My dad had one. He eventually gave it to me. I used it to write simple basic programs. I also used the terminal setting to connect it to my TNC for amateur packet radio. I loved that computer.
Just acquired a full set of this model at auction. Printer, cassette recorder, books, & cables. Thanks for the educational overview of this historic piece.
Such a gorgeous device seemingly way ahead of its time. I’d like to pick one up today and use my WiFi-232 serial modem on it to connect it to BBSes & communicate with people around the world.
I uncovered one just the other day. I forgot my dad had this sitting in his room for the last 30+ years. He got it from a friend who upgraded to a new laptop in the late 80's It's been interesting to playing around with it. However I have to crack it open and do a good cleaning on the keyboard as some of the keys will either not work unless they have a long hole. Or will repeat as they will stick for just a fraction to long.
@@BigHappysPlace That’s awesome, enjoy! I ended up getting one in mint condition in April last year and opened it up to remove the internal battery. I paid a premium due to the condition it was in… it’s a great collector’s piece. I was able to get it online using the built in terminal programme & my WiFi-232 serial modem. Had fun posting away on BBSes for a couple of months before putting it back in its box and into storage.
Had (have) one of those. Currently in a locker 2500 kms away. My screen is screwed up. Was my first computer. Was no public internet at the time but did have Fidonet. BTW, the OS of this was the ONLY OS completely developed by Bill Gates.
I had one of these I carried to school and took all my notes. Would save them on cassette and also print out from my dot matrix printer and classmates would give me cash.
It was said that the reporters carried these small and light weight machines around, used them to write fast articles and send the articles off using the build-in modem. But it's got only 40 characters per line.
I also tried to use the thing for typing all my class notes, but found out that I was spending more time on getting formatting perfect than actually taking notes.
I never had one of those but I always wanted one. Another neat thing about it is the fact that it wasn't just Microsoft that wrote the software for it; Bill Gates wrote most of it himself.
I dumped the ROM on this when I was in college and was inspecting it and disassembling it, and it turns out he did a rather clever thing using some of the ROM to store both data and opcodes in the same bytes, i.e. if you started executing at a certain offset which I recall was up near the top of ROM it ran a sub-routine, but if you offset by 1 it had some kind of data. Also I believe that not only did Bill Gates write code for this, but if I recall correctly, this is the *last* substantial piece of code he wrote professionally.
I had one of these. Got it in the '80s. Used it go on online with the built-in modem using CompuServe. Eventually, I even got a little (floppy) disc drive for it. I loved my Model 100. RIP.
I still have one of these, and it's in use frequently. Great, simple and efficient system, with a fantastic community of users who still support it and develop new products for use with it. And fantastic keyboard! The Model 102 was slightly thinner and lighter but otherwise visually the same, and the Model 200 was a clamshell with 16 line display. The 102 and 200 keyboards were also slightly less 'clicky'
I used to have one of these! I bought a memory chip called Lucid that plugged in underneath. It was a nice spreadsheet and word processor program. I printed to a Radio Shack Daisy Wheel printer. It worked great, but it was limited! I even bought a 3.5 inch floppy drive that RS sold for storing files on disk. Pretty cool seeing your video!
I put the SuperRom chip into mine - had a real word processor, Lucid 3D Spreadsheet (better than any on the market then), database and presentation software, I upgraded the basic 8K to 24k and converted it to rechargeable batteries. that plus the external disk drive made it possible to run a small business on it. I still have it - it was a great notebook for it's day.
I had a similar machine handed down to me, the NEC PC-8201a. Its operation is similar. It had better arrow keys and more ports in the back, including one for a barcode wand. Useful programs in BASIC could be made in ~3K or so of memory. I made one that could print address labels, and another that could print graph paper. In both cases I sent the control codes to the Epson RX-80 from BASIC.
I remember this exact model, I had a friend in middle school who had one that his grandfather had given him who was a sports writer for a local news paper here in South Carolina USA in the 70's, 80's and 90's. It had the modem port and everything even the coupler modem he had used to call back to the office when he was out in the field. I was told by his grandfather that this was like a reporter's wet dream back in the day, and truly worth every penny he had payed for it. :-)
The modem jack on the US version was where the round punch-out is next to the cassette jack on back. The jack on the left side was for a barcode reader wand.
