The Tandy 1000 TL/2 - The Best PC for DOS Gaming in the 80s

The Tandy 1000 TL/2 - The Best PC for DOS Gaming in the 80s | CGQ

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Күн бұрын

Episode 73 - In celebration of SepTandy 2022, here's basically everything you might want to know about the Tandy 1000 TL/2. This computer was another Craigslist find, back around Christmas of 2020. I honestly don't remember what I paid for it, but I'm sure it was around $200 or so. Even though I already had (and still have) a 1000SX, this newer style of T1000 is what I more closely associate with the series, so I didn't hesitate to scoop it up when I saw it for sale.
After doing a standard overview of the computer, I installed a new Noctua power supply fan to help cut down on the noise a bit. Most (but not all) full-sized Tandy 1000 desktops take a standard 80mm 12V fan so replacing them is a cinch. I ended up using a 2200 RPM fan however so it is still fairly loud. I should replace it with a 1200 RPM model.
I also showed the process of installing an XT-IDE card along with a compact flash adapter. A compact flash card then becomes the computer's silent, solid-state hard drive, and set up the way I have it here, is accessible from the outside of the computer so that you can easily take out out to add more software. If it's not set up precisely correctly however it will not work properly, so I demonstrate the entire process.
The video finishes up with us checking out the Tandy DAC chip in Deskmate, and then spending quite a bit of time playing games. If you're looking for a computer for playing 80's CGA and EGA PC games from the era before VGA graphics and sound cards became standard, you can't go wrong with any of the computers in the Tandy 1000 line. In fact, I would say that they're the best computers to have for that application due to their enhanced graphics and sound capabilities when compared to other IBM PC clones.
While I doubt he'll see this anyway, I have to give a huge shoutout to @vwestlife who makes my favorite videos about old computers, and was the inspiration for this one. If anyone watches this video and picks up on a vwestlife vibe, that was my intent when I made it.
This video is super long, so let's do chapter markers, shall we?
00:00 Beginning
00:45 Intro & Overview
05:11 The 1991 Radio Shack Catalog
07:40 First vs. Second Generation Tandy 1000's
19:00 Installing a New Fan and XT-CF Card
26:03 Setting Up a Compact Flash Card
36:27 Disabling the Joystick Ports and Adding a Game Port Card
40:05 BIOS Settings
47:05 Sound and Music in Deskmate with the Tandy DAC
53:47 Deskmate Solitaire
56:30 Three Versions of Tetris
01:13:17 Star Trek 25th Ann. w/ Enhanced Tandy Graphics
01:16:01 Stunts
01:22:09 Arkanoid & Revenge of Doh
01:27:15 Jack Nicklaus Greatest 18 Holes
01:34:45 Space Quest 3 w/ The Tandy DAC
01:40:55 Frenkel's Tandy 1000 Commander Keen 4 Port
01:45:03 Test Drive II: The Duel
01:47:59 Outro
Show Notes:
- At just under 35GB, I think this is the largest video file I've ever uploaded to KZfaq.
- I mentioned this at one point in the video, but the segments for this episode were shot out-of-order, which made things challenging because I would often repeat myself and then have to edit things out.
- The "syncroscan" feature of the Panasonic GH5 gets all the credit for the footage of the CRT looking so clean. That camera was the best show purchase I ever made.
- Most of this video was shot with me wearing an older lapel mic of mine, so that I could move around and not have to worry about talking into a mic, but I hate the way this particular microphone sounds. A better one would have been more effective at rejecting the background noise (primarily the fan in the computer.)
- Zed, this one's for you.
Support CGQ on Patreon: / cgquarterly
The new CGQ Fan Shop: www.cgquarterly.com/shopcgq
Send me a postcard:
Classic Gaming Quarterly
PO Box 73126
Davis, CA 95617
#SepTandy #Tandy1000

