TRS-80 Color Computer: Radio Shack's $399 Micro from 1980!

A retrospective look back at the original TRS-80 Color Computer, 40 years later! Radio Shack sold the CoCo range of machines from 1980 to 1991, and although it never took the low-cost home microcomputer market by storm, it's still an 8-bit system worth revisiting and enjoying today.

● Pertinent LGR linkage:

● Here are the other channels taking part in SepTandy 2020:

● Check out the SepTandy 2020 playlist here:

● Background music licensed from Epidemic Sound:

#LGR #SepTandy #Retrospective

[LGR]

Definitely check out the other channels taking part in #SepTandy 2020!
If you like vintage computery goodness, you're sure to find some good stuff here:

[CharlieFoxtrot]

Any computer in history: *exists*

LGR: "I've always wanted one of these!"

[popzct]

This is so cool! I did not realize so many people were still interested in the Color Computer.

I wrote 37 video games for Tandy Corporation from StarBlaze through Robocop, Predator and Tetris in the 80's and early 90's. I recently donated all of my Color Computers and accessories to the Oklahoma Historical Society / OKPOP museum as I've been inducted into the museum for the video games i wrote.

This brings back so many wonderful memories of working with Mark Seigel and Srini Vasan of Tandy Corporation in developing these game during the 80's and early 90's!

Many, many thanks!

Greg

[jackmcslay]

It never ceases to amuse me when I see these old computers getting SD card adapters with more computing power than the computer itself

[LonSeidman]

One of the first BBS systems I logged into was running on a Coco !

[sepplee]

Man, when I saw that code listings I was blown back to my childhood when my mom and grandmom, who are now both long gone, did me a favor and typed in a code for a pacman clone into our Atari 400. I guess it took hours and we didn’t even knew how to save it to a tape. They just wanted to cheer me up. It worked and I was so happy. We left the computer running for a few days to not loose the game but eventually we had to switch it off and it was gone. What a time. And what a sacrifice by them just to make me happy. :)

[Drone]

I spent literally thousands of hours with the CoCo 1 as a kid. Today we have this approach to computers of "what will they do for me"? But at the time the vibe was much different. You explored it and figured out how to make it do things. You felt like a wizard. Your friends were baffled. There was no passive entertainment. This wasn't a video game console although you could buy video games for it. You learned to code and you learned 8-bit electronics. Would love for someone to do a video capturing the mood and feel of what it was like to play with this complex machine at the time.

[seoulpurpose]

Such perfect staging to show off the system. That CRT, elevated on the curved plywood swoop. The greenish bottle lamp and LED underglow strip matching the green CoCo screen. LGR is truly one of the great the masters of showcasing retro tech.

[MrLrn]

I had one when I was 13 and it changed my life. I surfed the technology wave for 30 years, and retired in my 40s. I still talk to young software engineers sometimes and they seem a little star struck when I tell them about the 6809 and hacking basic and machine code (I didn't have an assembler, so wrote programs by looking up the op codes). What a ride - I never could have guessed where this would go.

[wanace]

When I used these in computer class in the mid-90’s we called them “Trash 80s”. But still had a lot of fun and learned some BASIC on them.

[acamilop]

I remember typing the magazine programs into my coco for hours, only to have it bug out and waiting for the next months issue to print the corrections.

[arlodolivine]

Oh, my heart, my first computer! Mine had a sweet custom keyboard with additional functionality. Had to store it when I went to college and it got thrown away while I was gone. I miss you and your strange rubbery smell once you warmed up, my old TRS-80.

[CarnorJast]

This was my very first computer! I LOVED it! I had the Model 1 version, with the chiclet keys! What a great way to start into computers back in 1982! It came with the ubiquitous 4k RAM, but I later upgraded it to 32k and Radio Shack actually changed out the RAM badge to 32k!

[martinb]

Played Dungeons of Daggorath on that thing for days on end. Still one of my favorite games.

[jeremycatches]

I spent so much time with this machine when I was a kid. We soldered in the 64k upgrade at one point. The book that came with it was excellent! It explained color basic and was easy to follow for a kid.

[deancikins]

I appreciate the flashback. My parents bought me the original 4K unit in 1980. I had the floppy drive, cassette, modem and most of the cartridge games! I learned how to type and 40 years later i am still in the software sales industry. Great memories.

[dixonsoftwaresolutions]

This was the first computer I ever programmed on. A friend got it second hand from his older brother when we were around 11 years old. That experience led me to a lifetime and career of programming. Seeing this was such a wave of nostalgia. Thank you for the video!

[KyoshoLP]

"What you seek lies hidden in the trash on the deepest level of Daggorath."

[fenny]

About a decade ago in rural Texas I found a TRS-80 in a small junk shop off of highway 82. I didn't know what it was, as I was a bit too young to have ever had or heard of one, but I grabbed it for about 20$ and took it home. A bit of fiddling and I had no clue what was 'wrong' with the machine but we had a radioshack in a nearby town. I ended up taking it to the old man that worked there and asking him if he could 'fix my computer.' When I brought it out of my car and hauled it inside his eyes just about bugged out.

He ended up working on it for about a week or two, but couldn't get it running. When I asked him what I owed for repairs he told me not to worry about it, that it was just nice to have seen one again. Ended up letting him keep it, because I surely had no use for it. Hope he got it running.

[creato]

The CoCo always fascinated me in terns of design and pricing for the time.