Thanks for this video. I have a Tandy 102 and 2 Tandy 200 machines. Some hints+tips from me to you: These machines can also be programmed in machinelanguage (for the Intel 8085) - Also you can use 2 commands for hi-res graphics. Line(1,1)-(100,100),1 draws a nice line PSET(x,y) draws a dot on position x,y it is really easy to program in basic. When i got mine (some weeks ago), i never programmed one. But i did some BASIC stuff in the 80s. So, in 10 minutes time or so, i had my first game made on this Tandy 102. A simple race game... I like it more than my modern Windows 7 machine.
Love these classic computers!!! I would love to have one as a portable writing tool!!! The keyboards on most laptops are just either too small or a tad bit unsuitable for writing very long documents like manuscripts. I love the tactile feel of these kinds of keyboards! The text editor and notes would be my go-to programs, if ever.
Lol not me I'd be yelling at your voice all the time as I'm not very competent with using computers and am always yelling at mine. Also why I watch these videos because I'm trying to learn to use vintage computers to learn basic.
I wrote a program which would right justify a printed page on this machine. Only problem, it took about 5 seconds to calculate every line before printing, thus would print a page every four or five minutes - thus, somewhat slower than today.
I own a model 200. The main use for the Tandy 100, 102, and 200 was the ease of plugging into a phone jack and connecting to a remote computer, thus using it as a terminal. Reporters, sportscasters, and bulletin board (Compuserve) users found these laptops to be invaluable. The only hard storage was the cassette tape and of course the small RAM memory. The printer interface is parallel I/O. With external TTL octal latches built on an external breadboard, a hobbyist can utilize that interface for controlling things. It also has an RS232 port. The telecom phone jack only supported up to 1200 baud, but the RS232 goes faster. I used an external Hayes modem to connect to Compuserve's 2400 baud service. The model 200 has a bigger screen, more memory and maybe a bit faster than the model 100? Other than that, basically the same software. If anyone wants a demo of the Tandy 200, let me know. My main point was to mention that these laptops were mainly aimed at portable terminal users. With some external breakout boards, it could be used as a terminal for modern equipment as well.
mlseim hey, I know your comment is old, but I was wondering if you could help with something. I just bought a Tandy 200 and I can't get the cassette save to work. I made a cable to connect with the cassette jack and tried to connect the line out to save the sound to a modern computer. But when I try to save, I hear a faint click on the Tandy but nothing else. Do you have any idea what could be wrong?
Just by mere chance I happened to see your post a week after you posted. The cassette save is an audio signal. You need to email me with more information about the cable you made, and what you're connecting it to. My email is: info@catpin.com The original cable has 3 jacks that connect to the tandy cassette deck. The EAR, the AUX, and the REM I think the click you hear is a relay that controls the REM. That starts and stops the cassette player (remote pause). Email me if you see this post.
I had one and bought it new for 100 dollars. I never heard of it being 1000 dollars. I printed out the Star Ship Enterprise (3 pages worth) on my dot matrix printer. I was close to being one of the first civilians online. There were several servers to connect to. One was at Barksdale AFB.
I carried around one of these in high school (late 90s). I had an acoustic coupler which plugged in next to the printer port (apparently absent on the UK version) and I used it from a school payphone to log into my ISP to check my email in Pine, surf the web in Lynx. The ISP had a 'trs100' termcap entry, so I didn't have to deal with a VT100 emulator. The vice principal made me stop because he thought that I was hacking into the school's phone system. I also took the thing outside on a few summer days, connected the acoustic coupler to the cordless telephone, and surfed the web from the back yard.
I so wanted one of these back in the day, one of my friends had one (he had a Pet before that), so I have played with one. Could never afford one, and have not been lucky enough to come across a working one since. Wow did not know they built 6 million of them - you would think they would pop up more often! Always wanted one to use with programming routers, but ended up with two nice Psion ones (that my employee then had stolen out of his car - or stole himself - never forgave him for that :(). You know I am going to have to add a saved search on eBay now :)
Remake this in 2024 with an e-ink display, polish it here and there, allow easier connectivity with modern systems and sell it as a "smart programmable typewriter". -> Profit.
