Tandy 200 Restoration (TRS-80) - No Power, Bad Keyboard, and Badly Burned LCD

In this video, I'm cracking open a black suitcase from Pontiac in the 1980s and resurrecting the Tandy 200 imprisoned inside... this thing has likely been sitting around and neglected for many years. I'll first diagnose and repair an issue with the power button and keyboard. Then, I'll show you how I repaired the badly burned-out LCD. And we'll end by giving it a spin around the block to examine Microsoft's pre-cursor to Excel before getting lost in a game of Solitaire and battling it out with our future AI overlords in Romulus Chess.
Links mentioned in this video:
- Replacement reflective polarizer film - 3dlens.com/reflective-polariz...
- Replacement memory battery (Jeff Birt's store) - www.soigeneris.com/memory-bac...
- TPDD Backpack (Highly Recommended!) - www.soigeneris.com/tandy-tpdd...
- Club 100 BASIC Game Library - www.club100.org/library/libgam...

[@jaybman]

Great video! I would love to see the details of building a DC to DC converter, too.

[@whatskenmaking]

Thanks - I'll be sure to cover it sometime soon!

[@Fezzler61]

I think this may be the first video I have seen someone seemingly so easily remove and replace the polarizing film and backing of an LCD screen. I would like to see you make a USB to power plug adapter. Thanks. Enjoyed the video.

[@geofreypejsa54]

Thanks Ken. Another interesting video. Well done

[@whatskenmaking]

Thanks 👍

[@alexandermirdzveli3200]

Great restoration of a very interesting machine. Cinematography is top-notch.

[@whatskenmaking]

Thank you! I’ve been working on improving my footage, so it means a lot that you noticed and liked it!

[@HootieCam2024]

I used to work at Radio Shack back when these where sold new. Crazy to see interest in them so many years later.

[@whatskenmaking]

Nice! It was a bummer when they went out of business - I had $100 in radio shack gift cards that I never used 😁
Yeah, the TRS-80 community is going strong!

[@user-cd7gw1xy3j]

I have a 200 and really love it. I think I need to replace the polarizer - my screen has what look like diagonal scratches, but they are under the front glass, and yours looked rather like that. You make it look easy.... but I bet it isn't!
Great to see such a clear and concise video on the repair!

[@whatskenmaking]

Thank you! That's interesting... I had the diagonal scratches on my screen as well. When I opened it up, the scratches were in the rear polarizer, so replacing the polarizer resolved that. I don't know what causes it and I thought maybe it was something that my unit was uniquely subjected to. But hearing that yours has the same scratches makes me wonder if it's a chemical reaction on the polarizer brought on over time or some other condition. Polarizer replacements are never simple, but if you take your time and use plenty of IPA, the process isn't all that difficult. Good luck!

[@TheMikeyb86]

Love the restoration video. Thanks.

[@realzneo]

Great job on the machine!! And the video too!! Thank you!!

[@HeyBirt]

Nice job.

[@whatskenmaking]

Thanks Jeff! Appreciate you supplying parts and accessories for the TRS community, as well as your videos! I surely would’ve broken the screen connector cover if I hadn’t watched your tear down and learned the correct way to remove it before I attempted it myself!

[@TCperry]

Merry Christmas. Jesus is the reason for the season.

[@Hiraghm]

definitely interested in a video on the step up USB power supply mod.

[@whatskenmaking]

Thanks - it’s on my list of Tandy content for a future video.

[@phronessys]

Hi, love your video. Have you tried to add modern hardware inside a old laptop like that?

[@whatskenmaking]

Thank you! I did a video on using a serial wifi modem to connect a Model 100 to the Internet, but I used the RS-232 port instead of embedding it inside. I do have another Tandy Model-T mod coming up soon, though, which will be do something very interesting inside the device :)