![]() ![]() When the nameplate was updated for the new name, the three colored boxes on it became parallelograms. During the production run for the CoCo 2, the original keyboard was replaced by a full-stroke keyboard, and some machines were built in Korea while others were assembled in the US.įor CoCo enthusiasts, this is the model where the name changed from Radio Shack TRS-80 Color Computer to Tandy Color Computer. A new graphics chip added support for lowercase text. ![]() The CoCo’s BASIC ROMs were updated to correct some bugs and add some minor new features. It was functionally identical to the CoCo 1, but its smaller logic board allowed Tandy to produce a case about 25% less deep than the CoCo 1. ![]() Radio Shack introduced the Color Computer 2 in 1983. The home computer industry was moving to more powerful models, not less powerful ones, and the MC-10 was discontinued after one year. On the minus side, you needed to add an external keyboard to actually type, as the tiny keyboard didn’t allow for touch typing. It had just 4 KB of memory (20 KB maximum), used a Motorola 6803 CPU, and its graphics matched those of the CoCo1. #Coco disk archive fullUnfortunately, the MC-10 was crippled to prevent it from competing with the full sized Color Computer. In 1983, Tandy introduced a smaller, lower cost version of the Color Computer, the TRS-80 MC-10, to compete with the Commodore VIC-20 and Sinclair ZX81. Later on, CoCo got a full-stroke keyboard and came in a white case, replacing the silver of the original. A 64 KB model was later added and the 4 KB and 32 KB versions were phased out. (I believe this was the only home computer to run at less than 1 MHz, although not by much.) Although there was a 4 KB version, you needed at least the 16 KB version to use Color BASIC, which was included with the 16 KB and 32 KB machines. The original Color Computer used the same chiclet style keyboard as the VideoTex Terminal and the same 0.8 CPU. When the Color Computer got a floppy drive, Disk Extended Color BASIC arrived, and the final iteration was Super Extended BASIC for the CoCo3 – but we’re getting ahead of ourselves.ĬoCo was meant to connect to your color TV, and it used program cartridges like Atari home computers and game consoles. Color BASIC was the core language, and Extended Color BASIC was a more powerful version of the language. The friendly little computer soon acquired the nickname CoCo, for Color Computer.Īs with the older TRS-80 line, there were different levels of BASIC for CoCo. The new computer retailed for $399 at Radio Shack stores across the US and Canada. That model had 4 KB of memory and 8 KB of ROM that included Microsoft BASIC, which Tandy called Color BASIC. On July 31, 1980, Radio Shack delivered the TRS-80 Color Computer, essentially a VideoTex Terminal minus its modem but with a cartridge slot, I/O ports, and joysticks. The VideoTex Terminal used a 6809 CPU, 6883 Synchronous Address Multiplexer, and 6847 Video Display Generator, all from Motorola. Fans of the Color Computer will immediately see the origin of its case. ![]() Motorola sold it as the AgVision terminal, while Radio Shack called it the VideoTex Terminal (right). The first product was a home terminal that could be used with an ordinary color TV, eliminating the cost of a computer monitor. Radio Shack teamed up with Motorola in 1977 to create a lower-cost home computer. Commodore jumped on color in 1980, when it released the VIC-20, the same year that Tandy introduced the first TRS-80 Color Computer. Texas Instruments joined the home computer market with its 99/4A in 1979 – it even included its own 13″ color monitor. Befitting its history in video gaming, the Atari 400 and 800 had color support. In 1978, Atari released its first personal computers. The Apple 1, a single-board computer introduced in 1976, was the first model to support a color display, and the Apple II, released in 1977, was the first fully assembled computer with a color display. #Coco disk archive softwareThat means no software was compatible between the two lines. The original TRS-80 line was built around the Zilog Z-80 CPU, while the Color Computer used the Motorola 6809E CPU. A Different Kind of TRS-80Īlthough it shared TRS-80 as part of its name with Tandy’s black-and-white personal computers, the Color Computer was an entirely different machine. First generation Color Computer in original silver and later white case. ![]()
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