List of TRS-80 and Tandy-branded computers
TRS-80 was a brand associated with several desktop microcomputer lines sold by Tandy Corporation through their Radio Shack stores.
[1] However, Tandy later used the TRS-80 name on a number of different computer lines, many of which were technically unrelated to (and incompatible with) the original Model I and its replacements.
The Model I included a full-stroke QWERTY keyboard, floating-point BASIC, a monitor, and a starting price of US$600.
Its improvements over the Model I included built-in lower case, a better keyboard, elimination of the cable spaghetti, 1500-baud cassette interface, and a faster (2.03 MHz) Z-80 processor.
The Model 4's new hardware features included a larger display screen with 80 columns by 24 rows, inverse video, and an internal audio speaker.
A more modern version of Microsoft's BASIC interpreter more closely resembled the MS-DOS GW-BASIC, featuring PC-like functionality.
This afforded the user access to popular application software such as MicroPro's WordStar, Ashton-Tate's dBase II, and Sorcim's SuperCalc.
In October 1979 Tandy began shipping the TRS-80 Model II, which was targeted to the small-business market.
(The Model 100 firmware was the last Microsoft product to which Bill Gates was a major code contributor.
[13] The Model 100 had an internal 300 baud modem, built-in BASIC, and a limited text editor.
It was possible to use the Model 100 with most phones in the world with the use of an optional acoustic coupler that fit over a standard telephone handset.
The combination of the acoustic coupler, the machine's outstanding battery life (it could be used for days on a set of 4 AA cells), and its simple text editor made the Model 100/102 popular with journalists in the early 1980s.
The Model 100 line also had an optional bar code reader, serial/RS-232 floppy drive and a Cassette interface.
A 16 KB RAM expansion pack that connected on the back of the unit was offered as an option as was a thermal paper printer.
[15] It included an acoustic coupler, 300 baud modem, thermal printer, and typewriter-style keyboard.
While the progressive Tandy 1000 models fairly quickly departed from PCjr hardware compatibility, they all retained the enhanced CGA video modes of the IBM PCjr (supported by no other IBM or clone machine), and some later models added an original 640x200 16-color video mode.
In 1987 Tandy introduced the 1400LT, a clamshell-style MS-DOS compatible laptop computer with an integral monochrome LCD display and two 3.5 inch diskette drives.
