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| A 35th anniversary salute to Radio Shack's TRS-80 |
| By Thom Holwerda on 2012-08-04 04:17:08 |
| "Quick - name the most important personal computer of the late 1970s and early 1980s. Those of you who mentioned the legendary Apple II - that's fine. I respect your decision. Forced to think objectively in 2012, I may even agree. But if you just named Radio Shack's TRS-80, you made me smile. Your choice is entirely defensible. And back in the TRS-80's heyday, I not only would have agreed with it but would have vehemently opposed any other candidate." |
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| Comment by Morgan |
| By Morgan on 2012-08-04 04:38:35 |
|
I had a CoCo 2 around 1990, that my neighbor sold to me for $20 when his kids got tired of it. I was 13 at the time and it was the second computer I ever owned, and the first I bought for myself. I was in geek heaven, learning to program and playing Dungeons of Daggorath for hours! I played it more than the NES our parents had just been able to afford for us earlier that year. It definitely has my vote for one of the greatest home computers of all time. |
 - Score: 3 |
| Still have a Model 100 laptop |
| By rikostan on 2012-08-04 04:52:57 |
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I still have a TRS-80 model 100 laptop in it's large plastic case with the cup modem. I think it was 3 AA batteries it took, maybe 4, but they lasted a month easy. We got rid of the model IIIs, the CoCo, the Vic20, Commodore, etc, when we moved, but no way I am getting rid of the laptop. Got to hold on to some of your roots! |
| - Score: 2 |
| RE: Comment by Morgan |
| By chrisperrault on 2012-08-04 06:21:17 |
|
I still have Coco 3 sitting in my basement with some OS-9 and TRS-80 related books. I couldn't bring myself to get rid of everything. A Coco 2 was my first machine and I too had a jones for Dungeons of Daggorath. |
| - Score: 1 |
| RE[2]: Comment by Morgan |
| By Morgan on 2012-08-04 06:27:28 |
|
I would still have mine if the keyboard hadn't started getting stuck keys, and later the power supply got fried by the crappy wiring in our apartment. I wanted to keep it for nostalgic reasons but when we moved I was forced to trash it since it no longer worked. By the way, if you want to relive some of the DoD glory days you might want to give this a spin: http://mspencer.net/daggorath/do... |
| - Score: 2 |
| RE[3]: Comment by Morgan |
| By chrisperrault on 2012-08-04 06:29:57 |
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I hear ya. I had the same issue with many of the peripherals (disk drives,etc). Thanks for the DOD link. I actually have it downloaded on my Linux box and still play it every so often. My stepson looks at me like I'm a relic. He's probably right LOL. |
| - Score: 2 |
| In Your Pocket |
| By MOS6510 on 2012-08-04 07:12:18 |
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I have this one: http://oldcomputers.net/trs80pc3... Not sure it has anything to do with the real TRS80, but I enjoyed using it a lot. |
| - Score: 2 |
| RE: Comment by Morgan |
| By zima on 2012-08-04 07:28:55 |
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> I had a CoCo 2 around 1990 [...] It definitely has my vote for one of the greatest home computers of all time. Hm, but the TRS-80 and the TRS-80 Color Computer seem quite distinct (just checking out what Wiki says / the TRS-80 is largely unknown around here - though it turns out that the first local home computer, Mera-Elzab Meritum, was a clone). For one, the former is based on Z80, the latter on Motorola 6809 - very different systems, overall. No cookie for you ;p |
| - Score: 2 |
| RE: Still have a Model 100 laptop |
| By zima on 2012-08-04 07:35:31 |
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Hm, interesting... ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TRS... ) > The Model 100 firmware was the last Microsoft product that Bill Gates developed personally, along with Suzuki. According to Gates, "part of my nostalgia about this machine is this was the last machine where I wrote a very high percentage of the code in the product".[3] http://americanhistory.si.edu/co... Edited 2012-08-04 07:36 UTC |
| - Score: 3 |
| RE[2]: Comment by Morgan |
| By Morgan on 2012-08-04 07:37:57 |
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No, you misunderstand: my TRS-80 was one of the greatest of all time. And my coworker just brought me a peanut butter bar from the vending machine in the break room, so I don't need your stinking cookie! :D |
| - Score: 4 |
| RE[3]: Comment by Morgan |
| By zima on 2012-08-04 07:57:47 |
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I figured you base your views on the model that you owned, what else - things is, it still kinda feels like subscribing to the guiding thought of the news article ...while the machines didn't have very much in common except for the company & name. (also, CoCo seems to have been not that great compared to contemporary designs, sort of unbalanced http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TRS... - still no cookie, vending machine won't change that ;p ) Curious / WTH thing about the original TRS-80... ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TRS... ) > Model I production was discontinued as it did not comply with new FCC regulations as of 1 January 1981 regarding electromagnetic interference.[10][15][18] The Model I radiated so much interference that while playing games an AM radio placed next to the computer could be used to provide sounds.[19] Well, I guess it wasn't called Radio Shack for nothing :P |
| - Score: 2 |
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