Пікірлер: 175

@CGQuarterly Жыл бұрын

Just a few comments about this episode. I originally created this video for the side channel, CGQ+. In fact, once it was done I uploaded it to that channel so that Patreon supporters (Patreon? Who said Patreon?) could have early access. A good friend convinced me that for a variety of reasons, I should release it on the main channel instead, and it really got me thinking about some things. I'm sure it hasn't escaped anyone's notice that I don't upload nearly as often here anymore. I never intended to be the "launch video guy" or the dude who reads old magazines, though I do love making those videos. I started a KZfaq channel as a way to have fun and goof off while being creative. I did stupid stuff like the "Explosive Diarrhea" review , the Neo-Geo Pocket Color reaction video, the RC Pro-Am video where I taped a video camera to the top of a cheap RC car, all because they made me laugh and because no one watched my show anyway. I used to get excited when any of my videos reached 100 total views. But when the channel got bigger things got formulaic and less creative because I spent more time worrying about living up to the expectations of both fans and critics and stopped just having fun. On the other channel I have a blast making videos for a smaller audience because I defined from day 1 that I would just make whatever random stuff I wanted to. But the fact is, a lot of the videos that got uploaded over there and only seen by a relatively small number of people should have been uploaded here, and that's going to change going forward. I mean, look at this video. It's ridiculously almost 2 hours long, about a 30+ year old computer sold across America by chain of strip mall electronics stores that sat in between a Pay-Less Shoe Source and a Sally's Beauty Supply or a 31 Flavors and a Ross Dress-for-Less. I had so much fun making this video, and that's what Classic Gaming Quarterly was always supposed to be about.

@Reluctant_Hero Жыл бұрын

Do what you love, man. You keep making’ videos and I’ll keep watchin’ them.

@commodorechronicles Жыл бұрын

It seems as if most of my favorite KZfaq creators have run into a sizeable amount of burn out and haven't made regular videos in some time. I think what you are doing here is brilliant. Your charm is well suited both formats, off the cuff/walkthroughs and scripted content. I thoroughly enjoyed this, thanks!

@Mujangga Жыл бұрын

Perhaps you're overthinking these things a bit. Good video.

@RetroGamingNook Жыл бұрын

My first DOS compatible was a Tandy 1000 RLX w/single speed CD and Monkey Island 2. This kind of video is exactly why I am here... Thanks! Sorry that KZfaq is a PITA. I'll be watching 100% Spot on with Radio Shack's top 5 adjacent businesses!😂

@roberto1519 Жыл бұрын

Yeah, once things become a 'job' they suck out our energy and creativity. CGQ+ may have a smaller audience, and I'm one who follows there too, I enjoy simple videos, even if you're reading old magazines or talking about our past in the 80's and 90's, or Christmas specials, packages you receive from all over the world, etc. Sometimes you give us the impression we're old friends talking and chilling out.

@zed-xr4353 Жыл бұрын

It's impossible to overstate the amount of nostalgia I feel when seeing the Tandy logo. Getting a new Radio Shack catalog, or even just a sales flyer, was an event in my childhood and I would read them cover to cover like some kids would read a comic book. Our local Radio Shack was a bit of a larger format store, in the mall right across from the Ames anchor store entrance. Going into Radio Shack back then was like walking into the future. I could have spent hours at a time just looking at (and dreaming of having at home) the computers, games and peripherals on offer. It really was an amazing era and I think a lot of younger people won't understand how fascinating early PC technology was. And by extension Radio Shack's role as something of an institution for that early tech, especially if you lived in a rural area where specialized computer and technology stores weren't exactly commonplace. Thanks so much for putting this video together. 👍

@demonsty Жыл бұрын

do u ever wonder how diff your life would have been had you grew up with commodore 64 though?

@ryanyoder7573 Жыл бұрын

Completely agree. I grew up in PA and in multiple small towns. One had a Radio Shack downtown and it was the most tech filled space in town. Back then most people didn’t have computers so we were in a special club.

@demonsty Жыл бұрын

@@ryanyoder7573 yup. i remember going to radioshack where my parents got mine trying to get them to show me how to use gwbasic. they hated me!

@telesniper2 4 ай бұрын

Absolutely! This was a key factor in this machine that people today don't understand. They had a ready to go sales and support network for it in the Radio Shack stores. That was really critical back then! Lack of a dealer network is what really doomed the Amiga. In my area, we had the venerable MicroCenter store, which carried Macs and PCs, software for both, books and peripherals. They even had OS/2. But no Amigas. There was no internet back then to read up on stuff or make purchases. You got your info from books and magazines. There was mail order for stuff, but your average normie wasn't gonna buy a bunch of parts from Computer Shopper (remember that one?) and go it alone piecing it together.

