Color BASIC was the core language, and Extended Color BASIC was a more powerful version of the language. The friendly little computer soon acquired the nickname CoCo, for Color Computer.Īs with the older TRS-80 line, there were different levels of BASIC for CoCo. The new computer retailed for $399 at Radio Shack stores across the US and Canada. That model had 4 KB of memory and 8 KB of ROM that included Microsoft BASIC, which Tandy called Color BASIC. On July 31, 1980, Radio Shack delivered the TRS-80 Color Computer, essentially a VideoTex Terminal minus its modem but with a cartridge slot, I/O ports, and joysticks. The VideoTex Terminal used a 6809 CPU, 6883 Synchronous Address Multiplexer, and 6847 Video Display Generator, all from Motorola. Fans of the Color Computer will immediately see the origin of its case. Motorola sold it as the AgVision terminal, while Radio Shack called it the VideoTex Terminal (right). The first product was a home terminal that could be used with an ordinary color TV, eliminating the cost of a computer monitor. Radio Shack teamed up with Motorola in 1977 to create a lower-cost home computer. Commodore jumped on color in 1980, when it released the VIC-20, the same year that Tandy introduced the first TRS-80 Color Computer. Texas Instruments joined the home computer market with its 99/4A in 1979 – it even included its own 13″ color monitor. Befitting its history in video gaming, the Atari 400 and 800 had color support. In 1978, Atari released its first personal computers. The Apple 1, a single-board computer introduced in 1976, was the first model to support a color display, and the Apple II, released in 1977, was the first fully assembled computer with a color display. That means no software was compatible between the two lines. The original TRS-80 line was built around the Zilog Z-80 CPU, while the Color Computer used the Motorola 6809E CPU. A Different Kind of TRS-80Īlthough it shared TRS-80 as part of its name with Tandy’s black-and-white personal computers, the Color Computer was an entirely different machine. First generation Color Computer in original silver and later white case.
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