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OLD-COMPUTERS RESTORATION SITE
A reuploaded version of all that which was once hosted at old-computers.com, which is now inaccessible.
Archive by Hal at Holopleather.
TANDY RADIO SHACK 2000
The Tandy 2000 was launched in December 1981, a full year BEFORE the 1000, and proved to be a mistake on the part of Tandy, but to their credit they weren’t alone, many manufacturers who built systems based on the Intel 80186 CPU suffered the same fate.
On the surface the computer was quite the catch: The “T-2000” featured new instructions and new fault tolerance protection over the TRS-80 and COCO lines. Tandy built the 2000 with advanced color graphics, Intel 16bit processing at 8 Mhz and 2 720K 5.25” Floppy disks; and a CPU that was out performing even the 80286 computers of the time! It was a robust computer with excellent features but that 80186 CPU would come back to haunt it. The Tandy 2000 by many was considered the first AT style computer in North America, a bold and risky move by Tandy.
Despite all the advancements, the 80186 CPU was not popular with software developers, so few wrote software for the 80186. More to the point, however, the Tandy 2000, while touted as being compatible with the IBM XT, was different enough for most software beyond purely text oriented to not work properly. It differed by having a Tandy-specific video mode (640x400, not related to or forward-compatible with VGA), along with the new concept of keyboard scan codes, and the proprietary 720kb 5-1/4" floppy format: no other computer used this disk format, which was single-sided high-density, using standard 1.2Mb double-sided high-density disks; the drives could read and write 360kb floppies, but be careful when doing so if the disks were to be subsequently used in an IBM-compatible; there were hardware hacks to use 720kb 3.5" floppy drives, but it was unclear whether disks formatted in this way were compatible with standard PC-compatibles.
In addition: The Tandy 2000 was nominally BIOS-compatible with the IBM XT, which allowed extremely well-behaved DOS software to run on both platforms. However, most DOS software is not so well behaved and many PC programmers would bypass the PC-BIOS to achieve higher performance, rendering the software incompatible with the Tandy 2000. Microsoft provided a special version of MS-DOS that could combat these problems, but it was a proprietary programming venture. All other units, including the later Tandy 1000, operated on what was essentially the standard PC-DOS (IBMs version) or MS-DOS. The Tandy 2000 was further killed by the arrival of the 80286 CPU 2 months after its release.
In fairness, Tandy wasn't the only casualty of the 80186. Other computers that were built on that format, mostly from Europe, such as the Compis and the Dulmont Magnum were marketed with the CP/M operating system suffered the same fate. If you had a machine based on those systems the only thing that could realistically run on them was the CP/M operating system, but software was scarce, at least with MS-DOS you had some options with software.
In the end the computer was poorly supported by Radio Shack; eventually the remaining unsold computers were converted into the first Radio Shack Terminals (which, oddly enough, had been one of the original backup plans for the original TRS-80 Model 1). The Tandy 2000 computer was the only computer sold by Radio Shack that had both logos on the case "Tandy" and "TRS-80". The Tandy 2000 computer was the first to have the "Tandy" logo on it.
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Contributors: Derek McDonald (aka “Skel”)
Sources: Switchtec's Virtual PC Museum, Emperor Multimedia Electronic Archives, Wikipedia, 8-Bit Micro, Tandy 1000 PC Museum
KAYPRO 2000
After having produced several CP/M based computers, Kaypro released this stylish PC compatible portable. It had an innovative dark grey brushed aluminum case with beveled edges covered in ridged black rubber. When opened, it offered a detachable keyboard, a slimline 3.5" floppy disc drive and a first generation LCD screen with no backlite and limited contrast. The floppy drive front poped up to the right of the case to let the user insert disks. Two main options could be acquired separatly: a docking station containing two standard card expansion slots and housings for a second floppy drive and a hard disk; and a disk adapter for adding an external 5.25" or 3.5" floppy drive. This adapter also featured a Parallel port and one short card slot. There was also an external battery pack that doubled the four hour autonomy of the main battery. Like its predecessors, the Kaypro 2000 was sold with a large bundle of software. In addition to MS-DOS operating system, there were the range of Micropro products : WordStar, Mailmerge, CalcStar, InfoStar, and StarBurst, a communications package from Mycroft Labs, and several utilities provided by Kaypro. The Kaypro 2000 was licencied to the french company SMT which rabadged in 'Goupil Club' and sold it in France (and Europe?) with little success.
