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

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  • เผยแพร่เมื่อ 17 ก.ย. 2020
  • A retrospective look back at the original TRS-80 Color Computer, 40 years later! Radio Shack sold the CoCo range of machines from 1980 to 1991, and although it never took the low-cost home microcomputer market by storm, it's still an 8-bit system worth revisiting and enjoying today.
    ● Pertinent LGR linkage:
    / lazygamereviews
    / lazygamereviews
    / lazygamereviews
    ● Here are the other channels taking part in SepTandy 2020:
    Mr Lurch's Things / mrlurchsthings
    DaveJustDave / mrdavejustdave
    The Retro Channel / theretrochannel
    Adrian's Digital Basement / adriansdigitalbasement
    Josh Malone / joshmalone_48kram
    Jan Beta / janbeta
    MindFlareRetro / mindflareretro
    Tech Tangents / akbkuku
    Retro Spector / retrospector78
    ● Check out the SepTandy 2020 playlist here:
    • SepTandy 2020
    ● Background music licensed from Epidemic Sound:
    www.epidemicsound.com
    #LGR #SepTandy #Retrospective
  • วิทยาศาสตร์และเทคโนโลยี

ความคิดเห็น • 1.7K

  • @LGR
    @LGR  3 ปีที่แล้ว +289

    Definitely check out the other channels taking part in #SepTandy 2020!
    If you like vintage computery goodness, you're sure to find some good stuff here:
    Mr Lurch's Things th-cam.com/users/mrlurchsthings
    DaveJustDave th-cam.com/users/mrdavejustdave
    The Retro Channel th-cam.com/users/TheRetroChannel
    Adrian's Digital Basement th-cam.com/users/AdriansDigitalBasement
    Josh Malone th-cam.com/users/JoshMalone_48kRAM
    Jan Beta th-cam.com/users/JanBeta
    MindFlareRetro th-cam.com/users/MindFlareRetro
    Tech Tangents th-cam.com/users/AkBKukU
    Retro Spector th-cam.com/users/RetroSpector78

    • @Tamay.
      @Tamay. 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Did you ever have a Dell Latitude D610?

    • @drhoads08
      @drhoads08 3 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      I have been waiting 39 years for this review LGR. It is about damn time! Better late than never I guess. :-)

    • @tromik
      @tromik 3 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      This video is beautifully shot! There are frames of this video that would make incredible prints or posters

    • @DaveJustDave
      @DaveJustDave 3 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      Thanks for joining #septandy this year! Love the color grading on this video.

    • @MidnightMechanic
      @MidnightMechanic 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Man, I was waiting for an episode of the Tandy! Dungeons of Daggorath gave me childhood PTSD!

  • @CharlieFoxtrot
    @CharlieFoxtrot 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1212

    Any computer in history: *exists*
    LGR: "I've always wanted one of these!"

    • @anew742
      @anew742 3 ปีที่แล้ว +97

      Me: "I've always wanted LGR to review one of these!"

    • @Merrinen
      @Merrinen 3 ปีที่แล้ว +40

      LGR in 2070: "I've always had one of those!" :)

    • @shadymorsi4347
      @shadymorsi4347 3 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      thats a mood

    • @drewgehringer7813
      @drewgehringer7813 3 ปีที่แล้ว +25

      if he had the space LGR would probably buy his own '60s Mainframe. Possibly multiple mainframes.

    • @aidancommenting
      @aidancommenting 3 ปีที่แล้ว +14

      @@drewgehringer7813 If given the choice, he would've bought that entire warehouse of old PCs without hesitation. I mean, I would too if I came across that many retro computers

  • @jackmcslay
    @jackmcslay 3 ปีที่แล้ว +657

    It never ceases to amuse me when I see these old computers getting SD card adapters with more computing power than the computer itself

    • @digiowl9599
      @digiowl9599 3 ปีที่แล้ว +57

      The benefit of the expansion bus basically being exposed CPU pins.
      Craziest i have seen was someone hacking up a NES cart to act as a "video card" for an RPi, so that they could run the original Doom.

    • @alhuno1
      @alhuno1 3 ปีที่แล้ว +19

      @@digiowl9599 they did the same. A guy put a Raspberry Pi Into an NES cartridge and was able with emulation and redirection of the video signal to play Super Mario World on a actual NES.

    • @alhuno1
      @alhuno1 3 ปีที่แล้ว +24

      I think Amiga is the best example of this kind of craziness about expansion possibilities. Like full fledged graphics accelerator with HDMI on a computer that runs a 68000 16 bit CPU

    • @cepheus6421
      @cepheus6421 3 ปีที่แล้ว +18

      More insteresting still is that modern SD cards have a microcontroller on board for various functions which itself is also faster than some computers (a few years ago the processor once used in the GBA was commonly used)

    • @Penoatle
      @Penoatle 3 ปีที่แล้ว +14

      @@digiowl9599
      Holy hell, that is impressive.
      Isn't it great that Doom has become the ultimate benchmark?

  • @sepplee5812
    @sepplee5812 3 ปีที่แล้ว +311

    Man, when I saw that code listings I was blown back to my childhood when my mom and grandmom, who are now both long gone, did me a favor and typed in a code for a pacman clone into our Atari 400. I guess it took hours and we didn’t even knew how to save it to a tape. They just wanted to cheer me up. It worked and I was so happy. We left the computer running for a few days to not loose the game but eventually we had to switch it off and it was gone. What a time. And what a sacrifice by them just to make me happy. :)

    • @virus2003
      @virus2003 3 ปีที่แล้ว +21

      That's awesome

    • @KartKing4ever
      @KartKing4ever 3 ปีที่แล้ว +18

      Women were the champions at typing and general computer usage back then, going way back to the first alphanumeric keyboards. Sounds like they also had some fun helping you have some fun.

    • @beverleyhicks2952
      @beverleyhicks2952 2 ปีที่แล้ว +11

      Man, I remember typing out one of those programs, for a blackjack game think. Took me a whole day. Hated it so much I never wanted to program again.
      And never did. Kinda regret that.

    • @walangkwentangvlogsetc7337
      @walangkwentangvlogsetc7337 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      i had an atari 65xe back in the days but i didnt have the chance to type in a game program. i only used good ol floppy disks. i certainly would be happy if i have done such a program.

    • @indridcold8433
      @indridcold8433 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Poke 65498,255
      It really took your Tandy Colour Computer for a mind scrambling trip. After playing for awhile, I would always end with a Poke 65498,255.

  • @popzct
    @popzct 3 ปีที่แล้ว +7

    This is so cool! I did not realize so many people were still interested in the Color Computer.
    I wrote 37 video games for Tandy Corporation from StarBlaze through Robocop, Predator and Tetris in the 80's and early 90's. I recently donated all of my Color Computers and accessories to the Oklahoma Historical Society / OKPOP museum as I've been inducted into the museum for the video games i wrote.
    This brings back so many wonderful memories of working with Mark Seigel and Srini Vasan of Tandy Corporation in developing these game during the 80's and early 90's!
    Many, many thanks!
    Greg

  • @seoulpurpose
    @seoulpurpose 3 ปีที่แล้ว +428

    Such perfect staging to show off the system. That CRT, elevated on the curved plywood swoop. The greenish bottle lamp and LED underglow strip matching the green CoCo screen. LGR is truly one of the great the masters of showcasing retro tech.

