eich@uiuccsb.UUCP (12/02/83)
#R:uiucuxc:3700073:uiuccsb:4400031:000:513 uiuccsb!eich Dec 1 16:38:00 1983 An 80186 is downward compatible with the 8086; it has a few extra "High-level" instructions (Enter, Leave for stack linkage). More important, it also has 2 dma channels, 3 timers, programmable chip-select, and a local bus controller -- ALL on-chip! (I may have left something out...). A pretty nice part if you can stomach the 8080-derived programming model that Intel is committed to. There was an article in BYTE (May, I think) describing it. You can write Intel, too. Brendan Eich uiucdcs!uiuccsb!eich
grunwald@uiuccsb.UUCP (12/02/83)
#R:uiucuxc:3700073:uiuccsb:4400032:000:459 uiuccsb!grunwald Dec 1 19:18:00 1983 It seems odd that they would release something to compete against the IBM PC since they have the Model 16, which seems to be a very good bargin compared to the PC. What is the price range for the Model 2000? It had better be about 2/3 or 1/2 of the Model 16 or people will probably buy the Model 16 (unless it is IBM PC compatible or something). Dirk Grunwald University of Illinois USENET : ihnp4 ! uiucdcs ! grunwald CSNET : grunwald.uiuc@Rand-Relay
hood@uiucuxc.UUCP (12/02/83)
#N:uiucuxc:3700073:000:318 uiucuxc!hood Dec 1 08:35:00 1983 I hear that Radio Shack has a new computer out, the Model 2000. It is suppose to be a IBM killer... It has a 80186 in it. What the heck is a 80186? What is the difference between a 8086 and a 80186 ? Can anyone shed the light? I would appreicate any info, and any leads to more information... thanx E. Gray
corbin@uiucuxc.UUCP (12/03/83)
#R:uiucuxc:3700073:uiucuxc:3700074:000:105 uiucuxc!corbin Dec 2 07:17:00 1983 The 12 Dec 83 issue of INFOWORLD has an article about TANDY's MS-DOS micro with 80186 chip. Cal Corbin
rowan@parsec.UUCP (12/04/83)
#R:uiucuxc:3700073:parsec:38200003:000:858
parsec!rowan Dec 2 09:25:00 1983
As remembered from an article in the WSJ 12/01/83
The Tandy TRS80 Model 2000 (with an Intel 80186) will have two
to three time the performance of a PC, will be software compatible with
the PC (what ever that means) and will cost about 2/3s as much for
similarly configured units. The key point is Tandy is going after
corporate sales. They left the Radio Shack name out of the press
release. The Model 2000 will be sold in Radio Shack Computer Centers
however.
One interesting point the article made was that Tandy may have
problems with the availability of the 80186 when IBM announces its
Popcorn machine. Popcorn is rumored to contain the 80186. I am sure
Intel would not let something like IBM's 16% ownership affect its
allocation policies.
Steve Rowan
Parsec Scientific Computer Corp.
{allegra,ihnp4,uiucdcs,ctvax}!parsec!rowan
(214)669-3700kurt@fluke.UUCP (Kurt Guntheroth) (12/08/83)
The problem with a 186 in the TRS 2000 is that it will not be IBM
compatible. MS-DOS is rumored to use opcodes (or more properly interrupts)
that Intel reserved for future expansion and then used in the 186.
Many people believe this is why the IBM Peanut did not use the 188, which
would have made sense from a hardware or cost sense.
So, don't hold your hopes too high for this machine.
--
Kurt Guntheroth
John Fluke Mfg. Co., Inc.
{uw-beaver,decvax!microsof,ucbvax!lbl-csam,allegra,ssc-vax}!fluke!kurtstevel@haddock.UUCP (12/11/83)
#R:uiucuxc:3700073:haddock:13200002:000:183
haddock!stevel Dec 4 17:12:00 1983
Does anybody know what the clock rate on Radio Shacks new 80186
computer is?
The hard disk's access time?
Steve Ludlum, decvax!yale-co!ima!stevel, {ucbvax|ihnp4}!cbosgd!ima!stevelcbl@mspiggy (CB Leyerle) (12/12/83)
Regarding the assertion that MS-DOS uses some of Intel's reserved vectors (a "rumor" reiterated ad nauseum over the net), I am reminded of the aphorism: One man utters a falsehood; a hundred repeat it as true. Entomophobically, C.B.Leyerle Microsoft Corp. (...!decvax!microsoft!cbl)
msc@qubix.UUCP (Mark Callow) (12/12/83)
> The problem with a 186 in the TRS 2000 is that it will not be IBM > compatible. MS-DOS is rumored to use opcodes (or more properly > interrupts) that Intel reserved for future expansion and then used > in the 186. > > Many people believe this is why the IBM Peanut did not use the 188, > which would have made sense from a hardware or cost sense. > ---- Let's at least get the facts straight. IBM used some Intel reserved interrupt vectors for some of the ROM entry points on the PC. Intel used some of these same interrupt vectors on the 80188 and 80186 for vectors for some of the features they added to these chips. This problem is indeed the reason why PCjr uses the 8088. BUT MS-DOS (and even PC-DOS) are not affected so Tandy should have no problem meeting their claimed level of compatibility. Sources: 1) Two articles here in net.micro, including one by someone (I've forgotten who) from Microsoft, explaining the problem in great detail. 2) An article in EE Times when the PCjr was launched. Mind you this article did gloss over the problem and imply that Intel was at fault. -- From the Tardis of Mark Callow msc@qubix.UUCP, decwrl!qubix!msc@Berkeley.ARPA ...{decvax,ucbvax,ihnp4}!decwrl!qubix!msc, ...{ittvax,amd70}!qubix!msc
jlw@ariel.UUCP (J.WOOD) (12/13/83)
The clock rate is listed in one of their brochures as 8MHz. The disk access time was not mentioned. Apparently the problems with MS-DOS and the 8018[68] have been solved. The TRS-2000 runs MS-DOS as its main DOS. Joseph L. Wood, III AT&T Information Systems Laboratories, Holmdel (201) 834-3759 ariel!jlw
ded@aplvax.UUCP (12/14/83)
By now, everyone has heard the rumors about Microsoft using reserved locations, thereby making the 186 incompatible with MS-DOS. But something doesn't jive here. The Tandy 2000 has a 80186 and runs under MS-DOS. Furthermore, they claim to be compatible with 50% of the PC's software. Hmmm... Either I'm missing something here (very likely) or some of our information has been inaccurate (misinformation on the network? Unbelievable!) Has Microsoft rewritten MS-DOS for Tandy so that it doesn't use those locations? I can't for the life of me see why it would be such a big deal for them to make such a change. Would that hurt anyone other than the person ripping off a MS-DOS from another machine and trying to make it work on an 80186? -- Don Davis JHU/APL ...decvax!harpo!seismo!umcp-cs!aplvax!ded ...rlgvax!cvl!umcp-cs!aplvax!ded
ron%brl-vgr@sri-unix.UUCP (12/16/83)
From: Ron Natalie <ron@brl-vgr> Once again, it's the IBM BIOS for MS-DOS that use the reserved vectors, not MS-DOS itself. -Ron