TIMEX-SINCLAIR 2068
This is the American version of the Spectrum. It has an additional 8K extension ROM, cartridge port, two joystick ports and AY-3-8912 sound chip with extra Sinclair BASIC commands to support these devices (STICK, SOUND). It was packaged in a hard plastic silver case with nonstandard plastic keys.
The TS2068 is Timex's re-engineered 48K Spectrum. It was released in Fall 1983 just before Timex Computer Corp folded in Spring 1984. A rogue arm of Timex in Portugal continued to sell TC2068s (same as TS2068) and TC2048s (an improved Spectrum) until 1989. They, of course, were only allowed to sell in non-Sinclair controlled marketplaces.
Timex recognized that a 48K Spectrum would not continue being competitive in North America for long without changes being made. They developed two computers that were to be North America's debut of the Spectrum. One was called the TS2048 and the other the TS2068. The TS2048 was basically a 48K Spectrum w/ Kempston joystick and the advanced video modes of the TS2068. The TS2068 was a completely different computer with the Spectrum as its roots. Timex decided to only sell the TS2068. When sales over Christmas 1983 were disappointing, they pulled the plug. Timex of Portugal, no doubt encouraged by the Spectrum's popularity in Europe, continued to sell the TS2068 and offered the TS2048 as the TC2068 and TC2048 in parts of Europe, notably Portugal and Poland. When Timex pulled the plug, they dumped all their surplus TS2068s in Argentina.
As for Spectrum compatibilty: The tape I/O is the same so you can load Spectrum tape files. Spectrum BASIC is a subset of the TS2068's BASIC, so you can run Spectrum BASIC programs. The TS2068's ROM is different, though, so you can't run Spectrum m/c that makes use of the ROM. Without the aid of a Spectrum emulator, you can run about 7% of the Spectrum's commercially available software.
The Spectrum emulator is really a Spectrum ROM on cartridge (there are other forms) that is bankswitched into the lower 0-16K region. The top 48K region is filled with RAM. To the software this looks exactly the same as a 48K Spectrum. There are a few hardware reasons for incompatibilities but using an emulator, you can reach 97% compatibility.
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Text taken from Sinclair Computer Hardware Factsheet.
Thanks Bob Johnson.
UNITRON 2200
This is a German clone of the Apple IIe. The keyboard of the UNITRON 2200 has built in macros, Applesoft commands and DOS commands. Very handy when doing basic programming. The only drawback is that the macro-key is the same key that changes from uppercase to lowercase and is also used when performing a reset. This results in constantly changing to lowercase when not wanting to. There are also two keys to make your own macros for the numeric keys. The drive controller and a Z80 CPU (for CP/M compatibility) are not optional but built in on the motherboard. When you boot the system, it says "DISK ON" instead of "APPLE ][".
CENTRAL DATA 2650
The 2650 was first reviewed in the US magazine Radio-Electronics, in the April 1977 issue. This computer was supplied in assembled form with an Editor / Assembler. A 12K BASIC was also available on cassette tape or floppy if you had the HD interface.
CIFER 2683
The Cifer 2683 was the stand-alone version of a large range of dumb terminals released in the UK by the Cifer Systems Limited Company. The 2683 was actually a Z80 based 2632 terminal to which a second Z80 card has been added, providing 64 KB of user RAM and a floppy-disk controller. The machine was used as a Z80 software development or general purpose CP/M system. A ROM/EPROM card allowed to develop and run custom programs. A 300 x 1024 pixel graphics board was also available, including a third Z80A CPU and providing Tektronix 4010 compatibility. A 2684 was also released, with same features as the 2683 but including a built-in 5.25" floppy-disk drives instead of an external unit.