The Matsushita JR series was a line of microcomputers produced by Matsushita Electric Industrial (now Panasonic) during the 1980s. Based on the success of the Sharp MZ and NEC PC-8000 series, it was an attempt by Matsushita to enter the personal computer market. The JR series included four computer models: the JR-100, the JR-200, the JR-300 and the JR-800. JR-100 The JR-100 was released on November 21st, 1981 with a price of 54,800 yen. Like the Hitachi Basic Master and Sharp MZ-80, it was a low-performance, low-priced personal computer offering basic semi-graphic character based graphics, a monochrome display, and minimal sound ability. The CPU was an 8-bit Panasonic MN1800A NMOS microprocessor (compatible with the Motorola MC6802, a slightly improved version of the Motorola MC6800) running at a slow 0.89 MHz, and it came with 16 KB of RAM (expandable to 32 KB). Specifications: CPU: MN1800A (MC6802 compatible) Clock speed: 890 KHz RAM: 16-32 KB ROM: 8 KB Graphics: Monochrome; 32x24 text characters; 64x48 semi-graphic characters with 8x8 pixel matrix Sound: Internal speaker Connections: Monitor, Expansion, Tape (Frequency-shift keying encoding with 1200Hz for space and 2400Hz for mark; 600 baud) OS: JR-BASIC 1.0 JR-200 The JR-200 is made of silver grey plastic, and has a black matte area around the chiclet keyboard area. It used the same MN1800A CPU as the previous model, but added a second processor, the 4-bit MN1544CJR, which is used for I/O and contains 128 bytes of RAM plus four kilobytes of ROM. The computer received favorable reviews on its launch. Creative Computing wrote "The Panasonic JR-200 is one of the nicest new computers to make the scene in some time." A version of the JR-200 called the Panasonic JR-200U was developed for the North American and European markets and was announced in January 1983. Specifications: CPU: MN1800A + MN1544 Clock speed: 890 KHz RAM: 36 KB ROM: 16 KB Graphics: 8 colors (black, blue, red, magenta, green, cyan, yellow, white); 256x192; 32x24 text characters; 64x48 semi-graphic characters with 8x8 pixel matrix Sound: 3 voices, 5 octaves, square wave. Generated by the MN1271 sound, I/O and timer chip. Connections: Composite and RF video, expansion, tape (600/2400 bauds), printer port, floppy drive, joystick OS: JR-BASIC 5.0 JR-300 The JR-300, released in 1984, was completely redesigned in comparison with the earlier JR-100 and JR-200 models. The JR-300 had a Zilog Z80A CPU as well as a second MN1800A CPU