I just recently bought a Tandy 200, but I can't get the cassette save to work. I made a cable to connect with the cassette interface and then connected a line out from the cable to save the sound to a modern computer. But when I tried to save, there was a faint click sound from the Tandy and it didn't do anything else. I tried saving a file from the "TEXT" word processing program and a program from BASIC and neither worked. There wasn't any sounds of a file being saved (beeps and hiss, etc). Do you have any idea what could be wrong?
I'm looking for a affordable device for taking notes in class and for writing for $200 what would you suggest? Preferably a vintage device but I don't mind if it's newer
And for the music fans : here is a small program where you can make simple sounds by pushing any button on the keyboard. 10 A$=INKEY$: IF A$="" THEN 10 20 A= ASC(A$) 30 FOR I =200+A*20 to 220+A*20 40 SOUND I,1 50 NEXT I 60 GOTO 10 try it and you might enjoy it.
Probably not, the Commodore 128 had 6502 and Z80 processors, but MS-DOS was made to run on the more advanced 8080/8086 processor. You *can* run CP/M on the 128, which was the ancestor of MS-DOS.
I got one recently. It was incredibly well-designed at the time, and as such it still has practical uses. I took mine out in my backpack to write on yesterday.
Computers are dirt cheap these days, look at the Pi as an example. As you know I have some of the other earlier computers. Still it is a rather revolutionary machine for the time and also I think the last machine that Bill Gates personalty programmed.
I have a Backpack drive that saves files onto Micro SD cards. I can open them directly on my laptop. Text files with a .DO file extension are basically the same as modern .TXT files and will open in Notepad.
I know a neat trick... prop open a door with it. Or use it as a weapon. They are built rather well though; when I was at school the "special needs" kids got given TRS-80s and used to batter the hell out of them. I think they were given out more as a self-defense tool than something to help them learn better ;-)
My dad had one. He eventually gave it to me. I used it to write simple basic programs. I also used the terminal setting to connect it to my TNC for amateur packet radio. I loved that computer.
Just acquired a full set of this model at auction. Printer, cassette recorder, books, & cables. Thanks for the educational overview of this historic piece.
Such a gorgeous device seemingly way ahead of its time. I’d like to pick one up today and use my WiFi-232 serial modem on it to connect it to BBSes & communicate with people around the world.
I uncovered one just the other day. I forgot my dad had this sitting in his room for the last 30+ years. He got it from a friend who upgraded to a new laptop in the late 80's It's been interesting to playing around with it. However I have to crack it open and do a good cleaning on the keyboard as some of the keys will either not work unless they have a long hole. Or will repeat as they will stick for just a fraction to long.
@@BigHappysPlace That’s awesome, enjoy! I ended up getting one in mint condition in April last year and opened it up to remove the internal battery. I paid a premium due to the condition it was in… it’s a great collector’s piece. I was able to get it online using the built in terminal programme & my WiFi-232 serial modem. Had fun posting away on BBSes for a couple of months before putting it back in its box and into storage.
Had (have) one of those. Currently in a locker 2500 kms away. My screen is screwed up. Was my first computer. Was no public internet at the time but did have Fidonet. BTW, the OS of this was the ONLY OS completely developed by Bill Gates.
I had one of these I carried to school and took all my notes. Would save them on cassette and also print out from my dot matrix printer and classmates would give me cash.
Thanks for a great posting John Barnett revisted April 30 2024❤
It was said that the reporters carried these small and light weight machines around, used them to write fast articles and send the articles off using the build-in modem. But it's got only 40 characters per line.
The 4A4 date code on the back means this one was made in April 1984.
vwestlife I didn't know that, thanks muchly vwest :)
I also tried to use the thing for typing all my class notes, but found out that I was spending more time on getting formatting perfect than actually taking notes.
I still have mine and it still works. Wasn't $1000.00 when I bought it new.
I never had one of those but I always wanted one. Another neat thing about it is the fact that it wasn't just Microsoft that wrote the software for it; Bill Gates wrote most of it himself.
