Tandy 2000
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| Type | Personal computer |
|---|---|
| Released | November 28, 1983 |
Introductory price |
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| Discontinued | 1988 |
| MS-DOS 2.11.03, Xenix | |
| CPU | Intel 80186 @ 8 MHz |
| Memory | 128–768 KB (896 KB with mods) |
| Storage | 10 MB hard drive, one or two 720 KB 5.25-in floppy drives |
| Display | Text 25 rows by 80 columns, character matrix in RAM is modifiable |
| Graphics | Monochrome 640×400 pixels with intensity bit or eight RGB colors with intensity, 640×400 (both optional) |
| Predecessor | TRS-80 Z80-based series |
| Successor | Tandy 1000 series |
The Tandy 2000 is a personal computer introduced by Radio Shack on November 28, 1983, at COMDEX/Fall'83. It was the company's first computer built around an Intel x86 series microprocessor; previous computers from Radio Shack used the Zilog Z80 and Motorola 6809 CPUs.
The Tandy 2000 was based on the 8 MHz Intel 80186 microprocessor, and could run MS-DOS. By comparison, the IBM PC XT (introduced in March 1983) used the older 4.77 MHz Intel 8088 processor. Due to the 16-bit data bus and more efficient instruction decoding of the 80186, the Tandy 2000 ran significantly faster than other PC compatibles. The IBM PC/AT, introduced later in 1984, used the newer 6 MHz Intel 80286.
While touted as being compatible with the IBM XT, the Tandy 2000 was different enough that most existing PC software that was not purely text-oriented failed to work properly.
The Tandy 2000 and its special version of MS-DOS supports up to 768 KB of RAM, significantly more than the 640 KB limit imposed by the IBM architecture. It uses 80-track double-sided quad-density floppy drives of 720 KB capacity; the IBM standard at the time of the introduction of the Tandy 2000 was only 360 KB.
The Tandy 2000 has both "Tandy" and "TRS-80" logos on its case, marking the start of the phaseout of the "TRS-80" brand.