    • @no1DdC
      @no1DdC 3 ปีที่แล้ว +38

      As someone who has watched LGR since the very first videos, it's just amazing to see how far the channel has come while still retaining its identity.

    • @OFF732
      @OFF732 3 ปีที่แล้ว +16

      The curved plywood swoop is "GroveMade" in Portland oregon, check them out! I have their office lineup, and it's very well made!

    • @willpreston6881
      @willpreston6881 3 ปีที่แล้ว +14

      @@OFF732 Thank you! Literally last night I was thinking about upgrading my desk and monitor setup, and I wanted a wood aesthetic but couldn't find anything that wasn't either Aliexpress junk or Ikea. This is exactly what I was hoping for.

    • @alexsilva28
      @alexsilva28 3 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      That's the LGR aesthetic for you

    • @OFF732
      @OFF732 3 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      @@willpreston6881 Glad I could help! They are local to me, I always appreciate their craftsmanship and helping local businesses in this odd time we live in now. They are spend, but you will be glad you bought them!

  • @arlodolivine1153
    @arlodolivine1153 3 ปีที่แล้ว +59

    Oh, my heart, my first computer! Mine had a sweet custom keyboard with additional functionality. Had to store it when I went to college and it got thrown away while I was gone. I miss you and your strange rubbery smell once you warmed up, my old TRS-80.

    • @dh2032
      @dh2032 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      this was My first one also (this silver model1) first it was the 1.0 tandy basic, then we have it up graded to 64k Extended Microsoft Basic - Rom, Memory (the basic was also almost the the MS QuickBasic on the PC), I only found out much later the serial I/O printer Port, where only assigned the software of the system, so could be resigned as 4 pins like the I/O pins on the Raspy-Pie board.

  • @acamilop
    @acamilop 3 ปีที่แล้ว +47

    I remember typing the magazine programs into my coco for hours, only to have it bug out and waiting for the next months issue to print the corrections.

    • @indridcold8433
      @indridcold8433 2 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      I was a touch typist from early. I was able to type in things extremely fast and people thought I was a genius only because I could type very fast. Even school had me type in code. I hated that school treated me like I was some sort of gifted child and treated me as such. I was just a regular kid that could touch type really well. I hated that crappy aspect of an otherwise perfect childhood. If I was a genius then, I would be one now. Then why am I nothing but a technical mechanic for a large logistics company? Oh well, I get paid really well. But I am no genius.

    • @benm3382
      @benm3382 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@indridcold8433 you okay bud

    • @OrangeDied
      @OrangeDied 3 หลายเดือนก่อน

      @@indridcold8433 being mislabeled gifted when you do well in elementary school cause its easy, then when real school starts not having learned how to manage yourself when something is challenging? and then the imposter syndrome kicks in? been there, currently doing that 😭

  • @MrL0rn3
    @MrL0rn3 3 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    I had one when I was 13 and it changed my life. I surfed the technology wave for 30 years, and retired in my 40s. I still talk to young software engineers sometimes and they seem a little star struck when I tell them about the 6809 and hacking basic and machine code (I didn't have an assembler, so wrote programs by looking up the op codes). What a ride - I never could have guessed where this would go.

  • @wanace
    @wanace 3 ปีที่แล้ว +130

    When I used these in computer class in the mid-90’s we called them “Trash 80s”. But still had a lot of fun and learned some BASIC on them.

    • @rick420buzz
      @rick420buzz 3 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      The TRS-80 Model I is the original "Trash 80".

    • @JXLpixel2
      @JXLpixel2 3 ปีที่แล้ว +9

      My dad had a couple of them in storage when I was a kid that we played around with, at the time he called them trash 80s!

    • @angelorusso3219
      @angelorusso3219 3 ปีที่แล้ว +17

      I only refer to them as Trash 80s, and everyone knows what I'm talking about. In reality, they weren't trash... far from it for the time. Tandy at that time was always innovating (Radio Shack made most of their own equipment like Realistic and Optimus series audiophile equipment). But every acronym has to have an associated one-word reference. I can live with TRS equals the word Trash.... glad it wasn't a DCK-80 :D

    • @JustWasted3HoursHere
      @JustWasted3HoursHere 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Mid-90s or mid-80s?

    • @wanace
      @wanace 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      JustWasted3HoursHere it was actually early 90s and middle school. They probably bought them brand new and by the time we got there they were in bad shape.

  • @atomicdeath10
    @atomicdeath10 3 ปีที่แล้ว +62

    Those high end complete systems at $9000 equates to nearly $30,000 USD in 2020 money.
    *That is insane*

    • @LGR
      @LGR  3 ปีที่แล้ว +33

      Right? Imagine paying the equivalent of a brand new car for a little black and white computer with 64 kilobytes of RAM.

    • @atomicdeath10
      @atomicdeath10 3 ปีที่แล้ว +17

      @@LGR what is even more crazy to think about, the difference in performance between systems of comparable prices. The $30k one was a full business suite, but if you take one of the "PC only" packages and compare it to the $300 phone I'm typing this on...
      Being born in '85 I've seen the progression of PC technology as you too have. The way I feel about the progression of technology is what I think someone born in the early 1900's would have felt about Airplane technology. We went from huge lumbering Bi/Tri planes to the first supersonic flight in just over 40 years. Imagine being born in 1900. Within your lifetime we went from Kitty Hawk to the freaking moon. From walking pace aircraft to the X-15 and the SR-71.
      I'm so excited for what the future holds for technology.
      Sorry for the ramble. ;)

    • @sanfayyaad
      @sanfayyaad 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@atomicdeath10 something to really look forward to!

    • @mackenziebullied4900
      @mackenziebullied4900 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@atomicdeath10 its 2am and I'm very glad you wrote this idk why

    • @Jaqen-HGhar
      @Jaqen-HGhar 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      except it's not that crazy when you think about commercial systems today. I mean one NVIDIA quadro is around $5k and commercial systems usually use 2 or 3 of them (if not more).

  • @Drone256
    @Drone256 9 วันที่ผ่านมา +1

    I spent literally thousands of hours with the CoCo 1 as a kid. Today we have this approach to computers of "what will they do for me"? But at the time the vibe was much different. You explored it and figured out how to make it do things. You felt like a wizard. Your friends were baffled. There was no passive entertainment. This wasn't a video game console although you could buy video games for it. You learned to code and you learned 8-bit electronics. Would love for someone to do a video capturing the mood and feel of what it was like to play with this complex machine at the time.

  • @CarnorJast1138
    @CarnorJast1138 3 ปีที่แล้ว +36

    This was my very first computer! I LOVED it! I had the Model 1 version, with the chiclet keys! What a great way to start into computers back in 1982! It came with the ubiquitous 4k RAM, but I later upgraded it to 32k and Radio Shack actually changed out the RAM badge to 32k!

    • @petenielsen6683
      @petenielsen6683 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      It was mine too. I finally recycled it when my parents sold their house about 15 years ago. I used it to learn BASIC and so on and to cheat at chess against the computer since it was the only game cartridge I had. I did not have the patience to genuinely learn chess as they had hoped I would.

