This was my first computer ever. My dad got it for me in 1993. I think he paid $10 at a thrift store with a bunch of games. I still have it. Not the best computer ever made, but for me it brings back cool memories.
@@fractalMD Yes it still works! I still have it. I have the FinalGrom99 for it so I can play all the crazy "16 bit" games! I have so many other retro computers, this one doesn't get used as much. I try to use it at least once a week though.
There's always joy getting stuff to work (and it sucks losing the footage). The TI99/4A is a lovely machine. I typed in an Italian text adventure onto an emulated one, and did an opening scene for it too in Extended BASIC. Go Texas!
A good friend had a TI-99/4A back when I got my first Coco. He had a blast with it. Loved your video, and especially the reenactment. I laughed, I cried...two thumbs up. 😄
Loved the video and your Galaga shirt. It made me remember playing with Basic on a Radio Shack TRS-80 in high school. Also playing Dragons Lair, Star Castle, Spy Hunter and Asteroids.
I had friends who had TI-99/4A computers BITD. I was a C64 kid. As an adult I tried liking the TI-99/4A computer, got myself a nice boxed unit, a bunch of cartridges, etc and in the time I owned it my thoughts were it was better than the VIC-20 but not as good as my Commodore 64, so I sold it off. Side note, I love your Galaga t-shirt Taylor. Galaga is a long time favorite arcade game of mine.
Taylor also did an awesome painting in The Lab that looks *exactly* like her shirt. Some day we shall lab tour. I don't think it's made it on camera yet?
Ha! Thx. I'm all about the never normal nails. Tour is much requested. The Lab truly is epic. The information transfer would be so dense. It almost needs is own channel!
Another great video and it sucks losing stuff due to the SD card. I too suffered a loss... My SD card died with all my games on then when I tried to recover, the hard drive decided to die. Looking forward to your next video.
The PSU replacement is just COOL (in every way). The original gets HOT! (and it doesn't light up!) Ladies next time you do a re-enactment, please advise at the beginning of the video, so I can make use of the facilities in advance.
This is the exact condition my TI is in one day after I got it. It powered up ONCE, but no keyboard at all. Then the screen went blank so I tore it down and reseating the socketed chips and got video back. Now I am in the process of fixing the membrane. I need a silver conductive pen I believe because the header traces are flaking.
Great video (as usual)! I had a friend 3 doors down who had a TI-99/4A (although either black keyboard). We would visit each other to try games and BASIC programming between the Coco and the TI. A year or two later when I got my first Coco BBS up (1983), a different friend got one up on his TI-99…, and that had the huge “sidecars” of cards (speech module, modem, 2 floppy drives)… it was huge! (I didn’t have a multipack on the Coco yet to compete…lol).
Firstly, lovin the Galaga Tshirt. My Ti99 is sick too, seems to have lost it's voice (the sound chip died). A real ass pain on losing the repair footage but the video was fun as always, keep the retro stuff alive guys ;)
I am 3 spectrums that need soldering, wish I had your skills! I love my TI99, some great games. I also have the TI CC40 which you can adapt TI99 programs on very easily.
Love the sound of that keyboard. You could probably put out a typing ASMR video with it🤣. Great job on this machine. When I first saw the keyboard I thought it was going to be one of the cream coloured plastic machines so was surprised to see the brushed metal version as I always thought they came with black keys only.
Finally! I've been waiting for you guys to do a video n the TI-99/4A ever since I saw it on the shelf in your Tandy 100EX video. It was my first computer growing up and even though it has the better style of keyboard (without the mylar membrane) it also has issues. Just curious as to why you guys went with a BackBit Pro cartridge as opposed to the FinalGrom (other than they are very scarce right now). I am looking forward to more videos but you'll find out that if you are going to program in basic, go with a memory expansion and Extended Basic. Much more powerful. And check out PixelPdeant's videos on the TI, lots of great information.
Thank you for the keyboard disassembly. How did you get the membrane to stick back down onto the keyboard PCB? That was the one vital piece of information you missed out!
The first computer I got to see was a Ti-99, but I'm sure it had a flat keyboard. It was on a shelf alongside an Atari 400, also with a flat keyboard, and an Atari 800. I was most interested in the 800 because it looked like a typewriter. I think that it was about £650 ($1200 dollars in 1980). I looked around to ask my dad if I could have it, and saw him walking away with some urgency. Thinking back, I guess he saw the price tag.
Thanks, me keyboards stop working 1 and brought out a second one and both doing same thing. I have 3rd one in rafter's i will try. i do have peripheral box with disk drive. in 80'. I develop The Caltex 994a BBS. from 1984-1995. since the PC came out, this was put away. I believe the contacts have dry out. Francesca
that isn't the keyboard for the older black/silver TI-99/4a. that keyboard goes to the newer beige/tan TI-99/4a. that particular type of keyboard has had lots of issues over time. the black keyboard was a lot more reliable. I actually have the opposite of a new beige/tan Ti-99/4a with the older black keyboard because my beige/tan keyboard that came with my newer beige/tan ti-9/4a was beyond repair so I jut replaced it.
