Welcome to part 5 of my SepTandy Spectacular. In this post, we're taking a look at a portable machine that paved the way for the modern laptop, the Tandy Model 100.
Released in 1983, the Model 100 was one of the first notebook-style computers, It was a full blown personal computer with a keyboard an LCD display, all running off batteries and being about the size a notepad or a large book. Today a laptop is a common sight for portable computing, but back in 1983, the idea of a portable computer being this size, something between the size of a proper desktop and Radio Shack's own Pocket Computer line, was almost unheard off.
It somewhat of an unusual portable computer at the time, as most portable computers in 1983 were what were referred to as Luggable computers, which were essentially desktops that had a built in screen and a handle, and weren't as portable as you could imagine. The idea of the portability of these machines was more that they could fit them in a car or underneath the seat of an airplane and all you would need to do was just plug them into a power outlet to get it up and running.
Some examples of luggable computers available at the time were CP/M machines like the Osborne 1 and the Kaypro 2, as well as recently introduced MS-DOS compatible machines such as the Dynalogic/Bytec Hyperion and the much more popular Compaq Portable.
It wasn't the first commercially available portable computer to come in this size, that honor would go to the Epson HX-20, which debuted two years prior to the Model 100, in 1981.
Much like the Pocket Computer line, Tandy didn't manufactured the Model 100, It was actually licensed version of a computer made in Japan by Kyocera (Yes, as in the photocopier company), known as the Kyotronic 85.
But unlike the Pocket Computer line (Well with the exception of the PC-4, as the Casio PB 100 was also licensed to Olympia as the Olympia OP-544), Tandy wasn't the only company to use the design, there were other companies that sold machines using the design in other countries. In addition to Tandy Radio Shack, there was a version made by NEC known as the NEC PC-8201 that sold in the US, Europe, and Japan, and the Italian computer and typewriter manufacturer Olivetti sold a version known as the Olivetti M10 which was sold both in Italy and the rest of Europe.
As previously mentioned, the Model 100 was released in 1983 for $799.00 for 4K of RAM or $999.00 for 24K of RAM.
On the front (or rather the top) of the machine, lies the keyboard and the LCD display. The keyboard has some interesting features such as a virtual Numpad you can use by pressing the NUM key on the bottom, As well as using latching switches for the CAPS lock and NUM lock keys. So when you press them down once they stay down and when you press them again they return up. In the days before LED indicators on keyboards to indicate whether a locking key was active or not (Which would become standard with keyboards after the introduction of the IBM Model M in 1985), keyboards often had these kind of switches in them for locking keys.
On the right side, there is the power switch, a display contrast adjustment wheel, and 6V DC power jack to power the device from a wall outlet.
On the back, there is the reset button, a 25-pin RS-232C serial port, a Centronics compatible printer port, a port for the internal 300 baud modem, and the cassette port.
On the left side, a port for an external bar code reader and two switches, one that toggles between the internal modem and an optional acoustic coupler modem, and the other for selecting whether you want to send or receive information through the modem.
And finally on the bottom, there is the battery compartment, a Memory Power switch So you could use a CMOS battery to save data if the batteries are either dead or not installed, and a ROM expansion slot to add additional software.
Powering on the Model 100 is different then the previous machines, because instead of droping you straight into a BASIC prompt, your instead are greeted with a menu of built in programs. There are five built in programs, the BASIC interpreter, a simple text editor, a telcom program (to make use of the built in modem), an address book, and a scheduler. They work a bit like apps on a modern smartphone, in the fact that you could enter one program, and exit it to open another.
The BASIC dialect is pretty standard, It's actually more similar to IBM PC basic than any of the other BASIC's Tandy sold for their machines. As usual, i'll type in the Hello World program. One thing to note is that due to the display, you don't get as much vertical text on the screen as say, the TRS-80 for example, but it's still serviceable, especially considering the display.
Storage wise, the cassette port that is once again, compatible with the TRS-80 line and the CoCo line. So any cable and cassette recorders, Radio Shack branded or otherwise, will work fine.
However, floppy disk capability became an option starting in 1986, with the introduction of the Tandy Portable Disk Drive. This conected to the RS232 serieal port and was capable of storing 100K of data on a 3.5-inch single-sided double-density floppy disk; it was a rebranded version of the Brother FB100 floppy drive for Brother's KH-900 series of computer controlled knitting machines. There was also another version called the Tandy Portable Disk Drive 2, that could store up to 200K.
