wordproc@ucf-cs.UCF.EDU (Gang of Three) (06/27/89)
Radio Shack personnel may or may not be fairly knowledgeable about their products, but in *my* area, most of them seem to be ignorant of the Model 4 line and anything lower. Many don't seem to realize that Tandy really *did* put out a Tandy 2000, as well. I wonder if there's a single Radio Shack/Tandy salesperson out there who realizes that Tandy DOES make a hard drive for the Model 4? Even if not, it's not really surprising; the point is made only in fine print in the catalog. I think it's page 33 of the 1989 Tandy computer catalog (the page with information on the Network 4 system). Way down there in the fine-print specifications (where they talk about required hardware and so forth) is the point: "Network 4 requires a hard drive (catalog number 26-1041 [I think that's the number]) with hard drive controller xx-xxxx." Flipping to the hard drive section, you find a 20MB hard drive 26-1041, a nice external drive, white case and all, with information about a Model 1000 controller directly below it. Where the Model 4 controller is in the catalog, I don't know. Why would a Model 4 need a controller? Would the drive not work plugged in to the I/O bus on the 4? It's interesting that the means of discovering that there *is* a hard drive available for the 4 is so convoluted. It's not mentioned in the Model 4 page; seems they would push the hard drive with the computer. -- Marcus
uhclem@trsvax.UUCP (06/28/89)
<> Please look on page 35 of the RSC-20 Computer Catalog. You will find the Model 4D and under hardware upgrades you will find the Model 4/4D Hard Disk Controller, 26-1138. Of course any of the old Radio Shack 5, 12, 15, 35, or 70 meg drives in the external cabinet that is a primary (has a keyswitch) already has the controller built-in, and only requires a cable. The port on the bottom of the Model 4/4D/4P is the raw CPU bus. It is not designed specifically with hard disks in mind and therefore, you need the controller and its associated address decoding circuitry. "Thank you, Uh Clem." Frank Durda IV @ <trsvax!uhclem> ...decvax!microsoft!trsvax!uhclem ...sys1!hal6000!trsvax!uhclem
bill@bilver.UUCP (Bill Vermillion) (06/29/89)
In article <1129@ucf-cs.UCF.EDU> wordproc@ucf-cs.UCF.EDU (Gang of Three) writes: > >I wonder if there's a single Radio Shack/Tandy salesperson out there who >realizes that Tandy DOES make a hard drive for the Model 4? > >Even if not, it's not really surprising; the point is made only in fine print >in the catalog. I think it's page 33 of the 1989 Tandy computer catalog (the >page with information on the Network 4 system). Way down there in the >fine-print specifications (where they talk about required hardware and so forth) ....... >It's interesting that the means of discovering that there *is* a hard drive >available for the 4 is so convoluted. It's not mentioned in the Model 4 >page; seems they would push the hard drive with the computer. Well if anyone wants a hard drive for their model 4 they had better hurry. I saw the controller for sale last week at $395 in a close out sale at the local store. It was also sitting with a bunch of other items marked down to close them out (it appeard) including one of their standalone tape drives. Call your nearest center if you need one - but they may all be gone by now. bill -- Bill Vermillion - UUCP: {uiucuxc,hoptoad,petsd}!peora!rtmvax!bilver!bill : bill@bilver.UUCP
leonard@bucket.UUCP (Leonard Erickson) (06/29/89)
In article <1129@ucf-cs.UCF.EDU> wordproc@ucf-cs.UCF.EDU (Gang of Three) writes:
<Flipping to the hard drive section, you find a 20MB hard drive 26-1041, a nice
<external drive, white case and all, with information about a Model 1000
<controller directly below it. Where the Model 4 controller is in the catalog,
<I don't know. Why would a Model 4 need a controller? Would the drive not
<work plugged in to the I/O bus on the 4?
The hard drive is just that, a *hard drive* and a power supply. You need a
controller and that plugs into the i/o bus. After all, you can't hook a
floppy up to the i/o bus, you have to hook it up to the floppy controller.
(That external connector *is* on the floppy controller!)
<It's interesting that the means of discovering that there *is* a hard drive
<available for the 4 is so convoluted. It's not mentioned in the Model 4
<page; seems they would push the hard drive with the computer.
I'm not surprised, they *did* push it along with the computer....
5 years ago. Now all the Model 4 equipment is pretty much restricted to
stock on hand.
--
Leonard Erickson ...!tektronix!reed!percival!bucket!leonard
CIS: [70465,203]
"I'm all in favor of keeping dangerous weapons out of the hands of fools.
