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LGR - TRS-80 Color Computer Retrospective (Patreon)

Published:
2020-09-15 12:27:39
Edited:
2020-09-16 22:10:12
Imported:
2021-03

Content

It's September, and that means #SepTandy! A celebration of all things Tandy that's happening across a number of retro tech YouTube channels throughout the month. And my entry into the event is now ready for viewing: a retrospective look back at the original TRS-80 Color Computer, forty years later!

https://youtu.be/I3lhtcGzhkc

Yeah I've been wanting to do a CoCo video for a while now, but since I was invited to take part in SepTandy this year it seemed like the perfect excuse to make it happen. Somehow it's one of those 8-bit computer ranges that I've never used until relatively recently, so it's been fun seeing what the little thing can do!

This video largely focuses on the original machine, although I did have to mention the CoCo 2, 3, and Dragon systems I have as well. Oddly enough, I think I ended up getting them in reverse order from newest to oldest over the years. But yeah, thanks to a donation from a viewer in Canada I can start with the original system and see how it works over four decades later.

UPDATE! I've added another minute or so of commentary and related video footage, added some new photos, tweaked several little edits and transitions, and so on. Should be the final version now. Hope you enjoy!

Files

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

The TRS-80 Color Computer: 40 Years Later! an LGR SepTandy thing. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxbeEn-s3xXCVnEwkqSUOxyKZnsBEdv1r Mr Lurch's Things https://youtube.com/mrlurchsthings DaveJustDave https://youtube.com/mrdavejustdave The Retro Channel https://www.youtube.com/TheRetroChannel Adrian's Digital Basement https://www.youtube.com/AdriansDigitalBasement Josh Malone https://youtube.com/JoshMalone_48kRAM Jan Beta https://www.youtube.com/JanBeta MindFlareRetro https://www.youtube.com/MindFlareRetro Tech Tangents https://www.youtube.com/AkBKukU Retro Spector https://www.youtube.com/RetroSpector78 #LGR #SepTandy #Retrospective

Comments

Anonymous

The CoCo has a special place in my heart, as the first computer I ever used. Pictured here is the exact computer I grew up with. One of the early transitional models at the beginning of the CoCo 2's lifespan, with the earlier CoCo 1 shape case, but in white, and with the later style keyboard. https://i.imgur.com/gOTkDjI.jpg I want to do something for #SepTandy, maybe over on Twitch, if I can get my CoCo composite modded!

Anonymous

That was some remarkable techno-wizardry you did with that CRT to make it look so excellent on camera. I, too, broke out my first Coco in late August for SepTandy and have had much the same experience. I think the really cool thing about these machines for collectors is the hand written dates on the cases (yours under the RF shield on the bottom, later under the top of the cover), combined with the fact that I have yet to see a US model that after 40 years does not still work. (220v models are a bit wonky) And with all socketed chips (at least on my model F board), upgrades are easy and fear-free for the novice collector. Compared with the myriad of pitfalls that come with a breadbox C64, this is a collectors' dream machine. I did shell out the $100 for the VGA upgrade kit, I'll get that later this week.

Anonymous

Fantastic video as always. Aways wanted a TRS-80 as a kid, such a cool name

Uncleawesome

Really beautiful shot at 16:29 :)

Anonymous

That awkward pose with the joystick. How little joy those sticks do bring indeed ;p #SepTandy got me pulling out my CoCo 3 (first time in a while) - and though it's been a more challenging experience (I guess that's just the PAL CoCo experience after a point), it's a machine I'm certainly enjoying poking about with it of late. But that's generally the joys of working with 8-bits - all of 'em are so unique in so many ways ;)

LazyGameReviews
>>44084882

Neat, I haven't seen that variant before! White looks quite nice in that style of case. Almost looks like a custom paint job. EDIT: added a section about this in the video

LazyGameReviews
>>44085109

Thanks, I've put a lot of time into trying to get CRTs looking decent on camera! A number of angles are really tricky due to the off-kilter moire patterns. And yeah, the Color Computer was a refreshing machine to work on in that respect. Nothing really broken or corroded, just a dirty yellowed keyboard that needed a bit of coaxing back to reliability. I'd love to grab a VGA upgrade kit!

LazyGameReviews
>>44086745

I appreciate it! I'm usually not a big fan of Dutch angles, but it seemed fitting for the angular shape of my CoCo setup :)

LazyGameReviews
>>44086843

The CoCo 3 is one I'd like to give more attention to myself, with all its enhanced graphics mode games and RGB conversions. I'm surprised how great Sierra's SCI adventure games look on it, for example. Space Quest, King's Quest, Leisure Suit Larry, all look comparable to the PC.

Anonymous

This was my first computer growing up! We had a hand-me-down one of these with Dungeons of Daggorath and other games. Unfortunately we only had the black and white tv to play on, but oh I havev VERY fond memories of the TRS-80!

LazyGameReviews
>>44089490

Awesome! The Color Computer looks surprisingly good without color, heh. I find that text can actually end up looking a little bit sharper due to the lack of color bleed and artifacting.

