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Hello (..hello..hello..hello..)

Joined
Aug 31, 2003
Messages
35
Hm, doesn't seem like theres to many Trash-80 users out there, judging by the number of Tandy posts!

Well, if anyone is remotely interested, I just bought a Model III with a bunch of software and a printer to boot. I'm thinking about skimming the surface of Tandy a little bit, seeing as how its very neglected in the vintage computing world.

Is anyone too embarassed to admit they have/had one of these giant things?
 
Only tandy item I have is a 1000 HX computer with cm-11 monitor (pcjr compatible with 640k memory).

I'm not sure how popular their computer line still is, but I bet alot of people get into the color computers.
 
I've got a couple of TRS-80 Model I machines lying around! :) I don't have any of the later models yet. I'd really love to get a Model II with an external drive enclosure. It would take up a bit of space, though. . . :)

Erik
 
Re: Hello (..hello..hello..hello..)

CaptainCommodore said:
Hm, doesn't seem like theres to many Trash-80 users out there, judging by the number of Tandy posts!

Well, if anyone is remotely interested, I just bought a Model III with a bunch of software and a printer to boot. I'm thinking about skimming the surface of Tandy a little bit, seeing as how its very neglected in the vintage computing world.

Is anyone too embarassed to admit they have/had one of these giant things?

Embarassed? Moi? The 80 column eight-bit Tandy's are among the best of the breed. They're easy to operate and maintain. The Model 4 was probably the fastest eight-bit computer, rivaling the original IBM PC! Modding a I, III or 4 was considered a badge of honor during the 80's. Between them and my Commodore's, I rather give up my right arm than part with 'em. RLE
 
Re: Hello (..hello..hello..hello..)

I have two 1000SX's, one 1000SL, one 1000HD and a MC-10. I sold my three Model 100's last year as well as all of my CoCo stuff and my PC-3. I decided to concentrate on my NeXT's, my BeBox and Sgi workstations. I also sold or gave away all of my Amiga stuff. I sold my two A1000's and my A3000 and gave away the Amiga 2500UX.

Too many platforms, too little space and time. I have always wanted a Model III and a Model 4.

James

CaptainCommodore said:
Hm, doesn't seem like theres to many Trash-80 users out there, judging by the number of Tandy posts!

Well, if anyone is remotely interested, I just bought a Model III with a bunch of software and a printer to boot. I'm thinking about skimming the surface of Tandy a little bit, seeing as how its very neglected in the vintage computing world.

Is anyone too embarassed to admit they have/had one of these giant things?
 
Makes you wonder how tandy was at one time the largest home computer maker and now they dont make any.

Radioshack went from a computer, technology, and parts store to selling cell phones, cheap plastic remote control cars, bateries, cables, and crappy vcr's.
 
"Erik" wrote:

> I've got a couple of TRS-80 Model I machines lying
> around! :) I don't have any of the later models yet.
> I'd really love to get a Model II with an external
> drive enclosure. It would take up a bit of space,
> though. . . :)

That would be okay to have a system like that as long
as you have the 8" disks & don't mind using the
TRSDOS system. For some reason I'm reading that
their systems don't support CP/M.
Or I suppose that you can get another drive which
isn't 8"?

A friend of mine, his Dad had a system at work which
was like this & used it at work. I'm not sure if it was
the Model 2 or the Model 16 since they are so simular
(externally & I only ever heard about this system).
But they were still using it in the early '90s, though
they had to pay heaps for those 8" disks! ;-) Back
then it was around 100 bucks for a box of 10!

Cheers,
CP/M User.
 
CP/M User said:
"Erik" wrote:

> I've got a couple of TRS-80 Model I machines lying
> around! :) I don't have any of the later models yet.
> I'd really love to get a Model II with an external
> drive enclosure. It would take up a bit of space,
> though. . . :)

That would be okay to have a system like that as long
as you have the 8" disks & don't mind using the
TRSDOS system. For some reason I'm reading that
their systems don't support CP/M.
Or I suppose that you can get another drive which
isn't 8"?

A friend of mine, his Dad had a system at work which
was like this & used it at work. I'm not sure if it was
the Model 2 or the Model 16 since they are so simular
(externally & I only ever heard about this system).
But they were still using it in the early '90s, though
they had to pay heaps for those 8" disks! ;-) Back
then it was around 100 bucks for a box of 10!

Cheers,
CP/M User.


Oh yes, the model II supported CP/M. I used to have 3 different "flavors" of CP/M for mine including Pickles & Trout, Lifeboat and one other version that the name of eludes me at the moment. Of course, the CP/M on the TRS-80s was not "standard" CP/M, as they kept thier rom in low memory so that CP/M had to relocate thier sacred "page zero" to higher memory. There are some other differences I forget right now, but they would run *most* standard CP/M transients. The P&T CP/M is still one of my favorites of all time (along with Montezuma Micro, which also ran on TRS-80 machines). It was a very full-featured distribution with lots of utilities, etc.
Of course, even if you were stuck with just Trsdos, you weren't that bad off. It is a very good operating system in it's own rights.

