For Sale: This vintage Tandy/Radio Shack computer is working 100% as far as I can tell. It is a 35+ year old collectible will only go up in value.
- 768K RAM
- Intel 80286 CPU - 8Mhz
- 3.5" floppy drive (probably 720K)
- 5.25" floppy drive (probably 360K)
Boots to DOS from the EEPROM - a slim downed version of DOS 3.2 and the Tandy DeskMate desktop are in the ROM. To access the BIOS ROM settings you run the Setup program on one of the included 5.25" disks.
The monitor and keyboard shown in the photos are NOT included. Requires an XT type keyboard and an RGB monitor with an 8 pin connector. Comes with power cord, a bunch of tested 5.25" discs, and a couple 3.5" disks (not shown) formatted to 360K with this computer.
The DeskMate operating system is supposed to be on two 720K 3.5" discs but I couldn't locate any disks of this type. I did manage to install the OS on four 360KB 5.25" floppy disks. I know the 3.5" floppy is working because I was able to format some 1.44MB HD floppy discs using the OS, for some reason they only format as 360KB. Both disk drives are definitely working reliably but only work with certain types of disks- they are very picky about what type of discs you can use. I had to try a lot of different ones before I found ones that would be recognized and format. Computer has built in speaker and volume control, working well.
The machine is is pretty good overall condition although the metal case has picked up a fair amount of surface oxidization in parts, see photos - other metal parts have no oxidation. Motherboard and electronics all very nice condition Has been cleaned some, can use additional detailing. You could probably clean up the oxidized metal with steel wool.
YouTube videos taken to demo working condition, will share on request.
Specs:
-----------------------------------
The Tandy 1000 TL and TL/2 uses 8 MHz Intel 80286 processors, whereas the TL/3 uses a 10 MHz 80286. The TLs has 640 KB of memory preinstalled, with an option for an extra 128 KB for video frame buffering just as in the 1000 TX. Unlike the SL series machines, the TL series comes with the SmartWatch real-time clock logic built-in, which is powered by a removable 3-volt CR2032 button-cell battery on the motherboard.
The TL offers five 8-bit XT-compatible ISA slots, while the TL/2 and TL/3 offer four slots and an on-board 8-bit, XT IDE-compatible hard disk interface, which is not compatible with standard AT IDE hard drives. The TL series offers two upper 3.5" bays and one lower 5.25" bay, and has a high-density floppy drive controller for 1.44 MB drives, though it comes with a double-density 3.5" 720 KB drive.
As the processors on the TL-series are socketed, it is possible to install 386SX or Cyrix 486SLC-based processor upgrades, though the benefit of installing more advanced processors is limited beyond merely providing a speed increase due to the computers' XT-based architecture, and their resulting inability to access extended memory above 1 MB.
The Tandy SL and TL series of computers are updates of the SX and TX, respectively. In addition to offering redesigned cases, the machines offer a more integrated motherboard with improved graphics and sound capabilities while dropping composite video output. The graphics controller supports 640 × 200 × 16 resolution as well as a Hercules Graphics Card-compatible, 720 × 350 mode for monochrome monitors. Sound capabilities now include an 8-bit monaural DAC/ADC similar in function to parallel port sound devices (such as the Covox Speech Thing and Disney Sound Source) but extended to support DMA transfers, microphone input capability, and sampling rates up to 48 kHz. The SL/TL allow the on-board floppy controller, parallel port and serial ports to be disabled, which the earlier models do not.
The SL and TL were shipped with MS-DOS 3.3 and DeskMate 3 in ROM, and feature a serial EEPROM memory chip to store BIOS settings. The machines can also run generic MS-DOS 3.x, 5.x, and 6.x and Windows 2.x and 3.0 operating systems, although Windows is limited to real-mode operations. In common with many PC clones of the era, MS-DOS 4 is problematic and generally avoided.
Additional higher resolutions photos are available.
Send your zip code and city for a shipping quote - should be between $14.99 and $32.99 if you are in the USA (March 2024)
