Product designers at Tandy described the Tandy 600 as a machine with the features that users of the Model 100 and the model 200 most often requested: an 80-column screen, a disk drive, and more RAM.
Although powered by a CMOS version of the 8088 CPU, the Tandy 600 wasn't IBM PC compatible. It had a 80-column x 16 line LCD display, a built-in 3.5" floppy drive, an internal 300-baud modem and 32 KB of basic battery-backed RAM expandable up to 224 KB.
The Microsoft operating system was comprised of the System Manager that handled file management for the disk drive and Microsoft Works 1.2 which gathered five applications: Word, a word processor whose files were compatible with the PC version of Microsoft Word; Calendar, an alarm-driven appointment scheduler; File, a database manager; Telcom for driving telecommunications activity; and Multiplan, reportedly a "99.5 percent version" of the PC spreadsheet.
Custom applications could be placed in the ROM slot occupied by the Multiplan ROM. All of the applications placed in this slot - including Multiplan and the optional BASIC interpreter - could be copied onto disk then loaded in RAM
The Japanese-made Tandy 600 was a light and well designed machine. However, it quickly suffered from the competition of portable PC compatible systems and didn't sell well.
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The Tandy 6000 never had Radio Shack or TRS-80 branding. The only portable that did was the Model 100. The 200, 102, and 600 were all Tandy-branded and did not have the word "Model" in their names either.
Sunday 6th August 2023
Carney
I have a Tandy 600 I''m looking to sell
Monday 2nd October 2017
Amy Martin (US)
A friend of mine found a brand new one in the original box with the plastic wrap still around it, in the back of a warehouse.
Monday 30th January 2017
Richard (United States)
NAME
600
MANUFACTURER
Tandy Radio Shack
TYPE
Portable
ORIGIN
U.S.A.
YEAR
October 1985
BUILT IN LANGUAGE
Optional BASIC interpreter ($129.95)
KEYBOARD
Typewriter-style, 72 keys with 10 function keys and cursor keypad
CPU
80C88, CMOS low-power version of the Intel 8088
SPEED
3.07 MHz
RAM
32 KB expandable up to 224 KB (96 KB modules)
ROM
160 KB
TEXT MODES
80 columns x 16 lines
GRAPHIC MODES
480 x 128 dots
COLORS
Monochrome
SIZE / WEIGHT
30.5 (W) x 30.5 (D) x 6.5 (H) cm / 4.5 kg
I/O PORTS
Parallel, Serial RS232, Phone line, expansion bus
BUILT IN MEDIA
3.5'' 360 KB floppy-disk drive
OS
Microsoft Works 1.2
POWER SUPPLY
NiCd batteries (last 10 hours) or AC power
PRICE
$1,599 to $2,398 with 224 KB of RAM (October 1985)