@ZombieJesus1987 Жыл бұрын

oh man, my first computer was the original Tandy 1000. with the double 5 1/2" floppy drives and the big red power button and a monochrome monitor. had so many great games on it like Kings Quest, Pac-Man, Spy Hunter, Sharks, Frogger.

@CGQuarterly Жыл бұрын

My first computer had a monochrome monitor, as well. As dumb as it sounds, I miss that thing.

@TravisSurtr 9 ай бұрын

Thanks a lot for your very thorough Tandy 1000 TL/2 overview. Since it’s Septandy, I wanted to show my appreciation for the work you put into this.

@CGQuarterly 9 ай бұрын

Hey, wow, thanks! Shoot, I forgot that it's Septandy time again...

@byronlaw6491 Жыл бұрын

Thanks again for fantastic and relaxing content. Very informative as usual. I would also enjoy watching a full round of golf.

@BrianJones-wk8cx Жыл бұрын

While I was stuck with a secondhand TRS-80 Color Computer 2, I lusted after this machine. What a wonderful trip down Tandy memory lane-thank you for your work!

@dtttd 9 ай бұрын

You're in my top 3 channels bro. Love throwing on one of your videos and listening to you talking about my childhood wonder while I fall asleep.

@TheReasoner Жыл бұрын

Loved this movie-length episode. I used to use a Tandy in school sometimes. My middle school still had a computer lab full of them in the late 90s. Played some Oregon Trail and other edutainment titles. I think we had ones with the TL2's case design - it seems more familiar than the first generation case. Cutting in all the old commercials was a great idea. They're a lot of fun. Along with the catalog pages, they helped give some context for the era Tandy lived in. I enjoyed the in-depth look at the CPU & settings, and all the games. It felt like being over at a friend's house and checking out a cool piece of hardware.

@zanesdad913 Жыл бұрын

Love that you showed off Space Quest 3 use of the DAC! Thanks for remembering that. Loved the video! And yea...Tex Elec makes some fun stuff for Tandy's. Now I need to do that fan mod myself!

@spencerdrake6871 Жыл бұрын

Yes!!!! A new CGQ video and I have an hour drive to work. Perfect timing!!!

@shponglefan Жыл бұрын

Great video! Loved the in-depth coverage of this wonderful machine!

@wojiaobill Жыл бұрын

great video as usual Chris, thanks!

@Genesisdoes87 Жыл бұрын

Great video as always, man!

@dumpnchase Жыл бұрын

Thanks for the videos. Always great content!

@MattH-nd9qk Жыл бұрын

Great video, i didnt own any of this stuff but my friends all had them, brings back so many memories when i was younger. Watched nearly all videos on your channel, keep it up!

@tardis9436 Жыл бұрын

Thanks Chris, so many great memories.

@nyohan Жыл бұрын

I enjoyed every minute of this, thank you!

@CGQuarterly Жыл бұрын

Thanks so much! Glad you liked it.

@danieljackson2581 9 ай бұрын

This was brilliant. I've got my childhood TL/2 and have been running it through its paces and this brought back so many memories.

@chocolocojames213 Жыл бұрын

Cool video Chris. Hopefull, more to come 😊😊😊

@meh6722 Жыл бұрын

Solid review. Still watching, but thanks for the CGQ+ freebee!

@kevgret Жыл бұрын

I owned a Tandy 1000SX growing up... such fond memories of that computer.. I still remember playing Summer games, lode runner, space quest, kings quest, etc... good times!

@tempestfury8324 Жыл бұрын

Another great video, very informative and entertaining. Thank you Chris! We never had a Tandy computer, which is strange because I loved going to Radio Shack with my dad. I was only about six or seven when I joined the free battery of the month club which I thought was so cool. Thanks for the tip on the Radio Shack catalog website, I find that extremely interesting.

