and productivity software. It contained the VideoBrain console, Financier, Math Tutor, Music Teacher 1, Wordwise 1, and Checkers. The package originally retailed for $600.
System 300 (The Manager) This package was designed for home productivity. It contained the VideoBrain console, Financier, Money Minder, and the Expander 1 unit. This package originally retailed for $700.
System 400 (The Super Manager) This package was designed for users who wanted to use the VideoBrain for home programming. It contained the VideoBrain console, Money Minder, The Programmable, and the Expander 1 unit. This package originally retailed for $800.
System 500 (The Professional) This was the top of the line VideoBrain package, specially designed for users who needed to log into timeshare mainframe systems. It contained the VideoBrain console, Money Manager, Financier, Timeshare, the Expander 1 unit, and the Expander 2 unit. It originally retailed for $1100.
Specifications
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