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Tandy Corporation News Release
RS-89-004
July 27, 1988
EASY-TO-USE TANDY 1000TL PERSONAL COMPUTER BOASTS
HIGH PERFORMANCE, HIGH FIDELITY SOUND
Tandy Corporation, the leading manufacturer of PC-compatible personal
computers, today introduced the new Tandy 1000TL personal computer, an easy-
to-use PC/XT-compatible with 80286 processor speed and performance.
The affordable 1000TL has the power, performance and expansion to meet the
growing demans of small to medium business, home office professionals, and
educational users. At a suggested retail price of $1,299, no other name-brand
80286-compatible on the market can match the value-added features and
performance of the 1000TL.
Tandy's 1000TL is three times faster than the IBM PS/2 Model 30 computer and
more than six times faster than a standard PC/XT. This processing power is
comparable to that of an "AT" class machine.
Without sacrificing speed or performance, the 1000TL features Tandy's
innovative "Power and Run" design. The 1000TL stores its MS-DOS 3.3 operating
system and the graphics-oriented interface of DeskMate in read only memory
(ROM), eliminating confusing start-up porocedures for the user, and the need
for an ever-present operating system diskette.
The 1000TL user will never confront cryptic prompts but, instead, will be
taken directly into the industry-accepted friendly interface of DeskMate.
This interface can be easily accessed by a mouse or by the 1000TL's new
tactile-feel IBM-compatible 101-key keyboard.
Another useful feature stored in ROM is an 80,000-word spelling dictionary for
use with any application written under the DeskMate interface.
Tandy's innovative reputation continues with the 1000TL, as the company
also introduces high fidelity audio "input and output" technology to the PC
industry.
Through the use of internal digital to analog and analog to digital converter
circuitry, the 1000TL is the first MS-DOS personal computer to record, store
and playback speech or sound.
With this innnovation, Tandy has given software publishers one of the most
exciting new tools yet with which to create quality products not available to
the industry today.
In addition to audio, the 1000TL features three new on-board video modes.
Monochrome text (MDA), Hercules monochrome graphics and a high-resolution
640X200 color graphics mode with the ability to display a full 16 colors.
Optional EGA or VGA adapters are also available.
The standard configuration of the 1000TL includes 640 kilobytes (KB) of
memory, expandable to 768KB on the main board, five PC-compatible 10-inch
expansion slots, a real time clock with battery backup, support for an
optional 80287 math coprocessor and one 3.5-inch 720KB floppy disk drive.
Two additional internal floppy disk drive slots, for a total of three, provide
the user with extremely flexible expansion capabilities. Tandy has devised a
new drive mounting device which makes the installation of any floppy disk
drive a simple task.
A second 3.5-inch 720KB and 5.25-inch 360KB internal floppy disk drive may be
added to the 1000TL. This hardwware versatility is important to users with an
existing library of 5.25-inch software.
Other storage options include 20 megabyte and 40 megabyte hard disks.
With these features, the 1000TL serves as an excellent network workstation
and is perfect for the work-at-home professional or business user doing tasks
such as low-end desktop publishing, database management, spreadsheet analysis,
word processing, personal finance, portfolio management and administrative
tasks.
Standard interfaces included with the 1000TL are a parallel printer port, RS-
232 serial port for mouse support or communications, microphone/audio input
jack, headphone jack weith volume control, RGBi monitor port and two joystick
ports. These interfaces are additional cost options on most other computers.
Without sacrificing expansion or value-added features, the 1000TL has a new
space-saving design which measures only 5.1 X 15.5 X 13.1 (HxWxD) inches.
The Tandy 1000TL personal computer (Cat. No. 25-1601) will be available in
September. Prices are good at Radio Shack Computer Centers, Plus Computer
Centers and participating stores and dealers nationwide.
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Specifications:
Processor: 80286 @ 8/4 MHz. 80287 math coprocessor is optional
MS-DOS 3.3, including GW-BASIC, and DeskMAte in 4 Megabyte ROM. 1K EEPROM used
for storage of startup parameters.
640K on-board with option for 128K of additional video memory. "EMS memory
available through optional expansion boards."
Keyboard: 101-key IBM Enhanced Keyboard clone
Onboard video modes: Mono and MDA Text
640 X 200 16-color
640 X 200 4-color
320 X 200 16-color
720 X 348 Hercules
Sound: 8-bit DMA-driven Analog to Digital and Digital to Analog converters for
speech and music generation, and playback.
Expansion: 5 XT-compatible 8-bit 10" card slots.
Real time clock/calendar with battery backup
Class B certification