8 Jun
1997
8 Jun
'97
5:30 a.m.
Subject: Re: Seattle Computer CPU Module
The 8080 is a 40-pin package. The Z-80 is a 48-pin
package. If I
remember correctly (my life in computers started with the Z-80, really,
Whn I got up off the floor laughing... The z80, 8085, 8080 are all 40 pin
packages and the z80 in any varient was never in a 48 pin package. The z180
aka 64180 was a 64 pin package or 68pin plcc.
since my friend with the Altair when I was in the USAF
didn't let me at
the hardware, he knew my [inclined to injure myself] soldering skills).
This generally means that an adapter was needed to plug a Z-80 into a
board designed for a 8080. But I started my real computer career when
Not true. there were z80 based boards to replace the 8080 board. For a
while due to costs there where boards that carried z80s that would plug into
an 8080 socket to upgrade the machine to z80 perfomance...
computers showed up where you didn't have to count
the pins on the CPU,
specifically the TRS-80 (later renamed the Model One). I remember the
first time I looked down into a Model 16 and saw the MC68000 and wondered
why the hell that thing wasn't climbing up the side of the Empire State
Building.
What you missed was the ti9900 chip that was 3 years older and also 64 pins.
FYI the ti9900 chips was a 16bit cpu!
Allison
--LAA09304.865785477/europe.std.com--
8 Jun
8 Jun
11:59 a.m.
On Sun, 8 Jun 1997, Allison J Parent wrote:
What you missed was the ti9900 chip that was 3 years
older and also 64 pins.
FYI the ti9900 chips was a 16bit cpu!
Yes, I've since seen the guts of a TI-99/4A. I ignored it for many years,
since the time I first played with a TI-99/4 at the computer store in Las
Vegas, wrote a BASIC loop to count to a hundred and got there first
counting out loud. I've been shown since that the machine was reasonably
fast, as long as you avoided BASIC, but that was the only tool at the
time. My fiancee has three of them, one still in shrink-wrap -- she
credits a cassette-based algebra tutorial for the system is what got her
through the math requirement to get her nursing degree from Rutgers (a bit
of a joke for a guy who decided to major in math by the time he reached
4th grade in 1964, that tutorial covers material I had to know to get a
decent grade in 8th grade -- and I'd always been told that public schools
on the east coast were miles ahead of those I attended in Los Angeles, in
more than one case by one of my teachers in Los Angeles -- when I moved
from California to New Hampshire for my sophomore year
of high school I
learned that Santa Claus and Jesus weren't the only things my
mother lied
about when I was a kid -- but maybe the schools were better before the
federal government leveled the playing field and made them "equal" ala
Kurt Vonnegut's story "Harrison Bergeron".) All I know is that I can do a
damn sight more useful work with a TRS-80 Model 4 or Color Computer than
I've ever seen done with a TI-99 -- and I apologise for showing favoritism
in this mailing list where I know damned well I should not play such
favorites. (But I will continue to let others collect the machines with
those 6502 processors -- never had it, never will).
--
Ward Griffiths
"America is at that awkward stage. It's too late to work within
the system, but too early to shoot the bastards." --Claire Wolfe
9 Jun
9 Jun
10:52 a.m.
New subject: TI99 (was Re: 8088s seattle comp.)
Not along the same topic but I'm curious - just how
popular was the TI99. From what I've seen scrounging
over the years it looks like it might have been the
most popular (or at least most numerous) micro ever made.
Now, I know that's not true. It's just strange - I
could go out this weekend and easily come home with 30-
40 of these machines, wait a month or two and probably do
it again. There's one local junk store here that had
11 of them lying around when last I checked. They're
like roaches ;).
Bill
6:44 p.m.
New subject: TI99 (was Re: 8088s seattle comp.)
On Mon, 9 Jun 1997, Bill Whitson wrote:
Not along the same topic but I'm curious - just
how
popular was the TI99. From what I've seen scrounging
over the years it looks like it might have been the
most popular (or at least most numerous) micro ever made.
Now, I know that's not true. It's just strange - I
could go out this weekend and easily come home with 30-
40 of these machines, wait a month or two and probably do
it again. There's one local junk store here that had
11 of them lying around when last I checked. They're
like roaches ;).
Personally, my opinion of the TI-99/4a varies from stupid piece of shit
to semi-decent machine. Today I feel like stupid piece of shit. It was
almost completely closed, it's BASIC sucked and was slow, it's keyboard
sucked, and if it wasn't for the hordes of TI-99 faithfuls it would've
been just a footnote. I don't understand what the big attraction was,
but then, I came from the world of Apple ][, to which nothing could
compare (uh oh, here come the holy wars).
Sam
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Computer Historian, Programmer, Musician, Philosopher, Athlete, Writer, Jackass
10 Jun
10 Jun
4:20 a.m.
New subject: TI99 (was Re: 8088s seattle comp.)
Apple II????????
PUHLEEZE!!!!!!!
EVERYONE knows that MY COMMODORE 64 is WAY better than YOUR APPLE!
All 64erz UNITE and show this INFIDEL why our 64s are KING!
;)
Les
more(a)crazy.rutgers.edu
9 Jun
9 Jun
4:32 a.m.
computers
showed up where you didn't have to count the pins on the CPU,
specifically the TRS-80 (later renamed the Model One). I remember the
first time I looked down into a Model 16 and saw the MC68000 and wondered
why the hell that thing wasn't climbing up the side of the Empire State
Building.
What you missed was the ti9900 chip that was 3 years older and also 64 pins.
FYI the ti9900 chips was a 16bit cpu!
10057
days inactive
10059
days old
5 comments
6 participants
participants (6)
-
allisonp＠world.std.com -
bill＠booster.bothell.washington.edu -
dastar＠crl.com -
gram＠cnct.com -
more＠camlaw.rutgers.edu -
william＠ans.net