christian nutt (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} ferricide) wrote,@ 2009-07-08 16:43:00 |
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toripuru toripuru toripuru
reflecting on the tandy 1000 HX.
realizing that this is the first time in 20 years i have not had a PC with a microsoft OS.
the tandy 1000 HX was a stupid computer with a crappy featureset. but it was pretty cheap for the time. my mom would listen to me about what hardware to buy; problem was, i was a kid and i just wanted what i saw at the store and though i could wheedle out of her.
bigger pics here. a weird system. it was too small to put a monitor on so you had to buy a monitor stand if you wanted it to sit on top (helpfully, radioshack sold those, too.) it was really hard to expand, but the people who published ads in the back of computer magazines sold unofficial upgrades.
i (successfully) got a serial port onto it (RS232C!) and rocked a 2400 baud modem (external.) all tandy sold was an internal 1200.
conversely, i ordered a hard drive kit from a mail order company and couldn't get it to work. fortunately, they let me return it.
the tandy had a suite of software called deskmate that was partially built into the BIOS so you couldn't load it on non tandy systems. heh. i still have some of the pictures i drew, recovered off of those floppies i found over christmas, and i was able to convert them using a PERL script to something you can actually view in 2009. but they're too lame to post.
we replaced the tandy with a 386SX in 1989. we sold the 1000 HX to one of my dad's coworkers; his wife as an elementary school teacher and she wanted to use it to prepare stuff for school. i hope it worked out for her. i remember going to the house to set it up for them.
the 386SX-16, again, was underpowered but available (i bought it from the computer department at boscov's, a local department store chain.) it was called the PC partner and had the best keyboard ever (except maybe the IBM model M) and was a strange purplish grey with purple accents. oh, 1991. what was it with purple (SNES!) i wanted the PC because i liked its industrial design. not a great way to shop for computers. but i guess it works for apple.
reflecting on the tandy 1000 HX.realizing that this is the first time in 20 years i have not had a PC with a microsoft OS.
the tandy 1000 HX was a stupid computer with a crappy featureset. but it was pretty cheap for the time. my mom would listen to me about what hardware to buy; problem was, i was a kid and i just wanted what i saw at the store and though i could wheedle out of her.
bigger pics here. a weird system. it was too small to put a monitor on so you had to buy a monitor stand if you wanted it to sit on top (helpfully, radioshack sold those, too.) it was really hard to expand, but the people who published ads in the back of computer magazines sold unofficial upgrades.
i (successfully) got a serial port onto it (RS232C!) and rocked a 2400 baud modem (external.) all tandy sold was an internal 1200.
conversely, i ordered a hard drive kit from a mail order company and couldn't get it to work. fortunately, they let me return it.
the tandy had a suite of software called deskmate that was partially built into the BIOS so you couldn't load it on non tandy systems. heh. i still have some of the pictures i drew, recovered off of those floppies i found over christmas, and i was able to convert them using a PERL script to something you can actually view in 2009. but they're too lame to post.
we replaced the tandy with a 386SX in 1989. we sold the 1000 HX to one of my dad's coworkers; his wife as an elementary school teacher and she wanted to use it to prepare stuff for school. i hope it worked out for her. i remember going to the house to set it up for them.
the 386SX-16, again, was underpowered but available (i bought it from the computer department at boscov's, a local department store chain.) it was called the PC partner and had the best keyboard ever (except maybe the IBM model M) and was a strange purplish grey with purple accents. oh, 1991. what was it with purple (SNES!) i wanted the PC because i liked its industrial design. not a great way to shop for computers. but i guess it works for apple.
