Good afternoon!
After gifting my Model III to my sister's family in 1984, and then regretting that decision every waking moment of my life, I made the decision a couple of years ago to get back into TRS-80s...and figured Is should do so with a 4D. I kept my eyes open for one in decent shape; I found one online last year and picked it up. Last week, however, I found one, in the original box, with all the original packaging at a neighbour's garage sale. How could I say no? On top of that, it had had never been opened, so I get to break the warranty seal when I recap the power supply.
The one I purchased last week has a low serial number (approx. 1,000) while my other 4D has a serial number in the high 8,000s. They're now sitting side-by-side and when I was comparing the two, I noticed something; the keyboards have very different feels to them.
The low serial numbered unit has a clickier keyboard and an absolutely quiet reset button. The space bar is also quite loud when I bottom out on it.
The higher serial numbered unit has mushier, quieter keys and the reset button makes that loud click you expect.
The reality is that I can't tell which one I prefer. Except for the space bar, I think I prefer the clickier keyboard, but that space bar could be a deal breaker!
(I should say that I also have a 4P and I absolutely LOVE that keyboard...Id say that's the best one that Tandy ever used!)
So did Tandy source different keyboard manufacturers for the 4 & 4D? If so, how do these compare to, say Model 4/III keyboards? I know that some were made by Alps, but I'm not sure if these ones are.
Thinking about it, Tandy saw this as the last 8-bit computer, and probably wanted to reduce costs as time went on; so I assume that the keyboard on the high serial numbered unit is probably cheaper than the other?
I only have these 2 machines to compare to, so I thought I'd ask the experts!!
Thanks!
After gifting my Model III to my sister's family in 1984, and then regretting that decision every waking moment of my life, I made the decision a couple of years ago to get back into TRS-80s...and figured Is should do so with a 4D. I kept my eyes open for one in decent shape; I found one online last year and picked it up. Last week, however, I found one, in the original box, with all the original packaging at a neighbour's garage sale. How could I say no? On top of that, it had had never been opened, so I get to break the warranty seal when I recap the power supply.
The one I purchased last week has a low serial number (approx. 1,000) while my other 4D has a serial number in the high 8,000s. They're now sitting side-by-side and when I was comparing the two, I noticed something; the keyboards have very different feels to them.
The low serial numbered unit has a clickier keyboard and an absolutely quiet reset button. The space bar is also quite loud when I bottom out on it.
The higher serial numbered unit has mushier, quieter keys and the reset button makes that loud click you expect.
The reality is that I can't tell which one I prefer. Except for the space bar, I think I prefer the clickier keyboard, but that space bar could be a deal breaker!
(I should say that I also have a 4P and I absolutely LOVE that keyboard...Id say that's the best one that Tandy ever used!)
So did Tandy source different keyboard manufacturers for the 4 & 4D? If so, how do these compare to, say Model 4/III keyboards? I know that some were made by Alps, but I'm not sure if these ones are.
Thinking about it, Tandy saw this as the last 8-bit computer, and probably wanted to reduce costs as time went on; so I assume that the keyboard on the high serial numbered unit is probably cheaper than the other?
I only have these 2 machines to compare to, so I thought I'd ask the experts!!
Thanks!