The Tandy 200 was an evolution of the successful Tandy 100. It offered more RAM and a bigger display. The computer was powered by internal batteries, providing up to 16 hours(!) of use.
A lot of utilities were in ROM: a telecommunication program (telcom) which used the built-in modem, MSPLAN spreadsheet (light version of Multiplan), text editor, calendar, address book and BASIC Programming Language.
3.5" floppy disk drives could be connected via the RS-232. There were actually 2 drives made by Tandy for the Model T computers. The TPDD held 100KB whereas the TPDD2 held 200KB. The TPDD2 could read the TPDD disks. They both used 720k floppies. A video interface was also available, it offered a new display resolution (80 columns X 24 lines) on any external video display unit.
The main competitor of the Tandy 200 was the Epson PX-8. Note that several of the ROM programs were written by Bill Gates himself!
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Contributed to this page : Kaleb Marshall
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I have a Tandy 200 portable computer, with all the manuals, and even the couplers. I bought it in 1988 because I was working as a journalist. I used to to write my stories and send them to the newspaper, using the couplers on pay phones to transmit. Amazing to think about, really.
Sunday 4th February 2007
Louisa Shepard (USA)
It was my first laptot. If my memory is good, Reuters or another big news company use it.. In fact, for a copy writer, this computer was the best companion! I baught it in rom 1987 and use it to 89. Excellent Keybaord, full view on sceren and a lot of other stuff... For me the 200 is a classic computer. Default? Yes! External serial fucking floppy driver, fucking extensions..... But...... I'd ll to have it again... My Lifebook from Fujitsu on Windows 2000 is only worst......;
Thursday 23rd March 2006
Mathieu Brisou (IT journalist) (France)
The scottish sunday newspaper The Sunday Post had a reporter called 'Tandy Man'. He journeyed the country reporting on various events and sent his stories in using his Tandy Model 200.
Friday 18th February 2005
pugwash (UK)
NAME
TRS-80 Model 200
MANUFACTURER
Tandy Radio Shack
TYPE
Portable
ORIGIN
U.S.A.
YEAR
1984
END OF PRODUCTION
Unknown
BUILT IN LANGUAGE
Basic
KEYBOARD
Full-stroke keyboard, QWERTY
CPU
Intel 80c85
SPEED
2.4 MHz
RAM
24 KB (up to 72 KB)
ROM
72 KB (up to 104 KB)
TEXT MODES
40 x 16
GRAPHIC MODES
240 x 128
COLORS
Monochrome display
SOUND
Beeper
SIZE / WEIGHT
29.41(W) 20.95cm (D) x 5.08 (H) cm / 1.36 kg
I/O PORTS
Parallel printer, Tape, Barcode, Phone, RS232, System Bus
BUILT IN MEDIA
None
POWER SUPPLY
4 AA alkaline batteries or DC 6V 1.2W center minus adapter (Cat. No. 26-3804)
PERIPHERALS
3.5'' or 5.25'' external floppy drive unit, up to 3x24 KB RAM chips, Video interface