The Laser 128 is an Apple II clone, released by VTech in 1986 and comparable to the Apple IIe and Apple IIc.
Description
VTech Laser 128 has 128 kB of RAM. Like the Apple IIc, it is a one-piece semi-portable design with a carrying handle and built-in 5¼-inch floppy disk drive, that uses the 65C02 microprocessor, and supports Apple II graphics. Unlike the Apple IIc, it has a numeric keypad, Centronics printer port, and 128 kB of dedicated video RAM. The 15-pin D-sub digital video port is compatible with Apple's IIc flat panel display, but unlike the IIc, Laser 128's port is also RGBI interface compatible with an adapter cable. The first 128 model has a proprietary 560x384 video mode removed in later units.
Laser 128 has a single expansion slot for Apple II peripheral cards, which gives it better expansion capabilities than a IIc, but cards remain exposed; the slot is intended for an $80 expansion chassis with two slots compatible with the Apple IIe's Slot 5 and Slot 7. The computer also has an internal memory-expansion slot, requiring a card that allows up to 1 MB of additional RAM that can be used as a RAM disk. Laser 128EX and 128EX/2, also expandable by 1 MB, come with the memory expansion card.
Models
History
Announced in early 1986, VTech sold the Laser 128 in the US at a suggested retail price of $479, while Central Point Software sold it by mail for $395; by comparison, the Apple IIe sold for $945 in April 1986. Apple filed a lawsuit to stop distribution but VTech obtained United States Customs approval to export the Laser 128 to the United States in 1986, and the lawsuit reportedly had no effect on demand for the computer. Central Point—the most prominent dealer—sold the Laser 128 and accessories with full-page magazine advertisements, saying that "a computer without expansion slots is a dead-end that stays behind as technology advances". It advertised the Laser 128 in Commodore computer magazines; the name was, Central Point president Mike Brown said, "chosen to sound like the Commodore 128", and the company intended to appeal to those who wanted to use the large Apple software library with a computer that cost the same as the comparable Commodore. By late 1986, other mail-order firms also sold the Laser 128, and at least one peripheral maker advertised its product's compatibility with the clone.
By 1988, VTech had purchased a majority share in Central Point Software and formed Laser Computer, Inc., as a division of the company. It ended Central Point's mail order sales of the 128, only selling through dealers such as Sears. inCider magazine wrote that year that "Laser will never sell as many computers or have as big a distribution network as Apple, but there's no doubt that the 128 [has] won a place in the Apple market, and irritated Apple in the process". VTech subsequently released the Laser 128EX (1987), with a 3.6 MHz CPU, and the $549 Laser 128EX/2 (mid-1988), with a 3.5-inch disk drive and MIDI port. (A $499 version of the 128EX/2 with a 5.25-inch drive was available.) Apple soon released the Apple IIc Plus.
Compatibility
While the Apple II clones from Franklin were discontinued after the company lost Apple Computer, Inc. v. Franklin Computer Corp. (1983), VTech reverse-engineered the Apple Monitor ROM using a clean room design rather than copying it, and licensed an Applesoft BASIC-compatible version of Microsoft BASIC. Apple carefully studied the Laser 128 but was unable to force the clone off the market.