Anonymous

I have a Coco I got a few years ago at the MIT Flea Market, one of its past owners did some interesting mods. All the DIP switches and knobs and buttons and switches go to a 555 timer, which end up controlling the CPU speed to slow it down, and pause it. My theory is the guy had a game he wasn't great at and wanted to slow it down to be able to get past tricky parts, but who knows what the real reason is. The guy I bought it from at the flea market didn't know anything about the mods. https://imgur.com/a/Styn07Q One of my projects I'm planning to do is, make a schematic of the mods themselves, and probably repaint it to at least clean up the worn out paint. It'll never be original again(and I have no intention to make it original since I have a sock coco), might as well make it look cool!

Anonymous

“The stick freely flops around.” (insert further double entendre here)

Anonymous

Interestingly, I don’t ever recall seeing the CoCo for sale in Tandy stores in the UK, but, they always had Dragon machines in that era.

Anonymous

Great video. I wasn't aware of "Septandy." that's a new one on me!

LazyGameReviews
>>44092944

well THAT'S different! Pretty awesome though, I love unique modded machines like that. I wish you luck on "restoring" it, so to speak!

LazyGameReviews
>>44093785

Aye, I'm not sure how commonplace they were in the UK. Throughout Europe there were a number of PAL CoCos released, but for the most part I've only seen UK computer users remembering the various Dragons -- if even that.

LazyGameReviews
>>44097689

Thank you! Yeah it was only a few folks doing SepTandy as a cross-promotional event last year, and this year they reached out to a few more YouTubers to see if we wanted to take part. I'm sure they'd be psyched to have you on board in 2021.

Anonymous

Meet the machine that killed the TI 99 lol

Seth C

Fantastic!

Anonymous

I was a kid in the 80s and would see these at Radio Shack all the time, but never actually knew anyone that had one. Was interesting seeing more detail on them. But those joysticks suck, man did I hate them. All the early PCs I used back then had those Radio Shack garbage joysticks and they trigger me just seeing them again...

John Bailey

Things like SepTandy are part of why I enjoy watching the retro tech channels. Collaboration and cross-promotion instead of competetiveness and each channel pretending it's the only channel. We need more of this kind of positive stuff! Great video, by the way. As always, beautiful CRT work. I'd love to see you dig into more Tandy stuff with this style of coupling historical context with actually messing with the tech.

Anonymous

This is embarrassing, but I was today years old when I learned that "TRS" was an acronym for "Tandy Radio Shack". I was intro'd to it as the Trash 80 like so many back in HS in the early 80s and never gave the acronym any further thought.

Anonymous

a r a r a r Oops ... sorry, just saw that Dungeons of Daggorath screen and my 12-year-old self jumped in.

LazyGameReviews
>>44157761

Heh, no worries, I specifically included that line because I know lots of folks never made the connection! Anytime I've mentioned "Tandy Radio Shack" before, someone's always like "wait... whoa." :)

LazyGameReviews
>>44163717

Hehe, yes! Actually when I first got this machine, the A and R keys didn't work. Made me wonder if its previous owner had been playing Daggorath to death.

LazyGameReviews
>>44122239

Kraft made them as well, they sure were omnipresent on so many machines back then. I don't mind the Deluxe models, but it's a shame so many are breaking these days.

Valora Inverse

Oh, wow - always love seeing the stark difference in design for peripherals that have become pretty ubiquitous over time, but that poor mouse looks like a power brick with a button slapped on.

Anonymous

Cant wait to watch this...ive got one, my 2 year old got ahold of it...pulled all the keys off 🤣🤣🤣 Now there are keys in the weirdest places around the house😂😂😂

Anonymous

I'm glad I could help out! That integrated really well too!

Anonymous

I've watched this video several times already going down Coco memory lane. Now you're telling me there's even more content added?! Heck yeah! 😁🖖

Jason Wellband

The deluxe joysticks took me back to playing on my grandma's Tandy 1000. Always been curious to see the Coco since it was what my grandma had before her T1000 since i never saw it in real life.

LazyGameReviews
>>44183480

Oh neat! And interesting to hear that was her upgrade path, instead of staying within the TRS-80 range. I wonder how many Coco owners did the same.

Anonymous

I had this in 81 and then a few years later an Mc-10. I still have a coco 2 and play dungeons of daggorath on occasion. Found the game new in 1990 at Radio Shack

Anonymous

It took some years before I saw this in Australia. Pretty sure it was around 84. Nowadays, we're more up to date and we're looking forward to seeing the new fandangled Pentium processor.

Anonymous

This was a fun video to watch and brought back a lot of memories. Thanks! The Color Computer was my first computer. I used it up through the year 2000 because it could be set up in the room where we played board games and I could write a simple dice-rolling tool in BASIC for it. pictured: me typing no-pants style in our "computer room," May 1984... not that different from my work-from-home outfits today. https://imgur.com/a/jfH7hiI