I dumped the ROM on this when I was in college and was inspecting it and disassembling it, and it turns out he did a rather clever thing using some of the ROM to store both data and opcodes in the same bytes, i.e. if you started executing at a certain offset which I recall was up near the top of ROM it ran a sub-routine, but if you offset by 1 it had some kind of data. Also I believe that not only did Bill Gates write code for this, but if I recall correctly, this is the *last* substantial piece of code he wrote professionally.
Never had this model, but Tandy made such good computers!
GloppyCSP - Made by Kyocera in Japan.
I had one of these. Got it in the '80s. Used it go on online with the built-in modem using CompuServe. Eventually, I even got a little (floppy) disc drive for it. I loved my Model 100. RIP.
I don't hate any vintage computer. They all need love.
***** true lol
Yeah.. just like Vintage Cars!!
I still have one of these, and it's in use frequently. Great, simple and efficient system, with a fantastic community of users who still support it and develop new products for use with it. And fantastic keyboard! The Model 102 was slightly thinner and lighter but otherwise visually the same, and the Model 200 was a clamshell with 16 line display. The 102 and 200 keyboards were also slightly less 'clicky'
I remember countless flights back in the day where reporters and business people sat hunched over one of these trying to get their work done.
I used to have one of these! I bought a memory chip called Lucid that plugged in underneath. It was a nice spreadsheet and word processor program. I printed to a Radio Shack Daisy Wheel printer. It worked great, but it was limited! I even bought a 3.5 inch floppy drive that RS sold for storing files on disk. Pretty cool seeing your video!
I put the SuperRom chip into mine - had a real word processor, Lucid 3D Spreadsheet (better than any on the market then), database and presentation software, I upgraded the basic 8K to 24k and converted it to rechargeable batteries. that plus the external disk drive made it possible to run a small business on it. I still have it - it was a great notebook for it's day.
I was in college when these came out and it seemed, all of a sudden, everybody had them.
+525Lines I'm slightly too young to remember them :o(
+RetroGamerVX When I took my fortran class in college, there were still guys punching IBM cards but that was old stuff even then.
I had a similar machine handed down to me, the NEC PC-8201a. Its operation is similar. It had better arrow keys and more ports in the back, including one for a barcode wand. Useful programs in BASIC could be made in ~3K or so of memory. I made one that could print address labels, and another that could print graph paper. In both cases I sent the control codes to the Epson RX-80 from BASIC.
I remember this exact model, I had a friend in middle school who had one that his grandfather had given him who was a sports writer for a local news paper here in South Carolina USA in the 70's, 80's and 90's. It had the modem port and everything even the coupler modem he had used to call back to the office when he was out in the field. I was told by his grandfather that this was like a reporter's wet dream back in the day, and truly worth every penny he had payed for it. :-)
Commodorefan64 Lucky kid!! Yes, the American model had the modem, would have been so futuristic at the time.
RetroGamerVX Lucky indeed but by the time he had gotten It I was computers with Windows 3.11, so yeah 92/93ish.
The modem jack on the US version was where the round punch-out is next to the cassette jack on back. The jack on the left side was for a barcode reader wand.
I've used three 'Model T" Tandy notebooks: 100, 102, and (now) the Tandy 200. Check out "club100' for what you can do with these! kurt
Thanks for this video. I have a Tandy 102 and 2 Tandy 200 machines. Some hints+tips from me to you: These machines can also be programmed in machinelanguage (for the Intel 8085) - Also you can use 2 commands for hi-res graphics.
Line(1,1)-(100,100),1 draws a nice line
PSET(x,y) draws a dot on position x,y
it is really easy to program in basic. When i got mine (some weeks ago), i never programmed one. But i did some BASIC stuff in the 80s. So, in 10 minutes time or so, i had my first game made on this Tandy 102. A simple race game...
I like it more than my modern Windows 7 machine.
RichardCyberPunk Yes, definatly got more character :o)
Love these classic computers!!! I would love to have one as a portable writing tool!!! The keyboards on most laptops are just either too small or a tad bit unsuitable for writing very long documents like manuscripts. I love the tactile feel of these kinds of keyboards! The text editor and notes would be my go-to programs, if ever.
