My KBs are bigger than yours

If you read my previous post you’ll know the VZ200 Color Computer (or the Beast With Tan Keys - which I really think should be a thing) was somewhat limited by its mean 4KB of RAM. Even the cheapest ZX Spectrum or Oric-1 had four times as much RAM.

Of course, many home computers had already been released with even less RAM (1KB on the ZX81 for example), and they offered a solution in the way of a memory expansion or RAM Pack as they tended to be known. The VZ200 was no exception.

So far, so meh. But wait until you see the size of this thing...

That’s no moon…

Holy crap. This thing is almost as deep as the whole computer. Of course, the RAM expansion doesn’t connect to the VZ200 at the side. It plugs into the back.

You’re going to need a bigger desk.

That little card table you have your computer and portable telly set up on is starting to look somewhat inadequate, huh?

Just in case the sheer massiveness of this grand memory box (RAM silo? cathedral of KBs?) isn’t clear, let’s take a look at it in comparison to the ZX81 16KB RAM Expansion.

Is it just me, or does the Sinclair RAM expansion look a bit like a deranged duck?

Yeah. I guess the duck thing is less obvious from this angle…

OK. Whatever. There is no duck.

Sure the ZX 16K RAM pack is taller but other than that, it’s rather comical.

I did try and take the VZ200 RAM expansion apart to see what kind of RAM chips (more like RAM potatoes, amirite?) were in there, but there’s a thick RF shield that’s soldered to the board that made it impossible to find out. I suppose like the statues of Easter Island, this will remain a mystery that eludes humankind forever…