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There was also a Disk/Video Interface expansion box released in 1984, which came with one single-sided double-density 180 KB 5.25 inch Floppy drive, an empty drive bay that could be installed with a second disk drive, and a video out adapter so you could get the Model 100 to display 40 or 80 column video on an external monitor or a standard tv set.
You can also backup data by transferring files to a desktop computer, via either the modem connected to a telephone line, or the RS-232 serial port connected to a null modem cable. you can use the built-in TELCOM software to communicate between the Model 100 and a desktop. The TRSDOS 6 operating system for the TRS-80 Model 4 included a utility called TAPE100 that allowed you to read and write tapes created by a Model 100 from the Model 4's cassette port, and save the data in TRSDOS disk files.
Other peripherals included the aforementioned barcode reader and acoustic coupler modem, as well as a carrying case, a portable printer, and various RAM and ROM upgrades.
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For hardware, the Model 100 uses an OKI 80C85 CPU clocked at 2.4 MHz. The 80C85 is a CMOS version of the Intel 8085 CPU, which is a backwards compatible successor to the Intel 8080 CPU, which itself was the basis for the Zilog Z80 CPU used in the TRS-80 line, so they coding is compatible to a certain extent. The Model 100 also can have anywhere from 8K to 32K of RAM depending on the model, anywhere from 32K to 64K of ROM (again depending on the model), the LCD screen that's capable of displaying text at a resolution of 40 Columns by 8 rows as well as bit mapped graphics at a resolution of 240 by 64, a small beeper speaker for sound, and can run off 4 AA batteries (with an Approximate 120 hour battery life) or the previously mentioned 6V power adapter.
Softwarewise, Unlike the TRS-80 and the CoCo line, There wasn't much prewritten software availible to purchase and most of the software that was came from Radio Shack themselves. However, Various software cassettes were available from smaller publishers via mail order as well as various online BBS services.
While the Model 100 was used for industrial applications and science laboratories as a programming terminal for configuration of control systems and instruments, as well as for schools, businesses and possibly even some small stores with its barcode reader and software, It was most popular with journalists. With its size screen resolution, 32K RAM configuration and built in modem, a journalist could easily type about 11 pages of text and using the built-in modem and TELCOM program, transmit it for electronic editing and production at the publisher.
The Tandy Model 100 line continued on with the Tandy Model 200 in 1984. The 200 had a variaty of improvements; It had a flip-up 40 column by 16 row display, 24K of RAM (expandable to 72 KB with 3 banks of 24K), A new keyboard, a built in version of Microsoft's Multiplan spreadsheet program, and added the ability to use DTMF tone dialing for the internal modem.
The last new model in the line was the Tandy 600, introduced in 1985. It featured an 80 column flip-up screen, an 80C88 CPU, a built-in 3.5 inch disk drive, rechargeable batteries, and 32K of RAM (expandable to 224K).
The built in Operating System was Microsoft's 16-bit Hand Held Operating System (Handheld DOS or HHDOS), along with word processing, calendar, database, communication and spreadsheet software. The only thing it did not include was BASIC, it was an extra-cost option rather than being built in.
A redesign to the Model 100, the Tandy 102, was introduced in 1986 as a direct replacement for the Model 100. It was the same as the 100, but in a thinner, form factor with surface-mount chip packaging, and 24K of RAM (upgradable to 32K with an 8K SRAM chip).
The Model 100 line eventually evolved into a line of MS-DOS laptops like the Tandy 1400LT, and a line of dedicated portable word processors for the education market such as the Tandy WP-2.
The Model 100 doesn't have many notable appearances in movies and tv shows, there are a couple. In the "O'Brother: Part 2" episode of the sitcom Family Ties, Jennifer uses a model 100 in the kitchen, in the third episode of the tv series Halt and Catch Fire, Joe buys a number of machines to act as inspiration for the new PC project including the Model 100, and more recently in Wonder Woman 1984, One of Maxwell Lord's investors has a Model 100 on his desk. Well at least it's a bit more accurate then the Comodore PETs seen throughout the film.
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In conclusion, I hope you enjoyed my look at the Tandy Model 100, an impressive imported computer that helped establish the laptop computer market with major success 39 years ago. With it's size, capabilites, and features, its no wonder why this computer was one of Tandy's most popular computers and still has a dedicated community that still develop for the machine today. In the next post, Im going to take a look at another Tandy computer from 1983 that not many people know about.
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