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PC-8201A price check, isle 6

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chuckcmagee

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I can stand the $35 for the Ultimate rom for the 8201 but is $29 per 8K ram chip reasonable?

I found out what everyone else finds out. An 8201 with just 16K and no TS-DOS is close to useless. So, thinking of adding a OP/SYS rom chip and some extra memory. I would like to add at least 6 8K chips so I would have 2 banks of 32K available. But at 29 a chip, that's a ton of money for a little toy.

Comments/other sources?
 
Yah, RAM is extremely expensive for them, and completely proprietary. I think I have seen details for rolling your own somewhere on daNet, but I don't recall exactly where.

--T
 
web8201 website has some diagrams but too much hassle for me right now. Guess it's +16K instead of +48K then. One bank of 32K would make it useable anyway. Right now I have 12K left when I boot it up. Just doesn't cut it.
 
Am I to assume you received the eBay $30 unit?
What's the condition?
Any accessories?
Got pix yet?

Yeah - I'm rushin' ya :grin:

I thought i saw them cheaper - gimme a day or 2 to hunt it down in my linx


Tony
 
Hey, now that I think about it, there's been a couple broken M100's on eBay the past week - super cheap. RAM is supposedly the same, according to club100.
Isn't that a better route? You might be able to get 1-2-3 chips for like $20-30, no?


Also - I have the .HEX file for TS-DOS NEC ROM.

Need an EPROM? :grin:

I say that, because I remember reading that on the 8201a's, you do NOT need an EPROM carrier, and also read that it's standard EPROM's, not remapped
ones like the M100/M102

Tony
 
I see Great Minds Think Alike -- As I was driving home from the grocery store (50 miles away) - I was thinking of making the store that sold me the one an offer on like, 3 more or so. Only problem with that idea is it is very likely they are soldered in. I know, get out my iron and solder sucker. Oh ya, aligator clips to keep from burning the chip up in the mean time. I should have stolen some of those suture deals from the drug addicts, I'm sure they make excellent heat sinks for desoldering.

Okay on waiting a few days. I'm sorry I purchased it at this point. I like esoteric but the 8201 is TOO ESOTERIC for me, like you have to load the .com files into himem to run them. That is too weird!

I'm still waiting for my digital camera to arrive from Amazon, my first one. Not much into taking pictures myself.
 
I don't think the M100's are soldered in. Just zoom in on the pics (most I've seen on fleabay are turned on, and you can see the memory count. Anything over 12xxx bytes free is a GOOD thing.


Lemme know if you need EPROM's for the NEC.
I have the following .HEX files I found:

TS-DOS
Ultimate ROM II
ROM2/Cleuseau
Sardine

I'm working on a PX-8 ROM that contains alot more stuff - waiting for the EPROMmer with the RS232 port to arrive (hope it works!)

Wasted space. In the PX-8 Basic ROM, all there is is Basic. Waste.
I've been shuffling around, and can squeeze most of CP/M, WS, PC into the (2) eprom's. Problem is goig to be carriers. I need to find EPROM carriers, instead of just sliding the EPROM in tensioned against teh socket.

Lemme know on the NEC EPROMs - I'll do all 4 for $40 shipped I paid about $6-7/chip. These are brand-Spanking-New AMD AM27C512's, in the tube, not recycled parts.

Can't beat THAT deal on all 4! PDF Manuals area available at club100, and other places.

Tony
 
OK. FOund a LITTLE more info...