As for 8" disks, I'm glad I have a big box fulla them stashed away somewheres.

--T
 
"Terry Yager" wrote:

>>> I've got a couple of TRS-80 Model I machines lying
>>> around! :) I don't have any of the later models yet.
>>> I'd really love to get a Model II with an external
>>> drive enclosure. It would take up a bit of space,
>>> though. . . :)

>> That would be okay to have a system like that as long
>> as you have the 8" disks & don't mind using the
>> TRSDOS system. For some reason I'm reading that
>> their systems don't support CP/M.
>> Or I suppose that you can get another drive which
>> isn't 8"?

>> A friend of mine, his Dad had a system at work which
>> was like this & used it at work. I'm not sure if it was
>> the Model 2 or the Model 16 since they are so simular
>> (externally & I only ever heard about this system).
>> But they were still using it in the early '90s, though
>> they had to pay heaps for those 8" disks! ;-) Back
>> then it was around 100 bucks for a box of 10!

> Oh yes, the model II supported CP/M. I used to have
> 3 different "flavors" of CP/M for mine including Pickles
> & Trout, Lifeboat and one other version that the name
> of eludes me at the moment. Of course, the CP/M on
> the TRS-80s was not "standard" CP/M, as they kept
> thier rom in low memory so that CP/M had to relocate
> thier sacred "page zero" to higher memory. There
> are some other differences I forget right now, but
> they would run *most* standard CP/M transients. The
> P&T CP/M is still one of my favorites of all time (along
> with Montezuma Micro, which also ran on TRS-80
> machines). It was a very full-featured distribution with
> lots of utilities, etc.

Oh okay, those updates would have came after the book
I have was published, since it stated it had a problem
with CP/M. But someone would have at least made sure
that it was available.

> Of course, even if you were stuck with just Trsdos, you
> weren't that bad off. It is a very good operating
> system in it's own rights.

Well yeah, for all I know Erik has his so that he can play
around with TRSDOS just as I play around with CP/M.

> As for 8" disks, I'm glad I have a big box fulla them
> stashed away somewheres.

Safely stored away I hope.

Cheers,
CP/M User.
 
CP/M User said:
"Terry Yager" wrote:

> As for 8" disks, I'm glad I have a big box fulla them
> stashed away somewheres.

Safely stored away I hope.

Cheers,
CP/M User.

Well, it ain't exactly climate-controlled in my storage locker, but they are a lot better off now than they were when I was forced to keep the collection in a damp, leaky basement. (I was constantly rigging up makeshift shelving to keep stuff up off the floor.)

--T
 
Tandy Computers

Tandy Computers

My first "real" computer, after my C-64, was a TRS-80 Model IV. I've had many Tandy/Radio Shack computers over the years, and have recently started collecting them again. I currently have:

TRS-80 Model IV
TRS-80 Model 4P (2)
Color Computer II
TRS-80 Model 100
Tandy 1400 LT

We had a group of TRS-80 users when I was in Virginia Beach in the early to mid 80's. It was fun working in TRSDOS and CP/M on these machines.

I use XTRS on my Linux and FreeBSD computers to emulate the TRS-80 machines, and have spent many very satisfying hours working with that.
 
Re: Tandy Computers

Re: Tandy Computers

"DoctorPepper" wrote:

> My first "real" computer, after my C-64, was a
> TRS-80 Model IV.

Not that I'm a C64 fan, but why say "My first 'real'
computer, after my C-64"?

Kinda sounds like "My first real OS, after CP/M,
was Unix!" ;-)

Cheers,
CP/M User.
 
Some people consider C= computers mere toys, prob'ly because they're so good for playing games on (and not much more--very few "serious" (business, f'rinstance) programs were ever written for them). Of course, my kid used to tease me about my Tandy 102, calling it an "overgrown pocket calculator". He never understood when I'd tell people that it was my only *useful* computer, considering at the time I had over 100 computers around the house. My thinking was thus: The only "real" use I had for a computer back then was to do my writing on. (The only thing I could do better with a computer than without it). Since I did all my writing on the 102, it was my only useful computer--all the others were just my *toys*, which I kept around strictly for my own amusement.

--T
 
Re: Tandy Computers

Re: Tandy Computers

CP/M User said:
Kinda sounds like "My first real OS, after CP/M,
was Unix!" ;-)

Cheers,
CP/M User.

My first "real" OS, after CP/M, was OS-9 (Level II) on the Coco 3. (Although I also tend to favor Xenix on the TRS-80 Model 16).

--T
 
Terry Yager said:
Some people consider C= computers mere toys, prob'ly because they're so good for playing games on (and not much more--very few "serious" (business, f'rinstance) programs were ever written for them). Of course, my kid used to tease me about my Tandy 102, calling it an "overgrown pocket calculator". He never understood when I'd tell people that it was my only *useful* computer, considering at the time I had over 100 computers around the house. My thinking was thus: The only "real" use I had for a computer back then was to do my writing on. (The only thing I could do better with a computer than without it). Since I did all my writing on the 102, it was my only useful computer--all the others were just my *toys*, which I kept around strictly for my own amusement.