Aw shucks. I really wanted to see how the conductive ink repair went. Best laid plans and all that. Any things to look out for when using it? I have a TI 99/4A. It was my first computer. Still works - well, last time I tried it about five years ago. I really want to get some cartridges for it like Extended Basic, Assembly, and Parsec.
I'm sorry your camera broke. I was hoping to watch you use the conductive pen. I am having an issue with my Xbox which may possibly be trace rot and I wanted to see someone smarter than me repair traces with the pen before I took a shot at it.
@@fractalMD On one it was, I used foil tape rather than the pen. I also bought two replacement keyboards with the plastic membrane that just need a cleaning on the contacts. They replaced two of the stackpole switch grid keyboards that are still an ongoing project to fix (6 months and counting).
This was my first computer ever. My dad got it for me in 1993. I think he paid $10 at a thrift store with a bunch of games. I still have it. Not the best computer ever made, but for me it brings back cool memories.
Nice. Does it still work?
@@fractalMD Yes it still works! I still have it. I have the FinalGrom99 for it so I can play all the crazy "16 bit" games! I have so many other retro computers, this one doesn't get used as much. I try to use it at least once a week though.
There's always joy getting stuff to work (and it sucks losing the footage). The TI99/4A is a lovely machine. I typed in an Italian text adventure onto an emulated one, and did an opening scene for it too in Extended BASIC.
Go Texas!
A good friend had a TI-99/4A back when I got my first Coco. He had a blast with it. Loved your video, and especially the reenactment. I laughed, I cried...two thumbs up. 😄
I mean, we are a lock for a webby, amirite?
@@fractalMD Without a doubt!
Loved the video and your Galaga shirt. It made me remember playing with Basic on a Radio Shack TRS-80 in high school. Also playing Dragons Lair, Star Castle, Spy Hunter and Asteroids.
I had friends who had TI-99/4A computers BITD. I was a C64 kid. As an adult I tried liking the TI-99/4A computer, got myself a nice boxed unit, a bunch of cartridges, etc and in the time I owned it my thoughts were it was better than the VIC-20 but not as good as my Commodore 64, so I sold it off. Side note, I love your Galaga t-shirt Taylor. Galaga is a long time favorite arcade game of mine.
Taylor also did an awesome painting in The Lab that looks *exactly* like her shirt. Some day we shall lab tour. I don't think it's made it on camera yet?
@@fractalMD I'd love to see her Galaga painting. For sure do a lab tour. Getting to see all the nerdy geeky stuff would be rad!
Humor, learning moments, obscure retailer plug and random dog barks -> thumbs up.
that's our brand!
@@TaylorAmyShow what about the frogs? Don't forget the frogs being apart of your brand LOL!
Ribbit
Just came back from work with a huge headache and after watching this video I am healed!!!! So that's another point for you fixing me 😁
That makes me so happy.
Great video! Love the green tip French manicure! Can we get a tour of this room and "The lab" please?
Ha! Thx. I'm all about the never normal nails. Tour is much requested. The Lab truly is epic. The information transfer would be so dense. It almost needs is own channel!
Super fun! Thank you. And now I know how my keyboard works without having to screw it up.
If we can't be good examples, at least we can be terrible warnings.
Another great video and it sucks losing stuff due to the SD card. I too suffered a loss... My SD card died with all my games on then when I tried to recover, the hard drive decided to die. Looking forward to your next video.
Ouch. That makes for a frustrating day.
The PSU replacement is just COOL (in every way). The original gets HOT! (and it doesn't light up!)
Ladies next time you do a re-enactment, please advise at the beginning of the video, so I can make use of the facilities in advance.
We'll add a warning!
This is the exact condition my TI is in one day after I got it. It powered up ONCE, but no keyboard at all. Then the screen went blank so I tore it down and reseating the socketed chips and got video back. Now I am in the process of fixing the membrane. I need a silver conductive pen I believe because the header traces are flaking.
May the force be with you!
My first computer was the ti-99. Lots of memories!
Aaaalllll the feels
Great video (as usual)! I had a friend 3 doors down who had a TI-99/4A (although either black keyboard). We would visit each other to try games and BASIC programming between the Coco and the TI. A year or two later when I got my first Coco BBS up (1983), a different friend got one up on his TI-99…, and that had the huge “sidecars” of cards (speech module, modem, 2 floppy drives)… it was huge! (I didn’t have a multipack on the Coco yet to compete…lol).
We googlized some photos with things daisy chained for meters. It's hilarious.
Firstly, lovin the Galaga Tshirt. My Ti99 is sick too, seems to have lost it's voice (the sound chip died). A real ass pain on losing the repair footage but the video was fun as always, keep the retro stuff alive guys ;)
Getting to reenact was also pretty fun. Almost made up for it.
I am 3 spectrums that need soldering, wish I had your skills! I love my TI99, some great games. I also have the TI CC40 which you can adapt TI99 programs on very easily.
