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Model:  Tandy 1000
CPU: Intel 8088
RAM: 256K (Expandable to 640K)
Ports: Edge Card Tandy Printer, DB9 Serial, Tandy Joystick x2 & Light Pen

Display: TCGA 16 Colors & CGA 4 Colors
Storage: One or Two 5.25" 360K Floppies
Operating System: MS-DOS

I wish I could say that my first computer

was the TRS-80 Model 4, but it wasn't.  As

many my first excursion into the PC world

was on the Tandy 1000.  I spend many 

days growing hair sitting in a housecoat

ignoring my wife behind this computer. 

For those who don't know the Tandy 1000

was the first PC that Tandy actually put

their name on.  Until then they were

referred to as the TRS-80 which stood for

Tandy Radio Shack.  Even the Tandy

2000 which came a full 12 months before

the 1000 still had the TRS-80 logo.

To say that the Tandy 1000 was a work horse would be an understatement.  In PC power it

was on par for the day with an Intel 8088 CPU running at 4.77 Mhz. and 7.16 Mhz.,

(switchable) but the actual craftsmanship in this unit was extraordinary!  This unit would

not die, it was like a good set of Henry Kloss speakers.  The Tandy 1000 just kept going

and going. 

To prove my point the following is my actual

experience with the Tandy 1000.  I bought my

Tandy 1000 for $2499.00 (Canadian) in 1984

and after about one year I started up a BBS

(Electronic Bulletin Board) system running

Wildcat!  For those who know BBS's they task

every aspect of the PC.  Power supply is never 

turned off, the modem is always cranking and

hard drive is always grinding.  My BBS was

called the T.C.S.G. (Tandy Computer Support

Group) out of Camrose, Alberta Canada and

later in Leduc, Alberta.  My Tandy 1000 ran

that BBS from September of 1984 until December of 1993.  Later I would go into the

computer business and It was turned off because one of my salesman without me knowing

it sold it from off the counter for $600.00.  Four years later that same customer would come

back and buy a new IBM Aptiva.  I took it back as a trade in for 100.00.  It still works today!

The Tandy 1000 went through a few

changes.  Later releases were the Hybrid

types, Tandy 1000ex and 1000hx.  Basically

the same unit but built into a low profile

(apple) type enclosure.  The actual Tandy

1000's later models were Tandy 1000sx,

1000tx, 1000tl and 1000sl and finally the

1000rl.  The later models were built on the

Intel 8806 8/8 bit cpu running a 7.16 Mhz.

switchable to 4.77 by hitting the ALT-S keys. 

The Tandy 1000TL and TX were built on the

80286 CPU but still had the 8bit architecture. 

One myth of the Tandy 1000 was that it was proprietary in all software and hardware.  This

is not true.  I never found one piece of MS-DOS software that would not run on it.  The

8bit ISA bus slots would take any card I could find, with the only exception being an

external floppy controller that conflicted with the onboard controller.

If you have one of these unit don't expect it to quit on you unless lightning strikes it.  To

most the Tandy 1000 is what put Tandy into the MS-DOS race. 

Images from top to bottom:  Tandy 1000, Tandy 1000HX (3.5" 720K Floppy) and the

Tandy 1000EX (5.25" 360K Floppy).

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(c) 2004, 2005 Brian K. Hahn

 All Rights Reserved.