Later versions removed the black keyboard surround and RAM button, and moved the TRS-80 nameplate to the mid-line of the case. The only available connection to a display device is to a TV.Įarly versions of the CoCo 1 have a black keyboard surround, the TRS-80 nameplate above the keyboard to the left side, and a RAM badge ("button") affixed on the top and right side of the case. Versions with at least 16K of memory installed shipped with standard Microsoft Color Basic or (optionally) Extended Color BASIC. The original version of the Color Computer sports a large silver-gray case with a calculator-like chiclet keyboard and was available with memory sizes of 4K (26-3001), 16K (26-3002), or 32K (26-3003). Within a few months, Radio Shack stores across the US and Canada began selling the new computer.ĤK TRS-80 Color Computer from 1981 (model 26-3001) The initial model (catalog number 26-3001) shipped with 4 KB of Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM) and 8 KB Microsoft BASIC in ROM. Although the company's Ed Juge said in 1981 that the Color Computer was "our entry into the home-computer market", he described it as "for serious professionals", stating that a word processor and spreadsheet would soon be available. Tandy viewed businesses as its primary market for computers. On July 31, 1980, Tandy announced the TRS-80 Color Computer, which shares the same case, keyboard, and layout as the AgVision/VideoTex terminals. A sticker indicating the amount of installed memory in the machine covers the hole where the Modem's LED "DATA" indicator had been. An expansion connector was added to the right side of the case for future enhancements and ROM cartridges ("Program Paks"). The internal modem was removed, and I/O ports for cassette storage, serial I/O, and joysticks were provided. The VideoTex terminal provided the foundation for a general-purpose home computer. It was also sold through Radio Shack stores as the VideoTex terminal around 1980. The SAM, VDG, and 6809 were used as the core of the AgVision terminal. Motorola responded by integrating the functions of many smaller chips into one chip: the MC6883 Synchronous Address Multiplexer (SAM). Unfortunately, the prototype contained too many chips to be commercially viable. The 1978 prototype "Green Thumb" terminal used the MC6847 and the Motorola 6809 microprocessor. Motorola's MC6847 Video Display Generator (VDG) chip was released about the time the joint venture started. This terminal would connect to a phone line and an ordinary color television and allow the user access to near-real-time information useful to their day-to-day operations on the farm. The initial goal of this project, called "Green Thumb", was to create a low cost Videotex terminal for farmers, ranchers, and others in the agricultural industry. Motorola Semiconductor of Austin, Texas, won the contract for the user terminals and Tandy's Computer Division joined later to manufacture the terminals. The TRS-80 Color Computer derives from an "experimental videotext project by the Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service and the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture" in 1977. BYTE wrote, "The only similarity between is the name". The Color Computer is a completely different design than the Zilog Z80-based TRS-80 models. Tandy Corporation announced the TRS-80 Color Computer in July 1980 to compete with the inexpensive and popular Commodore VIC-20. Variants of the OS-9 multitasking operating system were available from third parties. The Color Computer 3 was discontinued in 1991.Īll Color Computer models shipped with Color BASIC, an implementation of Microsoft BASIC, in ROM. All three models maintain a high level of software and hardware compatibility, with few programs written for an older model being unable to run on the newer ones. It was followed by the Color Computer 2 in 1983, then the Color Computer 3 in 1986. The Tandy Color Computer line started in 1980 with what is now called the Color Computer 1. Despite sharing a name with the earlier TRS-80, the Color Computer is a completely different, incompatible system and a radical departure in design and compatibility with its Motorola 6809E processor rather than the Zilog Z80 earlier models were built around. The RadioShack TRS-80 Color Computer, later marketed as the Tandy Color Computer and sometimes nicknamed the CoCo, is a line of home computers developed and sold by Tandy Corporation.
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