  • @martin1b
    @martin1b 3 ปีที่แล้ว +71

    Played Dungeons of Daggorath on that thing for days on end. Still one of my favorite games.

    • @WesAllen
      @WesAllen 3 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      Scared the living daylights out of me. The blob always killed me.

    • @martin1b
      @martin1b 3 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      @@WesAllen I remember the first time the wizard showed up. About had a heart attack.

    • @cringecake321
      @cringecake321 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      Nerrrrrrrrrrd

    • @SentinelLSU
      @SentinelLSU 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@martin1b My character did...

    • @fretburner8981
      @fretburner8981 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      That game was the best! Enjoyed besting it back in the day. Definitely was a challenge and the way they used dynamic volume with each enemy's signature audio was awesome!

  • @LonSeidman
    @LonSeidman 3 ปีที่แล้ว +246

    One of the first BBS systems I logged into was running on a Coco !

    • @damonallan3025
      @damonallan3025 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      You have beat the internet.

    • @TimChuma
      @TimChuma 3 ปีที่แล้ว +9

      LOL @ Foone finding BBS porn advertisements in an 90s computer magazine about 0.0000001 seconds after starting to go through it

    • @PranavRP2010
      @PranavRP2010 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Thanks sir

    • @alwaysasn
      @alwaysasn 3 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      Could you imagine reading that sentence without any context. 😂

    • @moviemania1137
      @moviemania1137 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@alwaysasn
      Google's BBC 😲😂

  • @elisabeth5111
    @elisabeth5111 3 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    My first computer was a TRS Color Computer 2 that I had purchased at a flea market in middle school IIRC. Though we had maybe a 386 or 486 in the home by that point, but still the TRS was mine. I have a lot of fun memories programming on that thing. It definitely played a large role in getting me interested in computers.

  • @jeremycatches9766
    @jeremycatches9766 3 ปีที่แล้ว +15

    I spent so much time with this machine when I was a kid. We soldered in the 64k upgrade at one point. The book that came with it was excellent! It explained color basic and was easy to follow for a kid.

  • @KyoshoLP
    @KyoshoLP 3 ปีที่แล้ว +102

    "What you seek lies hidden in the trash on the deepest level of Daggorath."

    • @LGR
      @LGR  3 ปีที่แล้ว +43

      Danged Halliday bein' all cryptic.

    • @syntaxerror9994
      @syntaxerror9994 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      Been trying to play that but can't get get it to work on an emulator.

    • @PET_-rp9rx
      @PET_-rp9rx 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      Dungeons of Daggorath... It's my favorite video game of all time. It took me a while to get past Level 3, but I eventually did it. At that point I accidentally deleted my progress that was saved on a cassette, and I've been too afraid to play the game since, knowing how long it'd take to get to Level 4 again.

    • @StodgyAyatollah
      @StodgyAyatollah 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@syntaxerror9994 There is a pc port I would suggest looking for. You'll likely have better luck with that.

  • @chrissawyer1484
    @chrissawyer1484 3 ปีที่แล้ว +111

    Trash 80, baby! Yeah!
    (Said in the most loving way possible as this baby was my first exposure to the microcomputer.)

    • @bardshousegaming8622
      @bardshousegaming8622 3 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      My dad also called them Trash 80's, lol.

    • @jamesslick4790
      @jamesslick4790 3 ปีที่แล้ว +9

      The funny part is that the "Trash 80" term was usually applied to the Zilog based "real" TRS-80s and not the (Technically unrelated) Motorola based "CoCo" 😲- LOL. Neither systems were trash, but popularity brings contempt by some.😊 Tandy/Radio Shack computers were (as we said in the '80s) Bitchen!! 😜

    • @DanielBull
      @DanielBull 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      I had a CoCo2 I got second hand fully loaded with disk drives, expansion packs the works and I loved it. Everyone I've met has called them Trash 80's, it was funny to hear Clive actually pronounce it Tee Are Ess, I was shouting "it's pronounced trash" at the screen LOL :)

    • @pinrod1
      @pinrod1 3 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      My grandmother owned a Montgomery Wards store in the 70's and early 80's. She had closed it down by 86-87 when i was 6-7 years old. She had a TRS-80 CoCo 2 that was used in the store, and an Atari 2600 that was on display in the store. So these 2 electronic items were my first look into computers and video games. What a time it was! Played the crap out of some Megabug....

    • @Charlesb88
      @Charlesb88 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      The main reasons for the Trash-80 nickname for the Model 1 (not later models like the CoCo’s) was two-fold: First, Radio Shack had a reputation up to that point in 1977 (When the TRS-80 Model 1) was introduced for “schlocky” products and getting into the computer business did not immediately change that. The second was the of the proprietary Expansion Interface (E/I) box for the Model 1(Model 1’s did not include all ports in the main unit unlike later TRS-80 models like the CoCo 1) that used a poorly designed ribbon cable connection to the main unit. This external ribbon cable was know for a) Too easily coming loose/developing a bad electrical connection with even slight movement of main unit. b) Being unshielded from interference, a) due to a poor choice of base metals on the contacts in the ribbon connectors and edge connectors in the main unit, it would often become oxidized and need periodic cleaning with a pencil eraser. Third parties sold gold-plated aftermarket connectors that fixed this issue. The main unit of the system on the Model 1 wasn’t a bad microcomputer for the 1977, despite the ribbon cable issue with the expansion box).

  • @dixonsoftwaresolutions5031
    @dixonsoftwaresolutions5031 3 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    This was the first computer I ever programmed on. A friend got it second hand from his older brother when we were around 11 years old. That experience led me to a lifetime and career of programming. Seeing this was such a wave of nostalgia. Thank you for the video!

  • @angelorusso3219
    @angelorusso3219 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Thank you for the trip down memory lane. I was 7 years old in 1981 when I got my Coco 1... well, I had the Aquarius for a few days and I think something happened to it so my dad got me a Coco. We had TRS-80 Model I's and even III's in school, but to have my own TRS-80 Coco at home was incredible. I took to it like a fish to water finding all the BASIC program books I could and learning to code as well. And over the past 40 years computers have been my life having at least 1 of every step up computer I could buy. From the Coco 1 I went to the Coco 3, then the Tandy 1000SX (which I upgraded with a 286 daughter board), and then the 1000EX. I had an original XT and then a true 286, built a few 386's from Computer Shopper magazine, and continued up the progressions from there working for many companies as hardware and network support. I have a lot of older parts and pieces now, but nothing older than my 386SX/25. I'd love to go back to at least the 1000SX again to play around. It's fun to have the emulators for all the classic hardware, but nothing beats touching the actual computer.

  • @zacharymacnamara5363
    @zacharymacnamara5363 3 ปีที่แล้ว +94

    In addition to the spelling of 'colour' the Canadian packaging included a 500ml can of maple syrup and a picture of the Queen.

