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TANDY INTRODUCES NEW PORTABLE COMPUTER New York City (August 6, 1990) -- Tandy Corporation introduced today the new Tandy 1500 HD portable computer, the industry's first under six-pound (including battery) notebook PC equipped with both standard floppy and hard disk drives. The system, which sells for $1,999, will be available in September at more than 7,000 participating Radio Shack Computer Centers, Radio Shack stores and dealers nationwide. With its slim size, the Tandy 1500 HD fits comfortably in a briefcase, on an airline tray table, or in a user's lap. The 1500 HD has a NEC V-20 microprocessor, a clock speed of ten megahertz and zero wait state memory. A full 640 kilobytes (KB) of memory, expandable to 1.64 megabytes (MB), provides enough power to run the most popular business and personal productivity software. A LIM 4.0 expanded memory driver is also supplied to configure additional memory. One 3.5-inch, 1.44 MB floppy disk drive and an internal 20 MB hard drive (23 millisecond access speed) are standard. The MS-DOS 3.3 operating system and Tandy's easy-to-use DeskMate personal productivity software are installed on the hard drive for instant, out-of-the-box computing. The 1500 HD has a high-definition, blue-on-white liquid crystal display with 640 x 200 CGA color resolution. Backlit for improved contrast and readability, the 1500 HD's screen measures 7.5 inches by 4.8 inches. A rechargeable, removable nicad battery gives more than three and one half hours of computing power. To monitor the battery status, the new Tandy "Power View" LED system is located on the top right case of the 1500 HD's case. In this location, both the On/Off indicator and battery indicator are clearly visible -- without lifting the display. The Power switch is also located underneath the display to prevent accidental battery drain. The battery weighs three-quarters of one pound and recharges in only four hours with the unit off (eight hours if the unit is on). An 8-ounce AC adapter/charger is also included. The 1500 HD's 84-key keyboard has a new, exclusive Tandy Key-Switch feature that allows the user to interchange the <Control> key cap and function with the <Caps Lock> key cap and function. By switching these two keys, the 1500 HD's keyboard layout resembles a standard typewriter. The full-size keyboard also has 12 function keys and an embedded numeric keypad with true 101-key emulation. Other features are an internal modem slot, one 25-pin parallel printer port and one 9-pin RS-232C serial communications port for attaching devices such as a mouse or portable fax. Options for the Tandy 1500 HD include a 1 MB user-installable memory upgrade ($399.95); a 2,400 baud per second internal modem ($199.95); a spare battery ($99.95); and, a choice of laptop carrying cases. Tandy Corporation is a major manufacturer of consumer and PC-compatible personal computer electronics. --###-- Tandy and DeskMate are registered trademarks of Tandy Corporation. Radio Shack and Radio Shack Computer Center are registered service marks of Tandy Corporation. Key-Switch is a trademark of Tandy Corporation. MS-DOS is a registered trademark of Tandy Corporation.