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| Type | Personal computer |
|---|---|
| Release date | 1983 |
| Introductory price |
|
| Discontinued | 1988 |
| Operating system | MS-DOS 2.11.03, Xenix |
| CPU | Intel 80186 @ 8 MHz |
| Memory | 128–768 KB (896 KB with mods) |
| Storage | 10 MB hard drive, one or two 720 KB 5.25-in floppy drives |
| Display | Text 25 rows by 80 columns, character matrix in RAM is modifiable |
| Graphics | Monochrome 640×400 pixels with intensity bit or eight RGB colors with intensity, 640×400 (both optional) |
| Predecessor | TRS-80 Z80-based series |
| Successor | Tandy 1000 series |
The Tandy 2000 is a personal computer introduced by Radio Shack in September 1983 based on the 8 MHz Intel 80186 microprocessor running MS-DOS.[2] By comparison, the IBM PC XT (introduced in March 1983) used the older 4.77 MHz Intel 8088 processor, and the IBM PC/AT (introduced in 1984) would later use the newer 6 MHz Intel 80286. Due to the 16-bit data bus and more efficient instruction decoding of the 80186, the Tandy 2000 ran significantly faster than other PC compatibles, and slightly faster than the PC AT. (Later IBM upgraded the 80286 in new PC AT models to 8 MHz, though with wait states.) The Tandy 2000 was the company's first computer built around an Intel x86 series microprocessor; previous models used the Zilog Z80 and Motorola 6809 CPUs.
While touted as being compatible with the IBM XT, the Tandy 2000 was different enough that most existing PC software that was not purely text-oriented failed to work properly.
The Tandy 2000 and its special version of MS-DOS supported up to 768 KB of RAM, significantly more than the 640 KB limit imposed by the IBM architecture. It used 80-track double-sided quad-density floppy drives of 720 KB capacity; the IBM standard at the time of the introduction of the Tandy 2000 was only 360 KB.
The Tandy 2000 had both "Tandy" and "TRS-80" logos on its case, marking the start of the phaseout of the "TRS-80" brand.
- ^ "first Tandy Model 2000 computer catalog entry 1984 RSC-11". radioshackcatalogs dot com. Retrieved May 23, 2016.
- ^ Derfler, Frank (1984-06-18). "Tandy 2000: A superior machine and a good value". InfoWorld. p. 71. Retrieved 2016-05-04.