  • @unlimitedbitsgaming
    @unlimitedbitsgaming 3 ปีที่แล้ว +45

    I love this channel for teaching me tech history from way before my time. It gives me such an appreciation for it, and even more appreciation for the tech we have today, because it's so interesting to see the progression over the decades.
    Edit: I think this is the first time a TH-camr "hearts" a comment of mine, because I'm always late to videos but happened to tap on this one six minutes after it was uploaded. Thanks, Clint!

    • @markm49
      @markm49 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      unlimited bits gaming honestly the early 80’s were the pinnacle of home computing - so much fun typing in a 4 page listing and hitting run . Then spending days trying to fix it before realising it was a misprint. Still, great days.

    • @holnrew
      @holnrew 3 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      When you edit a comment it removes the heart

    • @unlimitedbitsgaming
      @unlimitedbitsgaming 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@holnrew 😢 I know, I noticed. Oh well. At least I can say I've gotten one now.

    • @MrDuncl
      @MrDuncl 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@markm49 On Clint's Dragon unboxing video we were commenting how here in the UK we literally got a new (usually incompatible) computer coming out every month back then. There was certainly a huge change between the ZX80 in 1980 and the Amiga which was getting very popular here by 1989.

    • @orangetangyvideos
      @orangetangyvideos 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Yes! I'm using his videos as resurch on the 90s (cause of a story I'm writing). It's so cool seeing all these old pcs and tech and stuff!
      They're just so cool

  • @deancikins6461
    @deancikins6461 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    I appreciate the flashback. My parents bought me the original 4K unit in 1980. I had the floppy drive, cassette, modem and most of the cartridge games! I learned how to type and 40 years later i am still in the software sales industry. Great memories.

  • @EposVox
    @EposVox 3 ปีที่แล้ว +125

    Those diffused LED strips tho!

    • @gregferguson7737
      @gregferguson7737 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@bonniebishop1608 that moniker was given to the monochrome units (Model I, II, III, IV). CoCo was always just the CoCo as it wasn't "really" a TRS-80 at least that is how everyone I knew seemed to feel

    • @Tadfafty
      @Tadfafty 3 หลายเดือนก่อน

      Yeah. My family, once dedicated model I III and IV users, are insulted by the mention of Color Computer.@@gregferguson7737

  • @JJPMustang
    @JJPMustang 3 ปีที่แล้ว +137

    I miss Radio Shack deeply :’(

    • @jamesslick4790
      @jamesslick4790 3 ปีที่แล้ว +20

      Me too!!! RS was the ONLY reason I was ever OK with going to the mall!

    • @JJPMustang
      @JJPMustang 3 ปีที่แล้ว +30

      James Slick I loved our mall as a kid. Orange Julius, the pet store that let you play with the puppies and kittens, a water fountain full of loose change, and the smells of the food court made the few bucks in my pocket seem like gold.
      I still recall that sterile plastic electronic smell that subtly hit you walking into the nearest Radio Shack!

    • @AliceC993
      @AliceC993 3 ปีที่แล้ว +15

      I actually found out just the other day that apparently RadioShack is Not Entirely Dead™️; the new parent company has been making an effort to revitalize the brand

    • @theannoyedmrfloyd3998
      @theannoyedmrfloyd3998 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      @@AliceC993 *Rejuvenate

    • @jamesslick4790
      @jamesslick4790 3 ปีที่แล้ว +9

      @@AliceC993 They never "died", they stayed online. I get emails from RS several times a week, and got a new DMM from there recently.

  • @fhwolthuis
    @fhwolthuis 3 ปีที่แล้ว +9

    Nice video, Clint! I remember having a couple of the white ones in our high school library around 1984. We used to sit there often during breaks and typed a quick for next loop programme which played a very annoying sound, switched off the monitor but left the computer on, monitor sound on max and left the library. Some minutes after we left the quiet library was disturbed with huge noise and the librarian panicking how to switch it off 🤣🤣🤣

    • @LGR
      @LGR  3 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      Now that's just good clean fun, I love it

    • @eDoc2020
      @eDoc2020 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      That's the opposite problem my high school library had decades years later. With twelve Pentium D systems plugged into a chain of power strips into a single 120v/20a outlet, the struggle was keeping everything switched on.
      For those wondering, the "solution" was to reorganize the power strips so half the systems were fed from the top half of the outlet, the other half from the bottom half. The single outlet probably wasn't split to different circuits, but reorganizing the load kept each power strip under its 15a trip point.

  • @8-bitSnow
    @8-bitSnow 3 ปีที่แล้ว +8

    Ah, the ol' Coco. This was my first computer and I loved it! I had the 16k version with standard color basic.
    I mowed lawns, did chores and skimped and saved to get the money to get extended color basic... and it was worth it.
    I tried to write several arcade classic clones with this machine...in BASIC and had somewhat mixed success. My attempt at Star Wars the arcade game, the vector graphic one where you attack the Death Star in a X-WIng fighter turned out okay. I got the stars to look good but the game froze to draw the lasers every time I pressed the fire button. No sound effects either.
    Tried to do a Donkey Kong clone, in BASIC, because I loved the Pie Factory level and my version on the Atari 2600 didn't have it. Of course my version looked like ass and the game froze whenever I pushed the button to make my character jump.
    It was a learning experience.
    Anyway, so many good memories with this computer. Still have it. Need to get it out, clean it up and play with it again.

    • @privatename3621
      @privatename3621 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Yeah, sounds like my experience too as a teen using this computer. Loved all of it. I was able to write a game to mimic an early 80's Missile Command game, since there was relatively low graphic movement. But it wasn't easy and it had explosions. I wrote it all in BASIC but the real trick was to do it in assembler with the special assembly language cartridge. But that was a bit too advanced for me at the time, although I did do some assembly language programming in high school an "Advanced Math" class (I hated math). But in college, where I studied for my Computer Science degree, I finally learned the dark art of programming in assembly language. So low level, but I actually enjoyed it. Anyway, all of that led to the career I've had my whole life. And it all started with programming on a TRS-80.

  • @granitepenguin
    @granitepenguin 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    This was my very first computer growing up. 10-year-old me found no end of entertainment with the original CoCo. This will always hold a special place in my heart as the system that started my love of computers and programming.

  • @creato938
    @creato938 3 ปีที่แล้ว +38

    The CoCo always fascinated me in terns of design and pricing for the time.

    • @MrDuncl
      @MrDuncl 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      I'd like to find the year and price this came out in the UK. In 1981, where I worded had one of those Multi £$ Thousand TRS80 systems and employed a Computer Operator to use it. I remember the Atari 400/800 being sold but they were the same price I paid for my first car. It was super cheap computers like the ZX80 that got people computing and then upgrading here in the UK.

  • @MogoPrime
    @MogoPrime 3 ปีที่แล้ว +110

    LGR: "Give a warm welcome to the TRS-80 Color Computer, frequently referred to as..."
    Me: "The Trash-80"
    LGR: "...The Coco."
    Oh. That too, I guess.

    • @Flyingbrickyard
      @Flyingbrickyard 3 ปีที่แล้ว +18

      Exactly the same here. I'd never heard it referred to as the Coco, but "Trash-80" was quite common.

    • @Michael-im5mq
      @Michael-im5mq 3 ปีที่แล้ว +11

      It's exactly what I thought too lol. The game graphics look surprisingly better than I expected though. I would have been happier with the TRS-80 than the 2600.

