japplega@csm9a.UUCP (Joe Applegate) (09/11/87)
> I have a Tandy-1000, the original 1000, circa 1985, and was in the market > for a HardDisk. I was under the impression that there was some sort of > Hardware incompatibility between the Tandy-1000 and the real PC world > in the FixedDisk area. Is this true? I asked my RadioShack salesman and > he said "NO, the 1000 is 100% IBM compatible!", if this is true, I could get > a much better price on a HardDisk from someone other than RadioShack... Wrongo... the old 1000 and the 1000A are definately NOT hardware compatible with the IBM... in order to place a WD card in my Tandy I had to burn a special ROM and cut a trace on the card!!! That is only one of the 23 modifications I've had to do to my Tandy 1000 in order to avoid paying for Tandy's overpriced, out of date hardware... and still at best I'd call it an 80% compatible!!!! I recently did a survey for our user group magazine which surveyed 19 RS stores and 3 Computer Centers in Colorado... over 90% claimed that the Tandy 1000 was 100% hardware and software compatible... 99% claimed I could plug in an IBM keyboard to the Tandy keyboard slot... and 75% told me the Tandy 1000 would run OS/2 (of course I had to ask if it would)! Tandy's salesmen are either the most uniformed salesmen in the industry or the biggest liars! "Tandy, because there is so little value" Joe Applegate - Colorado School of Mines Computing Center {seismo, hplabs}!hao!isis!csm9a!japplega or SYSOP @ M.O.M. AI BBS - (303) 273-3989 - 300/1200/2400 8-N-1 24 hrs. *** UNIX is a philosophy, not an operating system *** *** BUT it is a registered trademark of AT&T, so get off my back ***
abc@brl-adm.ARPA (Brint Cooper) (09/15/87)
In article <500@csm9a.UUCP> japplega@csm9a.UUCP (Joe Applegate) writes: >> I have a Tandy-1000, the original 1000, circa 1985, and was in the market >> for a HardDisk... I asked my RadioShack salesman and >> he said "NO, the 1000 is 100% IBM compatible!", if this is true, I could get >> a much better price on a HardDisk from someone other than RadioShack... You can; there's an extensive third party market for Tandy hardware: memory cards, hard disk cards, modems, video, etc, etc, >Wrongo... the old 1000 and the 1000A are definately NOT hardware compatible >with the IBM... in order to place a WD card in my Tandy I had to burn a >special ROM and cut a trace on the card!!! That is only one of the 23 >modifications I've had to do to my Tandy 1000.. Why on earth did you do this when you could buy, from one of many non-RS vendors (three immediately come to mind), a controller made for the T-1000 without modification. Admittedly, they're not advertised much on "Computer Shopper" but "80 Micro" is a good source of such info. And the vendors are quite competitive with one another. Tandy might not be the best buy for someone competent to burn ROM and cut trace but, for the more "general" public, it's an affordable way to run MS-DOS software, get service (at least parts -- where will you get special repair parts for your Far-East special?), and expand with the technology. You and I might be quite satisfied with a PC clones that come via mail order, but don't foist one off on your Aunt Nellie! -- Brint Cooper
japplega@csm9a.UUCP (09/16/87)
>>Wrongo... the old 1000 and the 1000A are definately NOT hardware compatible >>with the IBM... in order to place a WD card in my Tandy I had to burn a >>special ROM and cut a trace on the card!!! That is only one of the 23 >>modifications I've had to do to my Tandy 1000.. > >Why on earth did you do this when you could buy, from one of many non-RS >vendors (three immediately come to mind), a controller made for the >T-1000 without modification. Admittedly, they're not advertised much on >"Computer Shopper" but "80 Micro" is a good source of such info. And >the vendors are quite competitive with one another. When I bought that system 1.5 years ago only a handfull of manufacturers offered Tandy drives.... and once again the ripoff artists at Tandy assured me that it was IBM Compatible (10" or shorter boards).... so why should I pay $600-$700 for a Tandy compatible drive (HDS price at that time) when I could buy a Miniscribe with a WD controller for $300! Only after buying the drive did I discover Tandy's deceptive false advertising!!! Tandy compatible hard drives ARE STILL more expensive than IBM compatible and are available ONLY via mail order!!! Tandy's drives, like all their peripherals, are out of date and priced like they were IBM!!! Joe Applegate - Colorado School of Mines Computing Center {seismo, hplabs}!hao!isis!csm9a!japplega or SYSOP @ M.O.M. AI BBS - (303) 273-3989 - 300/1200/2400 8-N-1 24 hrs. *** UNIX is a philosophy, not an operating system *** *** BUT it is a registered trademark of AT&T, so get off my back ***