TRS-80 Color Computer

16K TRS-80 Color Computer
DeveloperTandy Corporation
ManufacturerMotorola
Release dateSeptember 1980; 44 years ago (1980-09)
Introductory priceUS$399 (equivalent to $1,480 in 2023)
Discontinued1991 (1991)
Operating systemColor BASIC / OS-9
CPU6809E @ 0.895 / 1.79 MHz
Memory4 / 16 / 32 / 64 / 128 / 512 KB
GraphicsMC6847 video display generator
Sound6-bit DAC

The RadioShack TRS-80 Color Computer, later marketed as the Tandy Color Computer, is a series of home computers developed and sold by Tandy Corporation. Despite sharing a name with the earlier TRS-80, the Color Computer is a completely different system and a radical departure in design based on the Motorola 6809E processor rather than the Zilog Z80 of earlier models.[1]

The Tandy Color Computer line, nicknamed CoCo, started in 1980 with what is now called the Color Computer 1. It was followed by the Color Computer 2 in 1983, then the Color Computer 3 in 1986. All three models maintain a high level of software and hardware compatibility, with few programs written for an older model being unable to run on the newer ones. The Color Computer 3 was discontinued in 1991.

All Color Computer models shipped with Color BASIC, an implementation of Microsoft BASIC, in ROM. Variants of the OS-9 multitasking operating system were available from third parties.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference byte198103 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).