I regularly write on mine, and it's absolutely excellent for it. The keyboard is fantastic and there's no distractions at all.
I'd love my computer to talk with your voice! Best ever. Would cheer any computer operator up in a crisis!
lol, thanks :)
Lol not me I'd be yelling at your voice all the time as I'm not very competent with using computers and am always yelling at mine. Also why I watch these videos because I'm trying to learn to use vintage computers to learn basic.
I wrote a program which would right justify a printed page on this machine. Only problem, it took about 5 seconds to calculate every line before printing, thus would print a page every four or five minutes - thus, somewhat slower than today.
I own a model 200. The main use for the Tandy 100, 102, and 200 was the ease of plugging into a phone jack and connecting to a remote computer, thus using it as a terminal. Reporters, sportscasters, and bulletin board (Compuserve) users found these laptops to be invaluable. The only hard storage was the cassette tape and of course the small RAM memory. The printer interface is parallel I/O. With external TTL octal latches built on an external breadboard, a hobbyist can utilize that interface for controlling things. It also has an RS232 port. The telecom phone jack only supported up to 1200 baud, but the RS232 goes faster. I used an external Hayes modem to connect to Compuserve's 2400 baud service.
The model 200 has a bigger screen, more memory and maybe a bit faster than the model 100? Other than that, basically the same software. If anyone wants a demo of the Tandy 200, let me know.
My main point was to mention that these laptops were mainly aimed at portable terminal users. With some external breakout boards, it could be used as a terminal for modern equipment as well.
mlseim hey, I know your comment is old, but I was wondering if you could help with something. I just bought a Tandy 200 and I can't get the cassette save to work. I made a cable to connect with the cassette jack and tried to connect the line out to save the sound to a modern computer. But when I try to save, I hear a faint click on the Tandy but nothing else. Do you have any idea what could be wrong?
Just by mere chance I happened to see your post a week after you posted. The cassette save is an audio signal. You need to email me with more information about the cable you made, and what you're connecting it to. My email is: info@catpin.com The original cable has 3 jacks that connect to the tandy cassette deck. The EAR, the AUX, and the REM I think the click you hear is a relay that controls the REM. That starts and stops the cassette player (remote pause). Email me if you see this post.
Email again: info@catpin.com (this editor messes up the text)
mlseim Thanks! I just emailed you. Check your spam too, in case it went there.
The only computer affected by the Y2K issue. Burn a patched image to an EPROM and it's good through 2099.
Plenty of machines and systems were affected, and many fixes just postponed the issue to 2030
I plan on continuing to use my 200 into the 22nd century, so what then? 😄
It isn't really affected, it just stores the year as 2 digits.
I had one and bought it new for 100 dollars. I never heard of it being 1000 dollars. I printed out the Star Ship Enterprise (3 pages worth) on my dot matrix printer. I was close to being one of the first civilians online. There were several servers to connect to. One was at Barksdale AFB.
I bet you have never taken a PC to PC World!
I carried around one of these in high school (late 90s). I had an acoustic coupler which plugged in next to the printer port (apparently absent on the UK version) and I used it from a school payphone to log into my ISP to check my email in Pine, surf the web in Lynx. The ISP had a 'trs100' termcap entry, so I didn't have to deal with a VT100 emulator.
The vice principal made me stop because he thought that I was hacking into the school's phone system.
I also took the thing outside on a few summer days, connected the acoustic coupler to the cordless telephone, and surfed the web from the back yard.
CamdenBloke Still using one in the late 90s!! wow lol. Wow, surfing the web then must have cos a fortune.
I so wanted one of these back in the day, one of my friends had one (he had a Pet before that), so I have played with one.
Could never afford one, and have not been lucky enough to come across a working one since.
Wow did not know they built 6 million of them - you would think they would pop up more often!
Always wanted one to use with programming routers, but ended up with two nice Psion ones (that my employee then had stolen out of his car - or stole himself - never forgave him for that :().
