Computers_With_BASIC_in_ROM / was Re: Texas Instruments CC-40 won't boot

[Rick Bensene]

Chris Osborn wrote:

> In many cases where the BASIC software was not on ROM it has been
> separated from the computer long ago. The list should only include
> computers that can get into BASIC without requiring any external
software to
> be loaded.
> 

OK, so should the Tandy 600 be included on the list?
This machine had a ROM socket accessible through a compartment on the
bottom of the machine.
The machine didn't come with BASIC in its standard configuration.
A BASIC ROM could be purchased separately.  The ROM was not a cartridge
per-se, but a ROM chip with a little plastic carrier that would help
guide the chip into the socket.
When the BASIC ROM was installed, BASIC would appear as one of the apps
that the menu system built-into the machine provided.  
As such, BASIC wasn't "running" when the machine was powered up, but
BASIC was in ROM, and could easily be accessed by selecting BASIC from
the menu.  BASIC executed entirely out of ROM...it wasn't "loaded" into
RAM and executed from there.

It's my assertion that any machine that had a ROM that BASIC would
execute out of (such as Atari 400/800), then it should be included in
the list.  However, if the list specifies that only machines that
"powered up running BASIC out of *built-in* ROM", then machines like the
Tandy 600, that had a ROM with BASIC in it, but required an additional
"module", wouldn't be included.

-Rick Bensene