If you look here:
http://www.classiccmp.org/dunfield/kyocera/h/insideb.jpg

zoom the pic, and you see the RAM LOOKS liek it's socketed. Even the option ram is labelled as option RAM, and there appear to be sockets. Hopefully, it's not solder-holes :eek:

This one has 24K RAM (would give you 40K?):
http://cgi.ebay.com/TRS-80-Model-10...3QQihZ007QQcategoryZ74947QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Dead, RAM is probably good though:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Tandy-Radio-Sha...2QQihZ018QQcategoryZ74947QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Here's a model 102 with 32K - you'd be at 48k, at less than 4 x $29 !!!
http://cgi.ebay.com/TRS80-TANDY-Mod...5QQihZ011QQcategoryZ74947QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem


Tony
 
Too funny. I need to look around and see if there is tons more software for the 100. Maybe I'll go the other way, and chop up the 8201 to enhance a 100 :rolleyes: 8201 is only one that has that BANK deal tho. I really like the BANK deal. Wonder if you can copy files from one bank to the other, I kinda doubt it from what I know about electronics. I saw a solid white model 100 that looked really sharp! Much sexier than the "manilla" that the 8201 is.
 
EPROMs lined up like soldiers, ready to go....

The NEC holds double the RAM, though.
Do what all us computer nuts do - GET BOTH! :D

I wonder if the M100 OS chip works in the NEC? That would fix the compatibility issue...I dunno about the 64K vs 32K deal, though...
I always thought (and still think) the NEC is the better looking one.
This is, of course, not counting the Olivetti M10 - it's hands-down
the sexiest of the Kyocera quadruplets (quintuplets?) with that PX-8-style
flip-up screen!!!


Tony
 
The early M-100s came with one soldered-in RAM module, and three sockets. Later, the standard M-100 was a 24K model, which has three soldered and one socket. I don't recall seeing any 8201a that have the RAM soldered in. If you have a 16K 8201, it might be cheaper to purchace another one from the same seller and strip the RAM. 24-32K is just about the minimum for usefulness on them. (That's why I expressed concern about the memory earlier in another thread).

--T
 
Hmmm, getting out my needle nose pliers and a rubber band for heat sink purposes then. I have medium low bids on bunch of model 100s on ebay now. Already scored one model 100 with a TPDD (1 or 2 unknown now). No DATA CABLE WITH THAT THO BOOOO HOOOO. I already read the "skinny" on making my own, barf. Going to try real hard to find one first, don't want to fool around with embedded circuits inside DB25.

P.S. I made an offer to the 8201 seller too, nothing back so far.
 
Sharkonwheels said:
EPROMs lined up like soldiers, ready to go....

The NEC holds double the RAM, though.
Do what all us computer nuts do - GET BOTH! :D

I wonder if the M100 OS chip works in the NEC? That would fix the compatibility issue...I dunno about the 64K vs 32K deal, though...
I always thought (and still think) the NEC is the better looking one.
This is, of course, not counting the Olivetti M10 - it's hands-down
the sexiest of the Kyocera quadruplets (quintuplets?) with that PX-8-style
flip-up screen!!!


Tony
Click to expand...

Three times, actually. Up to 96K, in three banks of 32.

M-100 & NES OS are not interchangeable, And yes, files can be written from one bank to another.

I've always hated the M-100's layout of the arrow keys, a problem they 'fixed' on the 102, but the NEC's are still the best of the bunch. The NEC Starlet CP/M portable uses the same arrow keys.

--T
 
NEC: 64K onboard (2 x 32K banks), and the third bank in the cartridge port with the PC-8206 32K cartridge.

But, for all practical purposes, 64K - will probably be difficult to find the RAM cartridge now...


Chuck: Check with Club100, and see if they have cables.
Also, Terry - hook us up with that Tandy support link again?
Mebbe National Parts has the cable.



Tony
 
Chuck sent me a PM correcting me - he says he can see bank 3, so, heck, in cases like this, it's *GREAT* to be wrong, because that means I wouldn;t have to hunt down a 32K cartridge!

Everywhere I go, though, all the web sites say the same thing: 2 banks of 32K. I wonder if the 3rd bank is even functional on the mainboard?


Tony
 
Tony - are you a Virgo or maybe a Cancer? huh? huh?

I sit corrected. I had thought the ram sockets went 7 8 9 10 11 on the bottom, but NOOOOOOOO, they go 7 6 5 4 3 2

Proving what??? Proving that Mr Tony is correct (a Winner).

Survey Says : (ding) 64K max inside.
 
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