Taylor is a soldering machine.
Love the sound of that keyboard. You could probably put out a typing ASMR video with it🤣. Great job on this machine. When I first saw the keyboard I thought it was going to be one of the cream coloured plastic machines so was surprised to see the brushed metal version as I always thought they came with black keys only.
NOTHING BUT THE FINEST FOR US!
Finally! I've been waiting for you guys to do a video n the TI-99/4A ever since I saw it on the shelf in your Tandy 100EX video. It was my first computer growing up and even though it has the better style of keyboard (without the mylar membrane) it also has issues. Just curious as to why you guys went with a BackBit Pro cartridge as opposed to the FinalGrom (other than they are very scarce right now). I am looking forward to more videos but you'll find out that if you are going to program in basic, go with a memory expansion and Extended Basic. Much more powerful. And check out PixelPdeant's videos on the TI, lots of great information.
I actually ordered the BackBit Pro for the Atari 800XL, but since there's a TI-99/4A adapter, I ordered that too.
"Give it to the girl, she probably doesn't know what she's doing..." FOOL! 🤣🤣🤣
Little did he know ....
Thank you for the keyboard disassembly. How did you get the membrane to stick back down onto the keyboard PCB? That was the one vital piece of information you missed out!
The first computer I got to see was a Ti-99, but I'm sure it had a flat keyboard. It was on a shelf alongside an Atari 400, also with a flat keyboard, and an Atari 800. I was most interested in the 800 because it looked like a typewriter. I think that it was about £650 ($1200 dollars in 1980). I looked around to ask my dad if I could have it, and saw him walking away with some urgency. Thinking back, I guess he saw the price tag.
Prolly nearly at a flat run!
Enjoyed this!
TI99/4a was my first computer and I learned basic on it. Still in tech today at 48. Thanks for the video!
Thanks, me keyboards stop working 1 and brought out a second one and both doing same thing. I have 3rd one in rafter's i will try. i do have peripheral box with disk drive. in 80'. I develop The Caltex 994a BBS. from 1984-1995. since the PC came out, this was put away. I believe the contacts have dry out. Francesca
Luv galaga shirt
I was 10 when my school got one of those. I was one of four people they allowed to use it.
Cause you so fancy!
"trouble: shot!" Lol 😁
We are adding it to the list of (self- described) famous sayings for The Channel
that isn't the keyboard for the older black/silver TI-99/4a. that keyboard goes to the newer beige/tan TI-99/4a. that particular type of keyboard has had lots of issues over time. the black keyboard was a lot more reliable. I actually have the opposite of a new beige/tan Ti-99/4a with the older black keyboard because my beige/tan keyboard that came with my newer beige/tan ti-9/4a was beyond repair so I jut replaced it.
Nice work!
Did you stick a bit of foam or something to put pressure on the keyboard membrane contact strip?
Yup. A "pillow" of electrical tape.
Aw shucks. I really wanted to see how the conductive ink repair went. Best laid plans and all that. Any things to look out for when using it?
I have a TI 99/4A. It was my first computer. Still works - well, last time I tried it about five years ago. I really want to get some cartridges for it like Extended Basic, Assembly, and Parsec.
All I can say is lay it down, thick!
I'm sorry your camera broke. I was hoping to watch you use the conductive pen. I am having an issue with my Xbox which may possibly be trace rot and I wanted to see someone smarter than me repair traces with the pen before I took a shot at it.
We just drew over it. Promise you are no smarter than we are on this!
Try changing your 'hello world' tests to include a semi-colon...
For example:
10 PRINT "THE TAYLOR AND AMY SHOW ";
20 GOTO 10
Now yer just getting crazy
@@fractalMD Did you try it...?
@@johanlaurasia I'm working so literally haven't had a chance to yet.
:(
It looks like you need a fiberglass pen. It helps carefully scrape surface contacts.
Isopropyl and several q-tips worked well
@@TaylorAmyShow Q-tips and Isopropyl are a staple in all retro repairs for sure!
Like, I'm tempted to buy stock in these things we use them so much.
Ah yes, the TI99/4A keyboard...so far I have bought 3 of these computers and on 3 of them the only problem was the keyboard.
Shoot, maybe it's the same problem as we had.
@@fractalMD On one it was, I used foil tape rather than the pen. I also bought two replacement keyboards with the plastic membrane that just need a cleaning on the contacts. They replaced two of the stackpole switch grid keyboards that are still an ongoing project to fix (6 months and counting).
lol 13:32 - "yeah we like to SD things"
Cool you were able to get it up and running. However does suck you lots your repair footage though. Lol
Oh man we were sooooo bummed.
"Balance to the universe".... I guess there a law of Conservation of Functionality?
I mean, in my personal experience, hell yes
What do I use to get my to-99 on a modern tv?
composite to HDMI adapter
what do you use ?
Not sure what ya mean?
Nerd Girls. 😍
And true nerd girls. Not posers :)
Amy’s Mom says thank you!
Love you!
p̷r̷o̷m̷o̷s̷m̷ 😻