Hotbit

The Hotbit HB-8000 is an MSX home computer developed and sold by the Brazilian subsidiary of Sharp Corporation through its Epcom home computer division in mid-1980s. The MSX machines were very popular in Brazil at the time, and they virtually killed all the other competing 8 bit microcomputers in the Brazilian market.

Versions 1-1.2

The Hotbit had three versions: 1.0 and 1.1 with gray and white case and 1.2, with a black case and a ROM slightly modified to solve an ASCII table compatibility issue with the other popular Brazilian MSX, the Gradiente Expert.

Technical specifications

The HB-8000 had the following technical specifications:

Peripherals

• HB-100: joystick
• HB-2400: tape recorder
• HB-3000 or HB-3001: external modem
• HB-3600: Dual disk drive controller and power supply. Sold in a bundle with one HB-6000 drive
• HB-4000: 80 columns card with the V9938 VDP inside
• HB-4100: 64KB RAM expansion
• HB-6000: 5" disk drive (slim height), 360 KB

References