    • @Miksalot
      @Miksalot 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      I said exactly the same thing.

    • @cyndernight2422
      @cyndernight2422 3 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      Trash-80 from rat shack... holy shit this brings back memories...

    • @SonicBoone56
      @SonicBoone56 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      My old high school inclusion teacher (RIP) always talked about the Trash 80.

  • @faealiciadotsys
    @faealiciadotsys 2 ปีที่แล้ว +26

    This was my first computer at age 4, given as a hand-me-down from family in the late 1980s. It's weird, though. I wasn't aware that I had most of the higher end hardware. I had both the 32k Model I and the white 64k Model III you showed off. On top of that, I had two of the big white joysticks that you briefly showed in a magazine ad in the video, two floppy drives daisy chained together, and even the single button mouse that had an extremely low sensitivity, making it very hard to use without dragging it across the spot multiple times. It might've also been that dust just got inside, but it was impossible to take apart and clean, so whatever.
    Interestingly, at age 8 or so, this was also the first computer I ever repaired. One of the disk drives never really worked, so I finally decided to borrow a screwdriver from dad in the garage and opened it up to take a look. Turns out, just as you have that ribbon cable on the outside, there's also one on the inside connecting the port to the circuit board, and in that drive, that cable was unplugged. I plugged it in and it worked just fine up until my family sold it at a garage sale in the mid-2000s. By then, I had already gotten a Tandy 1000 HX with dual 3-1/2" floppies, an IBM PS/2 whose internal hard drive ultimately failed, and a generic 486 with 8MB of RAM and a 509MB internal HDD, so the CoCos were largely just taking up space at that point and none in my family had a collector's mindset to save it for ourselves.
    I wish I could've saved it. I might've even been able to someday repair the other drive, which broke down soon after repairing the first, likely being a drive head motor issue and far outside the scope of what I was capable of at the time. But while I miss it now, I can still look back fondly at what I've come to realize wasn't so humble beginnings.
    P.S. The only game cartridge I had was Dungeons of Daggorath and somehow, my young little mind was keen enough to make it to the 4th floor (out of 5 total) after eventually learning to not run as fast as I can all the time so that I don't faint from the heartbeat mechanic.

  • @RandallFrequentFlyerFlagg
    @RandallFrequentFlyerFlagg 3 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    The TRS-80. The same type of computer Alec and Shanna, the Tandy Computer Whiz Kids, would use to save the day in all of their adventures.

    • @CodecrafterArtemis
      @CodecrafterArtemis 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      Ah yes, the demon-eyed kids, stuck in a time loop, with Time Lord teacher Ms Wilson.

  • @patprop74
    @patprop74 3 ปีที่แล้ว +8

    Wow, That colour basic book brings back soooo many memories of my childhood!

  • @Dkentflyer
    @Dkentflyer 3 ปีที่แล้ว +16

    This was my first home computer back in the early 80s, i remember typing out the russian roulette program from the basic manual and was amazed at the result, happy memories :).

    • @captaincrash12
      @captaincrash12 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Did you survive the game?

    • @derealized797
      @derealized797 3 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      I used to do the same when I was a kid, I would go through the magazines and look for anything that looked cool, and depending on how much I felt up to. Carefully type it out and think wow look what I did.
      Then I'd lose my interest and go back to playing Downland.

  • @killercab11
    @killercab11 3 ปีที่แล้ว +10

    I love that for how many years LGR has been on TH-cam you’ve always stayed the same. Absolutely love the content you put out.

  • @KingPK
    @KingPK 3 ปีที่แล้ว +27

    "Provided you like firing with your left hand"
    Hey, don't knock it. It feels like someone else is doing it.
    ......or so I've been told.

  • @DenSporetrix
    @DenSporetrix 3 ปีที่แล้ว +31

    I'm gonna start calling the 80's the "Beep-boop" era for computers. It just seem fitting, somehow.

    • @achu-7941
      @achu-7941 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      computers still beep-boop even today, it just sounds more like a brrrrrrt of a minigun in less than half a second these days

    • @RK-zf1jm
      @RK-zf1jm 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      fitting but it already had a name micro computer era

  • @javidaderson
    @javidaderson 3 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    It's crazy to think about how far this channel has come from that old brown armchair, I use to just watched for the sims 3 expansions pack reviews back in high school and now I love vintage computing and the history of home computing, Keep up the good work.

  • @fergusof
    @fergusof 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    In 1980/81, I was spending over $50 per month on Caterpillar, Battlezone, Donkey Kong, and PacMan at lunch and after work -- 25 cents a play! So, when Radio Shack came out with the Coco, I decided to jump in. I bought the big, 16K version, which I upgraded a while later to 64K with chips and instructions from a magazine. I still have the original 16K button from the top of the Coco. Man, those cassette tapes filled up quick as we swapped programs with our friends. Immediately, I was hooked on programming. Eventually led to me to work in the field as a programmer.

  • @AmazingJeeves
    @AmazingJeeves 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    “I’m in love with the CoCo.”
    - LGR, 2020

  • @ReyMysterioX
    @ReyMysterioX 3 ปีที่แล้ว +66

    What's still somewhat mindboggling is that the controllers inside the SD card just used for data storage are probably orders of magnitudes more powerful than the computer itself…

    • @JohnDlugosz
      @JohnDlugosz 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      More boggling is that the "smart" card used as a SIM or credit card chip or access control badge has a 32-bit CPU running a subset of Java.

    • @honor9lite1337
      @honor9lite1337 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@JohnDlugosz yeah?? I don't think so.

    • @gregorymalchuk272
      @gregorymalchuk272 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      @@JohnDlugosz
      Really? Do you have more info on this?

  • @SpeedyKhaled
    @SpeedyKhaled 3 ปีที่แล้ว +34

    when lgr uploads its a good day

    • @MontieMongoose
      @MontieMongoose 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Yep. And it's usually Friday.

    • @ibnufasya6408
      @ibnufasya6408 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@MontieMongoose yup. Warm blanket + cold Friday night + lights off + lgr on tv. Wooohh. Perfect

    • @ibnufasya6408
      @ibnufasya6408 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      And watching it in the living room on the couch

  • @StodgyAyatollah
    @StodgyAyatollah 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Grew up with the 64k model along with the ctr-80a recorder in the house (seeing it instantly brought back memories). I still remember being a confused 5 year old playing Dungeons of Daggorath and doing some very simple things with basic. I may not have had any clue what I was doing at the time but they are fond memories.

  • @heffe2001
    @heffe2001 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I worked at Radio Shack back in the lat 80's/early 90's, and we sold the heck out of those Coco3's, along with their Tandy PC's.. This brings back lots of memories about those things and the hardware we sold at the time..

  • @BokBarber
    @BokBarber 3 ปีที่แล้ว +121

    "It remains affordable to collectors!"
    ...well, it was before this video, at least.

