cc743810@sjuvax.UUCP (Chuck Conway) (11/30/87)
My friend's parents want to buy him a computer for Christmas,
and they asked me where to go to get one. They know nothing
about PC's, and they were hoping that I could point them in the
right direction. They wanted to spend <$2000 for a complete
system (PC,display,printer). I suggested that they go to
a Radio Shack Computer Center and investigate the Tandy 1000
line of PCs. Anyway, I haven't been keeping up with tech info
as of late, and I was hoping somebody could point me to the right
Tandy model. The setup I would probably suggest is a XT type
with 640K, 1 floppy, and a 20 meg hard disk. Concerning displays,
I imagine they probably would want a color display, so they can
do 1-2-3 graphics and also play games. Any suggestions on equipment?
Also, how about a high quality dot-matrix printer? Something that
can do NLQ (or even LQ), maybe a 24 pin printhead? How about the
price - can something be obtained for $300-$400?
Any help would be GREATLY appreciated.
Thanks!
Chuck Conway
--
Chuck Conway [215]/572-0450
cc743810@sjuvax.UUCP -or- ...!rutgers!cbmvax!bpa!sjuvax!cc743810
...!princeton/
WANTED: 68-70 MoPar B-Body parts (Satellite/Coronet/Charger/GTX/Super Bee/etc)creps@silver.bacs.indiana.edu (Steve Creps) (12/02/87)
In article <1014@sjuvax.UUCP> cc743810@sjuvax.UUCP (Chuck Conway) writes:
(help wanted on choosing a Tandy computer).
I speak from experience only in shopping around, as I chose not to buy
one, but I would caution you in buying a Tandy. The reason is this:
compatibility. They should be just fine as far as running IBM PC programs
goes (software compatibility), but they ARE NOT hardware-compatible. That
means if you want to expand them, say add another disk drive, another
board, etc. you have to buy it from Radio Shack. And Radio Shack's prices
for the extra parts are absolutely outrageous.
I would say, if you're sure you won't ever need to expand your system,
then sure, Tandys are just fine, and you can get a really good deal on them.
But if you ever decide to expand them, look out.
My experience in this is from the time I bought an XT-clone, of which
Tandy's version is the 1000. The above may not be true for later
models, but you can always ask the dealer if they are hardware-compatible.
- - - - - - - - -
Steve Creps on the VAX 8650 running Ultrix 2.0-1 at Indiana University.
creps@silver.bacs.indiana.edu
"F-14 Tomcat! There IS no substitute."ugfailau@sunybcs.uucp (Fai Lau) (12/02/87)
In article <462@silver.bacs.indiana.edu> creps@silver.UUCP (Steve Creps) writes: > > I speak from experience only in shopping around, as I chose not to buy >one, but I would caution you in buying a Tandy. The reason is this: >compatibility. They should be just fine as far as running IBM PC programs >goes (software compatibility), but they ARE NOT hardware-compatible. That >means if you want to expand them, say add another disk drive, another >board, etc. you have to buy it from Radio Shack. And Radio Shack's prices >for the extra parts are absolutely outrageous. The last time I was foolish enough to check they charged $499.00 for a 2400baud modem! While I got a figure of around $240 over the phone from my neighborhood computer store. Tany is using another one of those "give you the razor, sell you the blade" tactic. Buy at your own risk! Fai Lau SUNY at Buffalo (The Arctic Wonderland) UUCP: ..{mit-ems|watmath|rocksanne}!sunybcs!ugfailau BI: ugfailau@sunybcs
jvc@prism.UUCP (12/03/87)
/* Written 2:02 am Dec 2, 1987 by creps@silver.UUCP in comp.sys.ibm.pc */ >... >one, but I would caution you in buying a Tandy. The reason is this: >compatibility. They should be just fine as far as running IBM PC programs >goes (software compatibility), but they ARE NOT hardware-compatible. That >means if you want to expand them, say add another disk drive, another >board, etc. you have to buy it from Radio Shack. And Radio Shack's prices >for the extra parts are absolutely outrageous. The above does NOT apply for the 3000 (AT clone) and 4000 (386 AT) series. Nor does in apply to the 1200 (XT clone) but this model was discontinued around the time IBM discontinued theirs. However, both the 3000 and the 4000 are out of the original posters price range (wanted to spend <$2000 for a complete system) if they are purchased at a Radio Shack store. It might be possible to get a complete 3000 system if it is purchased from a mail order shop authorized to sell Radio Shack equipment like Computer Plus of Littleton, MA. There are models of the TANDY 1000 that are definitely NOT hardware- compatible; I have no first hand info on the newer 1000's. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jim Champeaux jvc@mirror.TMC.COM {mit-eddie, ihnp4, wjh12, cca, cbosgd, seismo}!mirror!jvc Mirror Systems, 2067 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02140 Telephone: (617) 661-0777
mchin@homxc.UUCP (12/04/87)
In article <206900089@prism>, jvc@prism.UUCP writes: > > The above does NOT apply for the 3000 (AT clone) and 4000 (386 AT) series. > Nor does in apply to the 1200 (XT clone) but this model was discontinued > around the time IBM discontinued theirs. However, both the 3000 and > the 4000 are out of the original posters price range (wanted to spend > <$2000 for a complete system) if they are purchased at a Radio Shack > store. It might be possible to get a complete 3000 system if it is > purchased from a mail order shop authorized to sell Radio Shack > equipment like Computer Plus of Littleton, MA. One of the ads in the PC type magazines (Magazine, Technology, World, etc.) states that the 4000 is on sale. They are an actual Radio Shack store or so their phone person answered. Anyway, the price of the system was $1819 stripped down. After adding some of the extras, just as long as they're not Radio Shack extras, the complete system without a printer would be about $2800. That's with a hard disk, EGA card, and monitor. ($300 for disk, $300 for card, and $300 for monitor). Just some further information. Unfortunately, I can't remember the name of the store or their number. Michael Chin ihnp4!homxc!mchin
leonard@bucket.UUCP (Leonard Erickson) (12/05/87)
Tandy is _not_, repeat _NOT_ the only source for hardware expansion cards for the Tandy 1000 series. There are several other vendors. Check the ads in 80 Micro or in PCM magazine. You'll find prices that may not be as low as for PC clones, but that are a lot lower than Tandy. For the guy who wanted to get a hard disk for his 1000. Unless you can verify that you have on of the more recent models that has a jumper for changing the hard disk interrupt, you can't use a standard hard disk!!! Western Digital will gladly sell you a controller that is modified to work with a Tandy 1000.... -- Leonard Erickson ...!tektronix!reed!percival!bucket!leonard CIS: [70465,203] "I used to be a hacker. Now I'm a 'microcomputer specialist'. You know... I'd rather be a hacker."