You know I am going to have to add a saved search on eBay now :)
All Tandy TRS 80-100s still work, they are indestructible!!! ;o) Good luck, see if you can beat £30!! :o)
Also was active on club100 . org
Ramsey Snow (or Bolton) from Game of Thrones demos the TRS-80 Model 100
Happy to say I've not seen one second of that program :o)
Remake this in 2024 with an e-ink display, polish it here and there, allow easier connectivity with modern systems and sell it as a "smart programmable typewriter". -> Profit.
Can it be hooked up to a television or monitor for playing games on.
I just recently bought a Tandy 200, but I can't get the cassette save to work. I made a cable to connect with the cassette interface and then connected a line out from the cable to save the sound to a modern computer. But when I tried to save, there was a faint click sound from the Tandy and it didn't do anything else. I tried saving a file from the "TEXT" word processing program and a program from BASIC and neither worked. There wasn't any sounds of a file being saved (beeps and hiss, etc). Do you have any idea what could be wrong?
I'm looking for a affordable device for taking notes in class and for writing for $200 what would you suggest? Preferably a vintage device but I don't mind if it's newer
I'd strongly suggest an Alphasmart. They're a bit easier for everyday use than these.
Very nice. I have a 102 myself. It's a neat little computer, just don't know what i'm going to do with it :D
atarileaf Mine usually does nothing, handy for talking to computers through the serial port though when they are having trouble :o)
Really great presentation.
PS: Can it run Crysis?
:-P
That's Light!
And for the music fans : here is a small program where you can make simple sounds by pushing any button on the keyboard.
10 A$=INKEY$: IF A$="" THEN 10
20 A= ASC(A$)
30 FOR I =200+A*20 to 220+A*20
40 SOUND I,1
50 NEXT I
60 GOTO 10
try it and you might enjoy it.
RichardCyberPunk I'll have to try that :o)
I have used the serial for communicating with other machine on my HUSKY's
***** Yup, still useful :O)
Do you know how yours ended up with a Model 102 case? My Model 100 was donated to me with a 102 case!
No idea sorry :o(
I heard of one of these being impounded to see if it had any porn stored on it, the police really know very little.
+Roger Hudson Now that's funny :o)
I have a question that doesn't have anything to do with the Tandy but just a random thought. Can msdos be installed into a commodore 128
Probably not, the Commodore 128 had 6502 and Z80 processors, but MS-DOS was made to run on the more advanced 8080/8086 processor. You *can* run CP/M on the 128, which was the ancestor of MS-DOS.
cool
Pretty groundbraking machine back in the day.
lactobacillusprime It truely was :o)
I got one recently. It was incredibly well-designed at the time, and as such it still has practical uses. I took mine out in my backpack to write on yesterday.
WOW good demostration.
That's one letter (non Unicode) per byte, not word.
It is Y2K compliment, none of the HUSKYS are.
***** Aha, see, it was COMPLETELY future proof!! ;o)
that's very good mate!!
Thanks :o)
RetroGamerVX one thing I did have a PB-2000C, and PB-1000 :) these I now understand fully are rip offs of this model
I learned cribbage on that thing
I agree with you. Moder laptop's keyboards are wrottet.
Computers are dirt cheap these days, look at the Pi as an example. As you know I have some of the other earlier computers. Still it is a rather revolutionary machine for the time and also I think the last machine that Bill Gates personalty programmed.
***** It is, I missed that detail off :o) Windows 10 is going to be ported to the raspberry pi 2 so that will improve it :o)
Not with WIndows 10 key logging your every action it wont.
is that it have games?
it is not has games :-(
how long file name and extension ex. 8.3 (on MS-DOS and Windows in FAT16)
It's 6+2
@@Pico_Farad thx
I have a Backpack drive that saves files onto Micro SD cards. I can open them directly on my laptop. Text files with a .DO file extension are basically the same as modern .TXT files and will open in Notepad.
I know a neat trick... prop open a door with it. Or use it as a weapon. They are built rather well though; when I was at school the "special needs" kids got given TRS-80s and used to batter the hell out of them. I think they were given out more as a self-defense tool than something to help them learn better ;-)
James Grimwood Very funny lol. Yes, no fist is going through that and you could knock people out with them lol
I had this exact model . Ahhh the good old days !