    • @LGR
      @LGR  3 ปีที่แล้ว +45

      There were hundreds of thousands of these computers sold over the years so there's no shortage of them at all. You might be overestimating the effect a single video has on that kinda market :)

    • @malikjahim
      @malikjahim 3 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      just got into CoCos a few months ago - the only real problem is the CoCo 3, which has a tendency to be far more rare, likely due to the Tandy 1000 being released two years prior (in 1984) and the overall rise of the market that model catered to
      CoCo 1's and 2's are regularly on Ebay for about $150, including as of typing this; nabbed one of each myself at slightly less than that price, as well as a TRS-80 pocket computer PC-4 with an added 1k (!) RAM module for $50. it's honestly a pretty decent supply, all things considered

    • @ceulgai2817
      @ceulgai2817 3 ปีที่แล้ว +10

      @@LGR Perhaps, though I can tell you that MtG card prices see exploding prices due to individual videos all the time.

    • @ivanravenski
      @ivanravenski 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      Ceul Gai that’s a little different of a market

    • @ceulgai2817
      @ceulgai2817 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      @Just to watch stuff From my experience, mostly The Command Zone, but sure@

  • @TheAtoll
    @TheAtoll 3 ปีที่แล้ว +62

    retro-RESPECT-ive LGR! Your deep dives are the best!

  • @Thatdamdroneguy
    @Thatdamdroneguy หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    Well that was a walk down memory lane.. thank you for making this video

  • @alexander750
    @alexander750 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    My parents had a CoCO for writing their university papers, and they both dedicated "Dungeons of Daggorath" players. We had a tape deck add on, as well as the controllers shown here. Many were the nights that my brothers and I were woken by my mom's dot matrix paper screaming out a paper to be handed in that morning.

  • @1leggeddog
    @1leggeddog 3 ปีที่แล้ว +14

    I'm a simple girl
    I see a new video from LGR about retro pc, i click like and sip my coffee

  • @toddstewart9070
    @toddstewart9070 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    DAMN. My parents had that exact same Panasonic TV when I was young. I think they bought it in 1984. It lased until around 1995 until a terrible lightning storm tagged the cable line and blew up most of our TVs. It is a trip to see it again.

  • @therealvbw
    @therealvbw 3 ปีที่แล้ว +21

    The CoCo is an interesting one, a bit of a departure from old DOS stuff.
    I can officially call myself a retro IBM-compatible person now I've picked up an old pentium 100mhz for free. It's my coaster for the time being until I have something to put it in.

    • @angelorusso3219
      @angelorusso3219 3 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      @@DrLoverLover Yeah, believe it or not, Pentium 100 was released 26 years ago. Since then we've had the Pentium 120 to 200MHz (1996), MMX series (1997), PII (1998), PIII (1999), P4 (2000), P4 HT (2003), Pentium D (2005), Dual-Core and Core 2 Duo (2007), Quad Core (2007/2008), First Gen Core i7 (2008) / Core i5 (2009) / Core i3 (2010) with iterations up to 11th gen today, along with the Core i9 in 2017. So I think it's safe to call a processor 13 generations old "retro".

    • @PauloSilva111
      @PauloSilva111 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      which gnu/linux distro can you run there? tiny core?

    • @eDoc2020
      @eDoc2020 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@angelorusso3219 Wow, saying 26 years really makes it sound old. It's always been 1994 but as time goes on it's more and more years ago. In terms of being retro, I'd say it just makes it. Not so much because of its age but because vendors have dropped support. The last version of Debian to run on Pentiums is Jessie (version 8), which just ended long term support at the end of June this year (2020).

  • @randmiller88
    @randmiller88 3 ปีที่แล้ว +15

    This was one of the first computers I ever used as a kid, along with the TI-99! My dad had both -- yep, he was "that guy" on the block. So many fond memories!

    • @jamesslick4790
      @jamesslick4790 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      The TI-994( Especially the "TI-99/4A" variant..) was a wildly advanced machine for it's market. (If in unassuming "packaging") If one learned Assembly language for the TMS9900, It could be a beast! I was well along into Z80 machines then, But those TI packed a powerful (16 bit!) chip for the era.

    • @brandonporter8509
      @brandonporter8509 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      My dad was that guy too though in his case he had a part time job at the radio shack while also working full time in an appliance factory. Around right before when the rat shack started declining he started up his own custom computer building and computer repair Business. And my mom (divorced home) was a teacher at a smaller size school after school I was constantly playing on the school computers (cow box gateway win 3.11 machines) so many early to late 90’s edutainment games.
      Edit: my preferred typing tutor was mario teaches typing and my favorite edutainment game judging by hours that that I logged in it was probably eagle eye mysteries. I did play a lot of Carmen SanDiego, Math Blasters, super solvers, and Oregon trail though.

    • @markpfeffer7487
      @markpfeffer7487 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@brandonporter8509 the phrase "cow box gateway 3.11 machine"" gave me elementary school flashbacks of treasure math storm and Oregon trail and zoombinis and Mavis. Kids these days seriously have no idea. The modern PC gui has been a long time coming.

    • @brandonporter8509
      @brandonporter8509 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      kidd venison I can still hear the sounds of school Hallway banners being printed on the ribbon printers that were hooked to them (they were in my moms math classroom) since she was the only teacher in the high school with the teaching license for computer science. So the math room was the high school
      Computer lab till we got a business career tech teacher.
      Some days I was staying after school where she had to print 5-10 banners for a basketball game and I sat there playing those games for hours.
      Cause a 5 page Long banner in color took a long time to print. And the whole time skreeeeowww skrrit skreeeooowww

    • @jamesslick4790
      @jamesslick4790 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@brandonporter8509 I was a fan and later an employee of the 'shack. In the 70's and 80's you had to be a "nerd" to work there (I mean that in the good way). Once it became a glorified cell phone reseller, It was over. :(

  • @dariorazum6121
    @dariorazum6121 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Great memories of the basic programming language as a kid. How many of the current and retired coders / engineers started their addiction this way. Thanks for the nostalgia LGR.

    • @privatename3621
      @privatename3621 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      I have my career today (Sr Consulting Software Engineer) because of my early interest in the TRS-80 Color Computer. I was lucky enough to take an Electronics class where they had one of these in the closet. I was so fascinated by it, vs. the raw, low-level electronics we were learning and doing in class. I convinced the teacher to let us use the computer during part of class time and that is where I became addicted to entering the programs from the great book that came with it. Then I convince my dad to buy me one for Christmas, and a love of computer programming was born. I knew exactly what I wanted to study in college after spending hundreds of hours programming "for fun" on this thing over the next couple of years. I'm so grateful to that class, teacher, and that "shelved" computer back in 1983. I would have had a completely different life and career had those events not occurred they way they did.

  • @lelabotoxique
    @lelabotoxique 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    My very first computer. I learned pretty much everything I needed to learn about computers with the Coco.

  • @FriendlyWire
    @FriendlyWire 3 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    Phenomenal camera work, Clint, for somebody like me who does not have enough space to collect computers this is surely the next best thing to seeing those gorgeous machines in real life! I also loved how you experimented with color. Reminds me of the DEC VT320 video. Awesome stuff!

  • @leemiller4375
    @leemiller4375 3 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    Their cassette drive was the best tape player I found in the 80's. Worked great in my car instead of the 8 track. Between my coco 2 and the car I wore it out.

