Sord m5

The m5 was Japanese 8-bit computer introduced by Sord in 1982, as the company's first entry into the home computer market. While it faced limited success in Japan, due to competition from MSX compatible machines, it later found limited popularity in Europe.

Originally a producer of business machines, Sord sold software that allowed the m5 to work in a limited fashion with business software, but its graphics and sound also made it capable as a game machine. Sord's partner, Takara sold its own M5 as an advertised game console with included controllers. Software for the system was available on cartridges, as well as data cassettes, and later 3" disks.

The system hardware itself was very similar to the later MSX, as it was based on Zilog Z80 microprocessor and used the same TI graphics chips capable of producing resolutions up to 256x192 with 16 colors. However, the sound chip wasn't compatible and with only 4K of RAM, it was much more less capable both as a game system and general purpose computer than the heavily marketed MSX systems, leading Sord to discontinue the m5 in 1984.

In addition to its limited success in Japan, Sord also marketed the system in Europe. It achieved some success in Czechoslovakia as one of the few non-Soviet block computers available to consumers. CGL marketed their own licensed version of the m5 in England. Both Goldstar (its FC-150 model) and Koryu produced compatible computers based on identical technology for the Korean market, but the systems used different cartridge interfaces.