The Hitachi MB-H50 has a distinct look to it. It has a slim appearance and discreet ports. It has LEDs that react to audio levels. It has a detachable keyboard but it is not a desktop-style unit the way most MSX models with detachable keyboards are. In fact, the main unit has a console-style appearance.

The keyboard is compact and lightweight and the height is completely rigid. The legs are fixed as part of the mold, not collapsible or adjustable, but it does at least provide a slight forward slant which makes it reasonable to type on. It's more or less a full keyboard compared to other MSX1 models, just with very little space between keys. The previous owner had applied the stickers to the top of the keycaps instead of the front of them, so it looks extra busy. It connects by a bundled flat cable.

Still, it seemed like I didn't quite get something. There seem to be extra grooves and holes in the main unit and I couldn't put two and two together, so I guessed it was just an odd aesthetic choice. Shortly after I sold it, I found another site where the keyboard was placed on top of the system and then it clicked. The grooves are to hold the legs of the keyboard so it stays put while gaming or otherwise not in use. That's pretty slick! Unfortunately it was too late to check it out on this one. And actually, looking and the completed auctions and other websites involving this system, it doesn't seem like a well known fact.

In any event, it works! So that part's good. Here is it, playing Gradius, a true gift from Konami to the early MSX gaming community, and King's Knight, a pretty rough port of a great game. King's Knight looks really good for MSX1, it just suffers in animation speed, to the point of becoming a handicap. The final picture is the audio-reactive LEDs. It's not as impressive-looking as it sounds, it's pretty simple, but perhaps a novel idea for a computer at the time. There are also extra LEDs for data loading and saving over the CMT port.

Update! I got another one of these, this one complete (probably) in box. The box, keyboard, system, and joycard are in great condition.

The manual, not so clean, the pages are fine, but the cover has quite a bit of discoloration on it.

As I learned after having sold the computer previously, the keyboard indeed fits into the grooves on the system, so you can really maximize your desk space when you want to.

The game controller matches the blue accents on the system.