Hi, my name is Markus, I'm from Stuttgart.
I'm with MSX since I bought my "first Sony" in christmas time 1985. After selling my C64 way too cheap it was enought money left to buy that shiny HitBit at a local photographer store(!) First I only used the Data Cartridge to store my BASIC programms ( yes, that days nobody coded apps and hacking was a phrase for beeing lawless via telephone wires), later a got the SDC-500 and first cracked games. These days I was a Konami Fanboy and bought a lot of those fantastic games like Penguin Adventure (that's MSX 1!), Nemesis (ever played the C64 port?) and locked up on Eggerland Mystery. A disk drive followed, the HB-50 was compact and heavy (it' not a brick, it's a SONY), way smaller than the 1541 and used that sexy 3.5" disks like the Mac. I gathered all those great gimmicks like the trackball and the Music Module incl. keyboard. I sold my behated accordion for that. Was great fun to make pictures in screen2 with it's limitations and used them in BASIC programmes. In 88 I bought an 8235, loved the advanced graphics and the use of the tablet. Some of my friends got those amazing MSX2 flagships, the 8280s, I leveled up to a 700D, includes a Z80H and the needed 256k to play cracked japanese rpg's and Solid Snake. How often I talked to NPCs, not knowing what they told me, just to try everything to go ahead?
(With this training I was apple to solve Metal Gear Solid on the Playstation in japanese w/out problems...)
I worked with my 700D until I bought a Mac in 1999. That helped me to get around Windows until today. Many of my former MSX friends gave me their stuff that time, knowing me as last MSX user. I used to work with two 700s, one connected as second drive. In 1996 I got an used A1ST, but the belt drive was boken and so it was worthless to me. I figured out to use an Epson inkjet printer with my MSX, so I was able to print coloured, mixed with Dynamic Publisher pages.
In 2001 the star faded, my equipment settled down in the basement. In 2005, the last MSX websites run dry, I used my MSX for "slow gaming" no need for thousands of polygones, just playing XakII uncountable hours.
I' m working in a social institution with former homeless people. To bring them back to our community, I'm training them in workshops. One of them is learning how to use computers and for those who want to look closer, I'm teaching BASIC. Microsoft Extended Basic. After getting confused about working in an window of an emulator, I decided to retire my MSX machines. Like my friends forcast me in 1988, the Sony keyboard failed, but the philips ones still worked plenty good. I bought some equip on eBay on a time it was still payable.
So, back to topic,
Like most of you, I got more than one MSX, but my favourite, always build up one is the 8280. I connected it to a Sony KV14 and still love the two disk drives. Although I use several Megaflashroms I still enjoy loading from disk or even tape.
The lack of a good keyboard reduce the use of my A1ST to gaming, my original Sony HB 55 missed a good video output ( but got a wonderfull keyboard...)
What is your "always on" MSX?
Regards from 0711,
Markus
Introducing/what MSX do you use as your main machine today?
Welcome Markus!
My main machine is usually a GT, sometimes I use a WX aswell, it's expanded and I really love the turbo feature of the Panasonic machines.
My original setup was a HB-75P, loved the keyboard!. Sadly, I never purchased a floppy drive, until the SVI-738 arrived I was using only tape. Not a bad thing, I still love loading games using a cassette player 
NMS 8255 with a bunch of extensions. I have most MSX machines in my museum but because 8255 was the computer I spent most time on when I was young, I like that one the best. Gives me the most fuzzies. One of my friends had a Sony 700 and after that a 900 and I used to make fun of him so I cannot back down now (even though he is a boring accountant now with a modern pc only .
Hi Markus, Nice story.
On my desk i have the MSX8280 (2+, 7 Mhz) which i use the most. It is daily on for some hours most of the time 
Next to the Philips i have the Turbo-r GT .. which i also use, but less. This because i like the keyboard of the 8280 more .. and the 8280 has a better video output on my monitor. Most of the time i use SymbOS because i'm just crazy about that!
