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

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

[@LGR]

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 kzbin.info DaveJustDave kzbin.info The Retro Channel kzbin.info Adrian's Digital Basement kzbin.info Josh Malone kzbin.info_48kRAM Jan Beta kzbin.info MindFlareRetro kzbin.info Tech Tangents kzbin.info Retro Spector kzbin.info

[@Tamay.]

Did you ever have a Dell Latitude D610?

[@drhoads08]

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

[@tromik]

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

[@DaveJustDave]

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

[@MidnightMechanic]

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

[@jackmcslay]

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]

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]

@@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]

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]

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]

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

[@CharlieFoxtrot]

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

[@anew742]

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

[@Merrinen]

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

[@shadymorsi4347]

thats a mood

[@drewgehringer7813]

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

[@aidancommenting]

@@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

[@sepplee5812]

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]

That's awesome

[@KartKing4ever]

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]

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]

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]

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.

[@LonSeidman]

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

[@damonallan3025]

You have beat the internet.

[@TimChuma]

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

[@PranavRP2010]

Thanks sir

[@alwaysasn]

Could you imagine reading that sentence without any context. 😂

[@moviemania1137]

@@alwaysasn Google's BBC 😲😂

[@seoulpurpose]

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]

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]

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

[@willpreston6881]

@@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]

That's the LGR aesthetic for you

[@OFF732]

@@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!

[@wanace]

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]

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

[@JXLpixel2]

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]

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]

Mid-90s or mid-80s?

[@wanace]

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.

[@acamilop]

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]

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]

@@indridcold8433 you okay bud

[@OrangeDied]

@@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 😭

[@CarnorJast1138]

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]

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.

[@arlodolivine1153]

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]

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.

[@atomicdeath10]

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

[@LGR]

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

[@atomicdeath10]

@@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]

@@atomicdeath10 something to really look forward to!

[@mackenziebullied4900]

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

[@Jaqen-HGhar]

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).

[@popzct]

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

[@elisabeth5111]

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.

[@martin1b]

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

[@WesAllen]

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

[@martin1b]

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

[@cringecake321]

Nerrrrrrrrrrd

[@SentinelLSU]

@@martin1b My character did...

[@fretburner8981]

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!

[@JJPMustang]

I miss Radio Shack deeply :’(

[@jamesslick4790]

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

[@JJPMustang]

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]

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]

@@AliceC993 *Rejuvenate

[@jamesslick4790]

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

[@jeremycatches9766]

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.

[@MrL0rn3]

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.

[@KyoshoLP]

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

[@LGR]

Danged Halliday bein' all cryptic.

[@syntaxerror9994]

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

[@PET_-rp9rx]

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]

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

[@chrissawyer1484]

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

[@bardshousegaming8622]

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

[@jamesslick4790]

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]

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]

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]

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).

[@EposVox]

Those diffused LED strips tho!

[@gregferguson7737]

@@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]

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

[@dixonsoftwaresolutions5031]

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!

[@creato938]

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

[@MrDuncl]

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.

[@zacharymacnamara5363]

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

[@ThomasNimmesgern]

O Canada! 🍁

[@harryw.174]

I can't tell if this is sarcasm or not

[@definitely_notme4112]

🍁🍁👑👸🇨🇦🇨🇦

[@weaponofmassconstruction1940]

Error messages included sincere apologies.

[@WhitefolksT]

Hockey puck hard disk

[@deancikins6461]

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.

[@angelorusso3219]

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.

[@unlimitedbitsgaming]

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 KZbinr "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]

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]

When you edit a comment it removes the heart

[@unlimitedbitsgaming]

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

[@MrDuncl]

@@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]

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

[@ReyMysterioX]

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]

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]

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

[@gregorymalchuk272]

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

[@faealiciadotsys]

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.

[@legacydepot]

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

[@BokBarber]

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

[@LGR]

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]

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]

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

[@ivanravenski]

Ceul Gai that’s a little different of a market

[@ceulgai2817]

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

[@fhwolthuis]

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]

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

[@eDoc2020]

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]

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]

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.

[@killercab11]

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

[@SpeedyKhaled]

when lgr uploads its a good day

[@MontieMongoose]

Yep. And it's usually Friday.

[@ibnufasya6408]

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

[@ibnufasya6408]

And watching it in the living room on the couch

[@patprop74]

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

[@granitepenguin]

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.

[@tontsar91]

I just found out this channel and absolutely love it. Retro technology can be so fascinating.

[@Dkentflyer]

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]

Did you survive the game?

[@derealized797]

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.

[@KingPK]

"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.

[@danieldougan269]

LMAO!

[@RSCuber]

I just got one of these recently. This exact model. I didn't know too much about it so this video comes at a perfect time. Thank you!

[@DenSporetrix]

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

[@achu-7941]

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]

fitting but it already had a name micro computer era

[@TheAtoll]

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

[@jeffc4399]

I had one of these! Thanks for the flashback.

[@Josh-le6lu]

What a beauty! The setup with the little curve of the desk makes this all just flow together!

[@bmh67wa]

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

[@killthesleeper]

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

[@gauravmore3380]

I found you from one of the MrMobile channel's video and loved how detailed your videos are about a retro tech product.

