3 Oct
2007
3 Oct
'07
2:23 p.m.
Subject: Re: TI 990 architecture / was Re: TI-99/4A Floppies
From: Dave McGuire <mcguire at neurotica.com>
Date: Wed, 03 Oct 2007 12:48:37 -0400
To: "General Discussion: On-Topic Posts Only" <cctech at
classiccmp.org>
On Oct 2, 2007, at 3:47 PM, Martin Scott Goldberg wrote:
What are the differences between them, does anyone know offhand?
-Dave
There are really three 99/4 home computers:
original with chiclet keys the 99/4
the second and most common with a really nice keyboard 99/4a
the white console version that is really the same thing with
a few board level cost reductions. (still 99/4A on the back)
Allison
There are
really three 99/4 home computers, original with chiclet
keys, the
second and most common with a really nice keyboard and the whie
version that
is really the same thing with a few board level cost reductions.
Actually, there's one TI-99/4 and two TI-99/4a models. 
8 Oct
8 Oct
12:55 p.m.
On 10/3/07, Allison <ajp166 at bellatlantic.net> wrote:
There are really three 99/4 home computers:
original with chiclet keys the 99/4
the second and most common with a really nice keyboard 99/4a
the white console version that is really the same thing with
a few board level cost reductions. (still 99/4A on the back)
There's a caveat associated with the white/beige console version, actually:
Most (all?) of them have an additional lockout chip to prevent the use of
third-party cartridges -- in particular, the Atarisoft games that came in
the black wedge-shaped cases.
More than any of the technical considerations that have been mentioned,
that's probably the biggest reason why TI's home computer division flopped:
their outright hostility to third-party development. Commodore laid all the
internals bare, even to the point of including schematics in the
programmer's reference, whereas you STILL can't find a decent technical
reference for TI's GPL interpreter.
It is a pity that they laid out the memory the way they did, with the
standard 16KB as ported video memory, because the assembly is really fun to
work with. I've installed a CompactFlash sidecar with 32KB memory expansion
on my old 99/4A, and that's made it into a fun computer again.
1:31 p.m.
Change the subject line for this thread. The TI-99/4A MICROcomputer is the
same topic as discussion about the TI990 MAINFRAME.
Second warning...
Jay
----- Original Message -----
From: "Mark Meiss" <chaosotter76 at gmail.com>
To: "General Discussion: On-Topic Posts Only" <cctech at classiccmp.org>
Sent: Monday, October 08, 2007 2:55 PM
Subject: Re: TI 990 architecture / was Re: TI-99/4A Floppies
On 10/3/07, Allison <ajp166 at bellatlantic.net>
wrote:
There are really three 99/4 home computers:
original with chiclet keys the 99/4
the second and most common with a really nice keyboard 99/4a
the white console version that is really the same thing with
a few board level cost reductions. (still 99/4A on the back)
There's a caveat associated with the white/beige console version,
actually:
Most (all?) of them have an additional lockout chip to prevent the use of
third-party cartridges -- in particular, the Atarisoft games that came in
the black wedge-shaped cases.
More than any of the technical considerations that have been mentioned,
that's probably the biggest reason why TI's home computer division
flopped:
their outright hostility to third-party development. Commodore laid all
the
internals bare, even to the point of including schematics in the
programmer's reference, whereas you STILL can't find a decent technical
reference for TI's GPL interpreter.
It is a pity that they laid out the memory the way they did, with the
standard 16KB as ported video memory, because the assembly is really fun
to
work with. I've installed a CompactFlash sidecar with 32KB memory
expansion
on my old 99/4A, and that's made it into a fun computer again.
6286
days inactive
6291
days old
2 comments
3 participants
participants (3)
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ajp166＠bellatlantic.net -
chaosotter76＠gmail.com -
jwest＠classiccmp.org