FAQs

First stop is eBay. On my estimate there is one VZ200/VZ300 computer sold on eBay per month. However, these days they can be a bit pricey. Other sales platforms such as Gumtree and so on are also worth a look. Facebook groups with like-minded enthusiasts can also help you find one. There is a VZ200/VZ300 Facebook group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/4609469943/) and an Australian Vintage Computer Group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/AusVintage/). It is worth asking members if they have one to sell. You can also very occasionally pick one up at a second-hand shop or a garage sale, but you need to be pretty lucky to find one these days.

Apart from acquiring tapes and disks, software can be downloaded in the .vz format.

There are a few websites where software is available for download (such as this one – go to the Downloads page). These include http://vz200.org/bushy/, https://bluebilby.com and the Facebook group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/4609469943).

There are a couple of ways to go about this.

The latest and easiest method is to purchase an SD card loader from Ben Grimmett at https://bennvenn.myshopify.com/products/vz300-sd-loader. Load .vz files onto an SD card and then use the loader to load the .vz file into your VZ200/VZ300 computer.

The older method is to use the VZ2WAV program to convert the .vz file into a .wav file. The .wav file can then be played directly into the audio port of the VZ200/VZ300 computer using a 3.5mm audio cable after the CLOAD command has been started. I found this easiest to achieve by loading the .wav files onto my mobile phone and then playing them from the phone at full volume.