Grex Hardware Conference

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Grex Hardware Item 66: Tandy 100 TX upgrade? HELP!!!
Entered by tjo on Wed Aug 3 21:54:55 UTC 1994:

Help!! How to upgrade an old Tandy 1000 TX.

This  Tandy has 8 bit slots, but I am told that the BIOS 
can
not be updated. Is there no way to get a 1.44 or 1.2 floppy to 
work with this?

Also I have no hard drive but want to know what the cheapest way 
to install a hard drive is?

What about VGA that seems easy enough for 35 to 40 $ for the
card unless there are special cards needed because it is a Tandy.
Then I have to firgure out the HD install itself. Can it fit 
inside the case. Looks like a typical desktop case from the outside.

This model also has RCA plugs or ports that are labled Audio Video,
what can I do with this?

Can RAM get above 640K?

16 responses total.

#1 of 16 by gregc on Thu Aug 4 00:49:26 1994:

My advice is to throw out the motherboard and keep the power supply
and case if it is an AT compatible configuration. If it's an *OLD* PC
or PC-XT configuration, just throw it all out.

#2 of 16 by rcurl on Thu Aug 4 06:06:18 1994:

No, donate it to grex! You can get controllers with onboard BIOS
for HD drives. I put one into a Zenith 151 a few years ago. But,
as Greg says, consider whether it is worth it. You can also get
expanded memory board - that is probably *not* worth it.

#3 of 16 by anecdote on Mon Sep 4 05:27:51 1995:

I've got a Tandy 1400 LT (laptop) with two built in low density 3.5"  720k
running MS-DOS ver 3.20.  The V-20 CPU chip can run at 4.77 or 7.16 MHZ.
It also has 768K Ram and the instruction manual says IBM PC software
compatable.   Where can I get software for this machine?  
My first try was Radio Shack and they are permantly out of stock for these
items.   I also have a Brother HR-10 daisy wheel printer that I would like
to hook up.  I guess what I'm looking for is some type of word processing
software that's not too new for this unit.  The kind people at Radio Shack
did give me a hint-  the unit was origionally sold with Deskmate.  However
I'm not sure what version or year.  If anyone can help or give suggestions
as to find more information about this delema I would greatly appreciate the
effort.
P.C.

#4 of 16 by scg on Mon Sep 4 05:40:07 1995:

If it will run MS DOS Software, Microsoft Word for DOS was a reasonably nice
word processor.  I've gotten Word 5 for DOS running on an 8088, so it might
work on your Tandy.

#5 of 16 by anecdote on Mon Sep 4 05:43:21 1995:

Is there any place on the internet where I could download Word 5? If not where
can I purchase Word 5?

#6 of 16 by scg on Mon Sep 4 05:50:56 1995:

I'm not sure.  It was commercial software, but that was several years ago and
I doubt computer stores would still stock it (Microsoft has done some more
recent versions of Word for DOS, but I think 5 was the last nice one).  You
could check the Microsoft Download Service (ftp.microsoft.com) and see if they
have some of their older DOS stuff there, but I wouldn't count on it. 
Otherwise, you could look for somebody who has an old copy and has long since
switched to Windows.

#7 of 16 by scott on Mon Sep 4 12:50:05 1995:

IBM Writing Assistant was pretty good, and would run on 128K!  No support for
WYSIWIG, of course, but it supposedly could do Epson stuff like boldface and
italics.  There is a tiny chance I still have a copy somewhere, on 5.25" low
density floppy.

#8 of 16 by n8nxf on Tue Sep 5 19:33:16 1995:

Your problem will be getting whatever software on 720K, 3.5" disks.  If you
have a second PC, I suggest you use Laplink or Interlnk (Comes with DOS
6.XX) to transfer applications.
You can also download files to it if you have a com program on it.  If
you want to get away on the cheap, you can transfer files between 2
computers using a null-modem cable.

#9 of 16 by scg on Wed Sep 6 04:33:49 1995:

Actually, a lot of the software that will run well on that machine would
probably be from the era when 720 disks were the norm.

#10 of 16 by anecdote on Sun Sep 10 15:22:57 1995:

Well fellas thanks for the advice  I'm off to our school's computer lab to
meet with a prof to see if he has any old software.  Would anyone know how
to setup a Brother HR-10 printer to this Tandy LT1400?

#11 of 16 by gull on Sat Sep 16 02:53:47 1995:

My personal favorite word processor was (and is) WordStar.  I have a
wordstar clone called NewWord, and it will do boldface, italics, and that
kind of thing.  It runs off a 720K floppy with room to spare, and loads
*fast*.  Why use something fancier when my printer can't handle it anyway?

#12 of 16 by anecdote on Tue Sep 26 01:35:33 1995:

How could I go about aquiring a copy of WordStar/NewWord? I sure would
increase the usefulness of this computer if I had a wordprocessor.

#13 of 16 by gull on Tue Nov 14 15:16:22 1995:

Wow, haven't been in this conf in a while.  Umm...I suppose I could maybe
give you a copy, but it wouldn't be legal. ;)

#14 of 16 by anecdote on Fri Nov 17 22:38:41 1995:

Why wouldn't it be legal  I'm not trying to sell it.  I just want it so I can
type papers on my old Tandy 1400 Lt laptop.

#15 of 16 by gull on Sun Dec 10 20:58:37 1995:

I'll see if I can get a decent copy together for you.

#16 of 16 by arthurp on Tue Dec 17 02:14:54 1996:

I have a nice little word processor that I used on my Tandy 1000 EX.  It does
most of the neat things mentioned above.  It was crisply fast on the 7.16 Mhz.
jobs.  I think it might have even been shareware.  The author sure would be
shocked to get a registration for it now, If you could even find him.

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