Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!mailrus!cornell!batcomputer!rpi!crdgw1!ge-dab!peora!tarpit!bilver!bill
From: bill@bilver.UUCP (Bill Vermillion)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.misc
Subject: Re: TRS-80 Questions
Message-ID: <276@bilver.UUCP>
Date: 12 Aug 89 01:37:05 GMT
References: <8908102238.AA12720@lognet2.af.mil>
Reply-To: bill@.UUCP (Bill Vermillion)
Organization: W. J. Vermillion, Winter Park, FL
Lines: 46

In article <8908102238.AA12720@lognet2.af.mil> gautier@LOGNET2.AF.MIL (SrA Richard A. Gautier) writes:
>The first thing that we need to determine is which TRS-80 we are
>talking about.
>
>The Model 1 TRS-80 was a small piece of TRASH that offered a Z-80
>computer with limited I/O - tape drive was most common, no inherent
>sound capabilities, limited graphics 128x64 dots (or rather, blocks)
>per screen, 64 characters across by 24? (25?) in normal text mode.[D

Aw!  It wasn't that bad.  My model I operated for in excess of 32,000
continuous power on hours while answering between 65k to 75k phone calls.  

The basic was in rom, and was really 4.5 microsoft.  A version between the CPM
M'soft and the IBM PC version.
>There was a Model II computer that didn't last long, but I can't quite recall what it was, or the changes that made it Model II.

The Model II, used a Z80 and up to 4 8" drives.  Ran TRSDOS or CPM.  It was
the first business computer for a lot of people and in it's day was priced
about right.  $5k for a 1 drive unit.  You could even get 8 Meg 8" HARD DRIVEs
for a ton of money.  I still see some in use.
 
>Model III was the HULKING giant that introduced disk drive options
>IN unit, and a nice expensive upgrade available for HIRES graphics, although by todays standards, these should be called LORES.

Model III was a model I in one box upgraded to double density.
 
>I believe the Model IV was their only REAL contribution to the computer
>world, and {we are still dealing with a HEFTY price tag, and a small
>lack of consideration for miniaturization.

The Model 4 was an upgraded model III with all RAM insteead of ROM for the
first 12k.  Still a decendant of the I.
 
IMHO - their first real contribution to the computer world were the 16/6000
series.  68000 Moto based.  Brought Xenix to over 100,000 installation, and
gave RS more installation of mulit-user computers than second place DEC :-).

Of course the person inquiring may have the Color Computer.  It certainly
wan't the Tandy 10, because that was made for Tandy by someone else.  That one
goes back to the times when THE Radio Shack Computer store (only 1 at the
time) sold such things as Vector Graphics, Northstar, and other assorted CPM
based machines.

-- 
Bill Vermillion - UUCP: {uiucuxc,hoptoad,petsd}!peora!tarpit!bilver!bill
                      : bill@bilver.UUCP