  • @MrJacksspleen
    @MrJacksspleen 5 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    I'm having flashbacks of saving my basic programs to cassette and then having issues loading them later. Stressful! Buying the floppy drive saved my sanity.

  • @emenefer
    @emenefer 8 วันที่ผ่านมา

    The computer culture of the past fascinates me. Most of the ads encourage kids to do things that to me are complicated. I feel so privileged to be able to go on any windows computer and have a lot of creative fun- no coding knowledge required. But back then, geez kids were regularly making their own games and whatnot. It just blows my mind. Sure computer enthusiasts still come in all ages nowadays, but the old computers feel so visceral and manual, and I look at computer enthusiasts who grew up in the 70s-80s with reverence.

  • @dwaynezilla
    @dwaynezilla 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    Holy crap. As always, love your presentation. The framing, colours, sound & video quality, and all the little touches. Like the actual flip between channels. And it's not a trick! Channel 3 to 4? Brilliant little move. I remember RF modulators letting you choose between two channels to provide feed to. Usually channels 3 and 4. Damn slick!

  • @wemstrum
    @wemstrum 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    This videos are always great to loose yourself into, then come back and realize how far technology has come, and what beasts we have today, even by low end standards.

    • @benm3382
      @benm3382 ปีที่แล้ว

      I'm watching the video on a 'smartphone', which can instantly find almost any piece of media or information ever recorded and can play 3D online multiplayer games.

  • @zanemcewen1343
    @zanemcewen1343 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    This was the machine that has started my coding journey. My lab teacher told us about how he had a really old computer from his childhood that ran BASIC, not only that, but he kept the programming books. He busted it out and immediately people started messing with it. I was one of the only ones to stick to it, and now I'm teaching myself C++. I thought i would hate programming, never thought I'd have the patience for it, but coding BASIC on the TRS-80 proved otherwise.

  • @ScottsSynthStuff
    @ScottsSynthStuff 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    5:49 I had that book back in the early 1980s! It was originally written in the early 1970's, and contained generic BASIC games written for mainframes running BASIC back then. You had to make adjustments to each of the programs to in order to get them to run on whatever variant of BASIC your 1980's computer utilized.

  • @legacydepot
    @legacydepot 3 ปีที่แล้ว +8

    Outstanding videography and attention to lightning and composition in this one
    I felt like in this video you took an especially careful amount of time to arrange each scene to make them interesting to look at
    Good shit bruh

  • @PeterGerrish
    @PeterGerrish 3 ปีที่แล้ว +23

    Love the aesthetic!

  • @LextechLighting
    @LextechLighting 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I sill have this new in the box. It was a gift when I was a kid and I didn't like coding. I played Demo derby a hand full of times and put it back in the box. It's sat new with everything it came with for several decades.

  • @JeffDeWitt
    @JeffDeWitt 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    My grandfather was in his 80's when these came out and I knew he had bought one. Many years later my Aunt was getting rid of stuff and asked me if I wanted it. I got a big box of stuff and a while back was wondering just what model CoCo Granddad had... it turned out there were TWO of the things, different models. I need to dig those out and see just what I've got.
    And... I'd love to play Dungeons of Daggorath!

  • @bmh67wa
    @bmh67wa 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    I love this channel. It brings back so many memories of my early years with computers. Thanks!

  • @iamvonimmel
    @iamvonimmel 3 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    He's in love with the Coco.. okay.. I'll see myself out now.

    • @AmazingJeeves
      @AmazingJeeves 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      I came here to make this comment, too. Warped minds think alike. 🙂

    • @captaincrash12
      @captaincrash12 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      remove 'the'

  • @Raptor50aus
    @Raptor50aus 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    It was 1983 and I started my first work experience at my local Tandy store. Gee what great times. I loved my color computer !!

  • @spookerd
    @spookerd 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    I'll always be happy to know that my first family computer was a Tandy 1000, and I'll never forget that beige beauty.

  • @killthesleeper
    @killthesleeper 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    Your production has really stepped up! I love all the angles, colours and aperture settings

  • @DH-qu8wh
    @DH-qu8wh 3 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    Just wanted to say that I notice how your production value has gone up quite a bit since I first started watching your videos. Keep up the great work!

  • @KingGameReview
    @KingGameReview 26 วันที่ผ่านมา

    Growing up in the '90s, our school computer lab still had Apple IIs, but I moved in 96 to a small town and they had these in the computer lab for the 96-97 school year. I just remember them being lame because they didn't even have any games for us to play. At least at our old school we could play Oregon trail or math blasters were word munchers or whatever and the green monochrome screens.
    Then we moved to a bigger city in 97 and they had Windows 95 PCs in their computer labs and I was blown away.
    I picked up a TRS-80 about a decade ago with a handful of games.
    My mom saw it when she came over to visit and was like why do you have a trash 80? She had those in the computer lab when she was in high school in the early 80s.

  • @corporalkills
    @corporalkills 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    What a spiffy TV! Something about that setup is so cozy

  • @Hotlog69
    @Hotlog69 3 ปีที่แล้ว +7

    I see LGR pronounces "colour" correctly, a man of culture.

    • @tact1calbanana388
      @tact1calbanana388 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      Color*

    • @gaigejohnson7603
      @gaigejohnson7603 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@tact1calbanana388 swing and a miss...

    • @patemathic
      @patemathic 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@tact1calbanana388 colour*

    • @Clos93
      @Clos93 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@patemathic it's *"color"*. And it's *"Z"* not "Zed". 🇺🇸 'Murica, Fuck Yea!

    • @patemathic
      @patemathic 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@Clos93 bugger off my british territory you git

  • @j.t.5178
    @j.t.5178 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    Hot CoCo is a brilliant computer magazine that could have went seriously, seriously wrong. Great video man! I loved your set up! Can't wait for your other videos on the Tandy line!

  • @twin_rabbit
    @twin_rabbit 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    The TRS-80 was the very first computer I ever owned (sadly not the black model but instead the 64k) with a tape drive and no joystick. My crowning achievement was programming it to play Christmas music one year. For years I called it "TXL" after the talking computer in the security guard's office on the TV show "Today's Special" which used a similar dummy TRS-80 console for the input keyboard in the first few seasons. Thank you for this delightful trip down BASIC memory lane.

  • @MichaelJOneill333
    @MichaelJOneill333 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    Been having bad day, needed this. Thanks LGR!

  • @o9mb
    @o9mb 3 ปีที่แล้ว +27

    Damn that pc is so cool!

    • @o9mb
      @o9mb 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Omg LGR tysm for liking my comment 😀

  • @positivepenny5477
    @positivepenny5477 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    I had no idea they had personal computers like this in the early 80s! Your channel is so educational

  • @64jimboy
    @64jimboy 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    I had a CoCo2 my first computer in 1986 when I was just 6! That was my gateway into programming and I'm happy about that.

  • @ErchweanEmperor
    @ErchweanEmperor 3 ปีที่แล้ว +10

    “This isn’t even my final form”

  • @natethefighter
    @natethefighter 3 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    One of my favorite computers. There's something about it that feels very DIY, and I love it for that.