Let's start with typewriters." -- Solomon Shortdinda@cat21.CS.WISC.EDU (Peter Dinda) (07/01/89)
Seems like a typical Radio Shack thing to do - put a controller card for an outdated machine 'on sale' for an outrageous price. I'm sure you can do better with a third party controller - and probably a third party hard drive as well. Check out PCM magazine. Peter A. Dinda (also reachable as dinda@WIRCS3.macc.wisc.edu)
wilso_d@cs.odu.edu (DeWitte Wilson) (07/01/89)
In article <1129@ucf-cs.UCF.EDU>, wordproc@ucf-cs.UCF.EDU (Gang of Three) writes: > > It's interesting that the means of discovering that there *is* a hard drive > available for the 4 is so convoluted. It's not mentioned in the Model 4 > page; seems they would push the hard drive with the computer. > > -- Marcus Actually, I'm wondering even why they still sell the Model IV's. I have two of them, and if I even dared to sell one, I would not be able to get more than $200 for it, and yet they advertise them for something like $1099 or something like that? I used to work there, and we had this one guy that sold color computers all around Christmas - one day I had the opportunity to listen to him talking to a customer, "Oh, yes ma'am.. these computers hook right up to a TV, and they DON'T EVEN USE SOFTWARE!" - Needless to say, she was thrilled at the thought of never having to invest more money into the machine. I wasn't there after Christmas, so I didn't get to see any of them come back. With the price of hard disks always going down, they ought to shove one right in the upper bay of the Model IV, put two DSDD floppies in the bottom and still sell it for around $1000. I'm sure that would even be considered high based on the fact that it is a non-msdos machine. -- DeWitte Wilson <wilso_d@cs.odu.edu> Old Dominion University Sysop - The Mod III BBS 804-424-1215 [300=>2400] 8N1 "We are the keepers of the Sacred Words. Ni ... Peng ... and Neee ... Wom!" Subject: Re: Radio Shack personnel Newsgroups: comp.sys.tandy Distribution: usa Summary: Ignorance is Rampent... References: <1129@ucf-cs.UCF.EDU> In article <1129@ucf-cs.UCF.EDU>, wordproc@ucf-cs.UCF.EDU (Gang of Three) writes: > > It's interesting that the means of discovering that there *is* a hard drive > available for the 4 is so convoluted. It's not mentioned in the Model 4 > page; seems they would push the hard drive with the computer. > > -- Marcus Actually, I'm wondering even why they still sell the Model IV's. I have two of them, and if I even dared to sell one, I would not be able to get more than $200 for it, and yet they advertise them for something like $1099 or something like that? I used to work there, and we had this one guy that sold color computers all around Christmas - one day I had the opportunity to listen to him talking to a customer, "Oh, yes ma'am.. these computers hook right up to a TV, and they DON'T EVEN USE SOFTWARE!" - Needless to say, she was thrilled at the thought of never having to invest more money into the machine. I wasn't there after Christmas, so I didn't get to see any of them come back. With the price of hard disks always going down, they ought to shove one right in the upper bay of the Model IV, put two DSDD floppies in the bottom and still sell it for around $1000. I'm sure that would even be considered high based on the fact that it is a non-msdos machine.
gmadison@pnet02.cts.com (George Madison) (07/03/89)
wilso_d@cs.odu.edu (DeWitte Wilson) writes: >Actually, I'm wondering even why they still sell the Model IV's. I I believe it has something to do with some contracts Tandy has with some school districts about computers. I agree the price is WAY out of line. I don't know if you'd be interested in this, but several people on GEnie are talking about the possibility of designing a new, Model-4 compatible motherboard around the Z-280 processor. The idea is that you'd drop this board into an inexpensive PeeCee case, add a similarly inexpensive PeeCee power supply and monochrome monitor, and VOILA! They're thinking about such things as an enhanced floppy controller that would deal with the new breed of 1.44MB floppies, built in hi-res graphics, lots of RAM on board, SCSI support, and so on. If they do what a manufacturer of a new Z-280 based CP/M machine are doing and include an IBM-PC buss, we could use "their" HD controllers, etc. directly. (Remember, the Z-280 has a 16MB address space!) |George Madison, a/k/a George The Bear Cub, a/k/a Furr ** BEAR POWER **| |INET: gmadison@pnet02.cts.com 8-{)> ames!elroy!pnet02.cts.com!gmadison| |GEnie: GEORGE.M Arctophiles & Barbophiles Unite! PLink: BEARDLOVER| "Wouldn't it be great if you could only get AIDS from giving money to television preachers?" -- Elayne Boosler
bill@bilver.UUCP (Bill Vermillion) (07/03/89)
In article <2839@puff.cs.wisc.edu> dinda@cat21.CS.WISC.EDU (Peter Dinda) writes: > > >Seems like a typical Radio Shack thing to do - put a controller card for an >outdated machine 'on sale' for an outrageous price. I'm sure you can do >better with a third party controller - and probably a third party hard >drive as well. Check out PCM magazine. > No such thing as third party controllers for these machines. The controller interfaces to an extension of the internal bus, and is a "host adaptor" and controller on one card. PCM magazine won't help.. This is z80 based architecture. If you need it the price isn't that bad. Third party hard drives are no problem if you know what you are doing. Don't jump on R/S too hard on this one. That bus extension is virtually the same on all their Z-80 based machines. And it was released (the bus that is) to the world just about 2 years BEFORE IBM announced the PC. Attaching the controller to the drive isn't a bad idea. It seemed to take years before the PC industry picked that up ala the "hard-card" units. bill -- Bill Vermillion - UUCP: {uiucuxc,hoptoad,petsd}!peora!rtmvax!bilver!bill : bill@bilver.UUCP
gmadison@pnet02.cts.com (George Madison) (07/04/89)
bill@bilver.UUCP (Bill Vermillion) writes: >> >No such thing as third party controllers for these machines. The controller Wrongo! MISOSYS is bringing to market a complete hard drive subsystem for the Models III and IV, with the target price (including a 20MB drive, enclosure, power supply AND controller) being $495. |George Madison, a/k/a George The Bear Cub, a/k/a Furr ** BEAR POWER **| |INET: gmadison@pnet02.cts.com 8-{)> ames!elroy!pnet02.cts.com!gmadison| |GEnie: GEORGE.M Arctophiles & Barbophiles Unite! PLink: BEARDLOVER| "Wouldn't it be great if you could only get AIDS from giving money to television preachers?" -- Elayne Boosler