--T

Commodore had quite a few buisiness programs for the Amiga line of computers in the area of desktop publishing, video editing, word processing, painting, 3d animation, and probably a few more.

I believe the C64 had some databases, printshops, and word processors also.
 
"Terry Yager" wrote:

> Some people consider C= computers
> mere toys, prob'ly because they're so
> good for playing games on (and not
> much more--very few "serious"
> (business, f'rinstance) programs were
> ever written for them).

Well, I'm sorry, but I don't share that
same feeling. I've seen a C64 being
used for serious applications & doing
quite well I might add.

Of course, that doesn't mean that I liked
the machine, but it proves that I've seen
it do more than just be a games
machine.

For example, a friend of mind did a
whole episode guide (which used quite
a number of pages) on his C64.

Of course the C64 could also run CP/M
perhaps not in the same vein as a Z80
could, but there were some serious
applications available for this machine
& even at the time when the original
C64 came out, writers felt this was a
machine suitable for small businesses.

CP/M User.
 
Re: Tandy Computers

Re: Tandy Computers

CP/M User said:
"DoctorPepper" wrote:

> My first "real" computer, after my C-64, was a
> TRS-80 Model IV.

Not that I'm a C64 fan, but why say "My first 'real'
computer, after my C-64"?

Kinda sounds like "My first real OS, after CP/M,
was Unix!" ;-)

Cheers,
CP/M User.

My apologies, poor choice of words. I don't consider the C-64 to be a toy. We had a group at work (I was in the Navy, on instructor duty) that had C-64's. We would write programs in our spare time and pass them around the group for comments/suggestions. It was a fun time.

Actually, I went from CP/M to MS-DOS. That was 1985. I worked in DOS and it's successors (some would say) until I found Unix (and Linux) in 1998. Now, although I still work in Windows 2000/NT, all of my spare time, when not messing around with my vintage computers, is spent on some form of Unix or Unix-like os.

My wife and I bought matching 17" LCD iMacs in November, 2002. Those are our main desktop computes. She is totally comfortable with hers, but I have a mess of other computers around and under my desk, mostly running some form of Unix-like os. My current favorites are FreeBSD and Debian Linux.
 
Re: Tandy Computers

Re: Tandy Computers

"DoctorPepper" wrote:

>>> My first "real" computer, after my C-64, was a
>>> TRS-80 Model IV.

>> Not that I'm a C64 fan, but why say "My first 'real'
>> computer, after my C-64"?

>> Kinda sounds like "My first real OS, after CP/M,
>> was Unix!" ;-)

> My apologies, poor choice of words. I don't consider
> the C-64 to be a toy. We had a group at work (I
> was in the Navy, on instructor duty) that had C-64's.
> We would write programs in our spare time and pass
> them around the group for comments/suggestions.
> It was a fun time.

That's okay, I was a little concerned about some
flaming being created (there are some C64 users
amonst us).

Occasionally, there are some idiots on Usenet who go
out of their way of posting "My computer is better than
your computer" trash in hope that it gets some flames
going.

I think it's sick that still after 20+ years, people who
own these computers have nothing better to do than
start a flame.

It's certainally not found in the older larger computers
or if it is, it's very rare, but since Microcomputers came
out a rivalary has arrived in simular machines.

> Actually, I went from CP/M to MS-DOS. That was
> 1985. I worked in DOS and it's successors (some
> would say) until I found Unix (and Linux) in 1998.
> Now, although I still work in Windows 2000/NT, all
> of my spare time, when not messing around with my
> vintage computers, is spent on some form of Unix
> or Unix-like os.

Minux has been the one to interest me, since I've got
a collection of 386s/486s. I don't really think I'll get
into the swing with newer computers, because it's
ever changing to much for my liking. I've decided to
keep plugging away on older computers & do a bit
of programming, which is what I enjoy. Emulation is
of a concern though, because newer Emulators seem
to need the more powerful hardware. Caprice is the
emulator I use on my ol' Pentium, though while there
are newer editions, they are too complicated or
have higher hardware requirements, but my ol' copy
of Caprice is quite good for an Amstrad emulator.

Cheers,
CP/M User.
 
CP/M User said:
Of course, that doesn't mean that I liked
the machine, but it proves that I've seen
it do more than just be a games
machine.

Well, I'm not a real big C= fan either, but I have nothing against them--they're very good at doing what they do. The main reason I (personally) never cared for them is that they didn't have an 80-column display, a minimum requirement (IMHO) for a serious computer (something I never liked about Apple IIs either). OTOH, I really do like the 128D, which does have 80-column capability, and runs CP/M as well.
Of course the C64 could also run CP/M
perhaps not in the same vein as a Z80
could, but there were some serious
applications available for this machine
& even at the time when the original
C64 came out, writers felt this was a
machine suitable for small businesses.

CP/M User.

The CP/M for the 64 required a plug-in card, which contained a real Z80, so when you ran CP/M on it you were running it on a Z80. The 128 had the Z80 built-in, so no extra plug-in module was required.

--T
 
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