    • @drewzero1
      @drewzero1 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      I agree- I feel like the tools are out there to keep doing creative things with the CoCo. I made a cassette cable and a serial cable for mine and have been looking into 6809 assembly. It’s simple enough to tinker with and just complex enough to do something useful, maybe.

    • @natethefighter
      @natethefighter 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@drewzero1 i made my own cassette cable too! Its so easy to get to tinkering with it.

  • @retroguardian4802
    @retroguardian4802 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I grew up in the country and believe or note I didnt know what a computer was till around 2004. Our local school got some and all us kids thought they wer digital type writers untill some1 showed us runescape in beta. Our minds wer blown. Then shortly after dial up was possible. Mind was blown.

  • @MistaMaddog247
    @MistaMaddog247 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    What irony you feature the original CoCo! That was my first ever home computer I had as a kid and now I'm rediscovering it through emulation. Happy #SepTandy indeed...

  • @lexington476
    @lexington476 3 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    9:55 so that's how the tape drive was supposed to work. My eight-year-old self never figured it out.

    • @derealized797
      @derealized797 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      My brother figured it out and I eventually learned it off him. There was no way in hell I would have been able to do all that stuff on my own back then.

  • @wilfredoz
    @wilfredoz 3 ปีที่แล้ว +31

    what a space saver: "joystk" instead of "joystick" :D, great video though!

    • @Tricob1974
      @Tricob1974 3 ปีที่แล้ว +10

      In Extended Color BASIC, "JOYSTK" is actually a legitimate command for reading the joysticks. You had JOYSTK(0) to JOYSTK(3). But if you didn't read JOYSTK(0) before any of the other ones, you wouldn't get the right data.

    • @wilfredoz
      @wilfredoz 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      interesting! i did not know that!.. now i feel foolish..

    • @Tricob1974
      @Tricob1974 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@wilfredoz Actually, if you used Assembly Language and never read up on Color BASIC, you wouldn't know that, either. No need to feel foolish here; you'll hear a lot of people say that they never regretted taking up Assembler instead of BASIC. This is one time where no harm is done by letting other people fill in the blanks. :-)

  • @rgm4646
    @rgm4646 ปีที่แล้ว

    The TRS-80 was the first computer that I used, when I was young. You could say it started my life long obsession with Technology.

  • @joonaasd1856
    @joonaasd1856 3 ปีที่แล้ว +13

    4:15 "Friendly coding exercises and demonstrations" 150 PRINT @ 230 "SORRY, YOU'RE DEAD" "NEXT VICTIM PLEASE"

  • @Ash0512
    @Ash0512 3 ปีที่แล้ว +15

    Remember the Tandy Comic books?

    • @larrylaffer3246
      @larrylaffer3246 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Cue Linkara Rant.

    • @Ackbar96
      @Ackbar96 3 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      LGR meets the Tandy Computer Whiz Kids when?

    • @andyopheim5662
      @andyopheim5662 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Ya linkara talked about all of them

    • @Erykthebat
      @Erykthebat 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      I am a MAYUN! punch

  • @gijoenumberone
    @gijoenumberone 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    My first computer (not counting the Pocket Computer 1) was the CoCo: 16k of Ram that I upgraded myself to 64k. Later, I added a floppy drive, when it was going for 1/2 price. For a monitor, I used a TRS-80 Model 1 monitor a friend sold me. I used that CoCo for many years, even after I bought my first PC-compatible: the Tandy 1000. By then, I also owned a PC 2 and a Tandy 100. Today (Jan 2021) I still have that old CoCo and it still works -- even most of the disks.

  • @fenny1578
    @fenny1578 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    About a decade ago in rural Texas I found a TRS-80 in a small junk shop off of highway 82. I didn't know what it was, as I was a bit too young to have ever had or heard of one, but I grabbed it for about 20$ and took it home. A bit of fiddling and I had no clue what was 'wrong' with the machine but we had a radioshack in a nearby town. I ended up taking it to the old man that worked there and asking him if he could 'fix my computer.' When I brought it out of my car and hauled it inside his eyes just about bugged out.
    He ended up working on it for about a week or two, but couldn't get it running. When I asked him what I owed for repairs he told me not to worry about it, that it was just nice to have seen one again. Ended up letting him keep it, because I surely had no use for it. Hope he got it running.

  • @Spintechfilms
    @Spintechfilms 3 ปีที่แล้ว +13

    "What you seek... lies hidden in the Trash... on the deepest level, of Daggorath"
    Come to me my true Gunters....

  • @insertnamehere4921
    @insertnamehere4921 3 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    me: ive already seen this video
    lgr: no you haven't
    me: you're right, you and bitwit have used the same music
    lgr: greetings
    me: imagine getting a

  • @thefagpunk
    @thefagpunk 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    hey clint! thanks so much for doing what you do in such a classy way. tbh I'm probs not your normal follower (maybe there are lots of us idk lol) I don't collect or even understand retro tec, but definitely enjoy learning and listening to you, and I genuinely enjoy your genuine excitement about the things you love so much (ie the smell of factory new power cables lolz) keep it up, love seeing your quality content in my feed! oh and yer Duke impressions have made it into my vernacular to the much much confusion of my non gamer pals, ha!

  • @JH-ot5mn
    @JH-ot5mn 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    That 64k off white one was the very first computer i ever had. Went from that to a C64, to an Amstrad, to a 486.

  • @Markimark151
    @Markimark151 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    I miss Radio Shack computers, we had lots of fun with them in school. The Coco had some fun games, but my class hogged the computer over the games!

  • @MrZedblade
    @MrZedblade 3 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    I had a CoCo 1 and later a CoCo 3. By that time I was running OS-9 with an 80 column display on a Tandy RGB monitor and a 10 Megabyte hard drive. While everyone else had their 286 DOS PCs I was multi-tasking multiple apps in multiple windows and was even known to have a terminal connected. I thought I was so cool. (I wasn't.)

    • @CurtisBoyle
      @CurtisBoyle 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Heh... we took that even further at a print shop I worked at in the 1980-early 2000's. After our PDP-11/34 died from second time, we replaced it with a Coco 3. By the time we got done adding both custom and 3rd party hardware and software, we ended up with a 10% overclocked Coco 3 with 1 MB of RAM, 2 hard drives (80 and 40 MB), 2 floppies (360K 5.25" and 720K 3.5", including the ability to read/write DOS disks), 8 hardware serial ports, all hooked up to terminals scattered throughout the building, 3 parallel ports (controlling both high speed line printers and 20 ppm laser printer), real time clock, auto boot ROM, and NitrOS-9 optimized for the Hitachi HD63B09E processor upgrade. Lonnie Falk at a RainbowFest in Chicago one year mentioned that it was probably the largest Coco system he had ever heard of.

  • @richlorenzo
    @richlorenzo 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    My parents bought a TRS-80 for my older sisters at some point in the 80's and it was my first home computing experience as a pre-teen in the early 90's. It was already long in the tooth by that point but I had a lot of fun typing in BASIC programs and storing on cassette tape. I still remember how the "Helicopter" game had some kind of bug in the code where it would crash at the same point each time. And the box for the computer has been a great holder for the Christmas wreath for over 30 years now!