[@professor_jordan]

i like watching these, despite not knowing a thing about old computers. it’s still comforting to watch and maybe learn a thing or two. keep it up!

[@javidaderson]

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.

[@PeterGerrish]

Love the aesthetic!

[@MrReyRomantico]

I love the Retro computing channels on You Tube. Thanks for this post. I had always wanted a Color Computer but I was raised on the Commodore 64c. Keep up the great videos!

[@FriendlyWire]

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!

[@MichaelJOneill333]

Been having bad day, needed this. Thanks LGR!

[@frankfuego480]

Thanks for the video. It brought back memories from when I was around 9 or 10. We had one of the original 16k COCOs in 1980 when they came out. My dad was an electronics technician and almost immediately upgraded it to 64k. We used the tape recorders over the later floppies and of course, subscribed to all the different COCO magazines. Many a hour was spent typing in programs. Spent many more hours trying to figure out where I made typos to get them to run properly. Looking back, I wish I had kept all that kit. Thanks for the video again.

[@StodgyAyatollah]

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.

[@MogoPrime]

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]

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

[@Michael-im5mq]

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]

I said exactly the same thing.

[@cyndernight2422]

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

[@SonicBoone56]

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

[@randmiller88]

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]

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]

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]

@@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]

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]

@@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. :(

[@bluesasquatchproductions]

I’ve been binge watching your channel this week. I’m glad I found you, hope you’re having a good Monday (by the time you see this)

[@thefagpunk]

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!

[@DH-qu8wh]

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!

[@dwaynezilla]

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!

[@positivepenny5477]

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

[@therealvbw]

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]

@@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]

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

[@eDoc2020]

@@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).

[@1leggeddog]

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

[@TheChrimboEffect]

simp

[@odetteodette3195]

@@TheChrimboEffect ok simp

[@RandallFrequentFlyerFlagg]

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]

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

[@iamvonimmel]

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

[@AmazingJeeves]

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

[@captaincrash12]

remove 'the'

[@AmazingJeeves]

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

[@o9mb]

Damn that pc is so cool!

[@o9mb]

Omg LGR tysm for liking my comment 😀

[@rogerjohnson9391]

This was a really good video thanks LGR keep up with the good videos 💪💪

[@MistaMaddog247]

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...

[@lelabotoxique]

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

[@j.t.5178]

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!

[@TheGoatBeats]

Insane videos,thanks.Keep it up!

[@dubselectorr345]

Wow! Your collection is just amazing!

[@wemstrum]

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]

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.

[@Hotlog69]

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

[@tact1calbanana388]

Color*

[@gaigejohnson7603]

@@tact1calbanana388 swing and a miss...

[@patemathic]

@@tact1calbanana388 colour*

[@Clos93]

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

[@patemathic]

@@Clos93 bugger off my british territory you git

[@Thatdamdroneguy]

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

[@heffe2001]

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..

[@leemiller4375]

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.

[@natethefighter]

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

[@drewzero1]

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]

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

[@toddstewart9070]

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.

[@kevinb158]

No lie a good sat night the TRS -80 and shooting gallery program pack you've brought up some good memories for me talk about a long time ago thanks LGR

[@richardadams4928]

Awesome video, Clint, on a VERY underrated machine. One tiny quibble: Hot CoCo was indeed an awesome little mag, but The Rainbow clearly ruled the roost in CoCo magazine land and deserves a mention (RIP Publisher Lonnie Falk).

[@Ash0512]

Remember the Tandy Comic books?

[@larrylaffer3246]

Cue Linkara Rant.

[@Ackbar96]

LGR meets the Tandy Computer Whiz Kids when?

[@andyopheim5662]

Ya linkara talked about all of them

[@Erykthebat]

I am a MAYUN! punch

[@SmeddyTooBestChannel]

Damn, it's been a good while since you've done a proper full system review! Good stuff.

[@erogin7187]

Thank you so much for this review! Grew up and learned to program games on this. Dad would bring home envelopes full of tapes brimming with backups since everyone at nasa seemed to also have one at the time.

[@ErchweanEmperor]

“This isn’t even my final form”

[@wilfredoz]

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

[@Tricob1974]

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]

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

[@Tricob1974]

@@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. :-)

[@Goto10Gaming]

My first PC, loved it, learned BASIC on it. Tape backup was awesome.

[@dariorazum6121]

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]

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.

[@lexington476]

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

[@derealized797]

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.

[@magnum7978]

The only computer in where it's fans can say "I'm in love with the CoCo" unironically

[@therainmakerinsider]

Urrrrgh.

[@Raptor50aus]

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

[@GeekRedux]

My first computer! Thanks for a nice trip down memory lane.

[@MrZedblade]

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]

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.

[@insertnamehere4921]

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

[@procommentr]

me: nice

[@umageddon]

Wth

[@user-yj5vc5zg4f]

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.

[@cecilandrews1875]

That brought back cool memories. The only game pack I ever bought for it was dungeons of daggorath. I even wrote a program to help my niece and nephew with their math back when they were in second and third grade. Thanks for the video

[@Spintechfilms]

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

[@Markimark151]

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!