TRS-80 2000 Personal Computer

Performa

Performa

Member
The next show has unofficially become a "Tandy" show thanks to a meeting of the CoCo's and the TRS-80 Model 1, so why not bring the others? That means digging the TRS-80 2000 out of deep storage, so let's talk about it!



Devised by Tandy as a means to both break into and simultaneously leapfrog the existing IBM PC, IBM PC XT, and the many PC clones, the Tandy TRS-80 2000 (generally referred to as the Tandy 2000) was designed to be a performance juggernaut. In 1983, Tandy used the then-new Intel 80186 processor chip, and then overclocked it to 8 Megahertz, making it one of the fastest home computers available. Likewise, it offered some serious graphical power for it's time, especially for PC computers. On paper, it should have dominated. It did not for several reasons.

It's biggest problem is that for the wealth of PC software for the IBM PC and IBM PC XT (with the Intel 8088 and Intel 8086 processors) the Tandy 2000 could use almost none of it. The CPU was too fast to run it. The prospect of having to buy not just a new computer, but all the expensive software all over again was too much for many businesses to stomach. Compounding this was that the Tandy 2000 used "quad density" formatted disks- which only the Tandy 2000 could read and write. They offered greater storage capacity, but that was about it.

Finally, IBM rolled out the PC AT, which had the brand new Intel 80286, which was both backwards compatible to the original PC software, while also leapfrogging the 80186. The Tandy 2000 was obsolete overnight.

Today it's most interesting feature is it's market failure processor the Intel 80186- the Tandy 2000 was the only mass-produced computer produced with this processor.





More info at Wikipedia (HERE).
 
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Performa

Performa

Member
Bad news. I reached out to the experts over at the Vintage Computer Federation for some guidance on the monitor, and here's what I got back.



So both composite and CGA are out- it does it's own thing. So I either need to track down a very hard to find monitor, an even more hard to find PI-based video adapter, or something else entirely.

The prospects of this one making it to the show aren't great at this point. :(
 
_joshuaTurbo

_joshuaTurbo

New member
My (second*) experience ever with Tandy Computers was this majestic beast! When I hear someone speak of TRS-80, this is what I think of.

186

Finding one of these in the wild has become one of my highest priorities and would love to add one back into our fleet. :)

I started out gaming with the Tandy CoCo2, but once I saw this and the features it had with the duo drives and just "feeling more like a real PC" I was star struck. I had my own from about 1992-99, and then it fell ill when I stored it in a damp basement f well over a year... :(
 
Performa

Performa

Member
_joshuaTurbo said:
My (second*) experience ever with Tandy Computers was this majestic beast! When I hear someone speak of TRS-80, this is what I think of.

View attachment 186

Finding one of these in the wild has become one of my highest priorities and would love to add one back into our fleet. :)

I started out gaming with the Tandy CoCo2, but once I saw this and the features it had with the duo drives and just "feeling more like a real PC" I was star struck. I had my own from about 1992-99, and then it fell ill when I stored it in a damp basement f well over a year... :(
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The Model III and IV are pretty slick! The 2000 is actually a "PC" in the sense that it was Tandy's first attempt at a clone. I'd give it a spin, but it's still not working right for us. 😅
 
A

achilles

New member
I agree the 2000 was a real pc,i still own one along with its monitor. I thought the 186 was better than either the 086 or 286 not mention the 088. as a point of reference my next computer was a performa which I upgraded to a 6840 which gave it decent performance. good luck with the 2000
 
Performa

Performa

Member
achilles said:
I agree the 2000 was a real pc,i still own one along with its monitor. I thought the 186 was better than either the 086 or 286 not mention the 088. as a point of reference my next computer was a performa which I upgraded to a 6840 which gave it decent performance. good luck with the 2000
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We never got the monitor cable from the seller, so it remains in storage to this day. So it goes...
 
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achilles

New member
ok, made mistake in last post it was 68040 in the performa, I've been thinking about an old 6800 inch used for an instrument controller. I think, actually fairly confident , I have the cables in the monitor box, I may still have two monitors if you want them I guess we can find a way to get them to you
 
Performa

Performa

Member
achilles said:
ok, made mistake in last post it was 68040 in the performa, I've been thinking about an old 6800 inch used for an instrument controller. I think, actually fairly confident , I have the cables in the monitor box, I may still have two monitors if you want them I guess we can find a way to get them to you
Click to expand...
That would be cool, but no rush- that project is way, way down the priority tree these days. I appreciate the help!
 
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