@DE-GEN-ART Жыл бұрын

I worked at an egarbage heap at a thrift store once harvesting pcbs and vacuum tubes, and I busted open probably 3 dozen Tandy's. I also tore up a silicon grafix indigo. Didn't know what it was at the time or I would have brought it home and restore it

@ToddsNerdCave Жыл бұрын

Great video and fantastic machine! I really like how Tandy tried to make the machines nice looking and not simply boring IBM clones like Compaq and many others did.

@CGQuarterly Жыл бұрын

Thanks man! And I agree.

@JimLeonard Жыл бұрын

Stunts and Test Drive II didn't share an engine -- otherwise, great video and great demonstration of what makes the Tandy TL series unique and set them apart from other Tandys and systems of the time. I appreciate showing off some of the Deskmate software.

@jkajmo Жыл бұрын

Yay! My favorite channel is back! So good to see you Chris. I never had a Tandy, we had Commodore 64 (lived in Poland, all we really had) & then a Packard Bell when I moved to the States. Played the DOOM shareware to death on the Bell. Now please do a video on the PsOne in '98.

@Michael-im5mq Жыл бұрын

I would visit my cousins in Poland and I LOVED playing on the C64! The Super Mario Bros clone was the best!

@Shanesshiit Жыл бұрын

I love Tandy computers. My first was a CoCo 3, now I am always looking out for anything Tandy to collect!

@tarstarkusz Жыл бұрын

"Resident Tetris" is in the form of a type of program called a TSR or (T)erminate and (S)tay (R)esident. This allows you to say load lotus 123 and work on your spreadsheet when the boss is looking, but then hit the hotkey combo to switch control of the computer over to the TSR, in this, a game. Usually TSR programs were utilities and fax programs and the like.

@retro_oddity2242 Жыл бұрын

Glad you mentioned this video in your podcast, it never showed up in my feed ;-;

@shibolinemress8913 Жыл бұрын

Thanks so much for including those old commercials! They add so much nostalgia! Does the golf game have gators in the water hazard? 😄

@CGQuarterly Жыл бұрын

Glad you enjoyed it! Not sure about the gators. I hope not!

@Dooblecaine 7 күн бұрын

Ahh my dad had this one and gave me the CoCo2. I think I eventually ended up with the TL/2. I don't recall mine having a hard drive. I do remember booting the drive with one disk, then getting to a DOS prompt and swapping disks to whatever game I wanted. I had Test Drive I and eventually II (as seen here). I loved those late 80s Porsches and dreamed of owning one when I got older. Now I'm well of age to own one and the more affluent have priced them far out of range! Fun memories on the PC though and going to the local Radio Shack.

@markshade8398 11 ай бұрын

I worked at Radio Shack back in those days. I think the /3 models (TL/3, SL/3) had switched to ps/2 style connectors and included the mouse from then on. These were good machines in that time. And very price compatible. And you hit it on the head that the reason for the odd parallel port was not for the purpose of being unique or separate but because RS had already had printers for more than 14 years or so. And in the old days, every manufacturer had different specs because there was no standard until about 85 or so. And even then the "standard" changed constantly. It wasn't until about 90 and on that the wide variety of machines/brands/etc started to settle down really well. Nice machines for the day!

@InfectiousGroovePodcast Жыл бұрын

The first home computer I ever interacted with was a friend's Tandy Color Computer 2. It was mind blowing at the time. I mostly went to PC clones from there, so I never knew much about the later PCs like the 1000 from Tandy.

@paulpreuss4528 Жыл бұрын

Oh no, the duel runs waay better than Stunts I would say. Your setup is pure beauty!

@aaronlochard7360 Жыл бұрын

Great video! Fdisk in DOS 3.3 I think only supported FAT12 with a 32 MB partition limit.

@manterprise Жыл бұрын

Thank you!

@Mujangga Жыл бұрын

Whoa, that TV commercial contradicts much of what I've been told about the past and present, I can't handle this...

@ninjasec Жыл бұрын

These we just a dream as a kid, our first computer was windows 95 /pentium 75 and we were only able to afford it because my mom's work was offering special to their employees but this also helped them phase out typewriters in the office,encouraging everyone to become comfortable with computers

@dinofirechief40 Жыл бұрын

"That's just CGA graphics and nobody wants to see that." - I laughed so hard. Loving your videos. Thank you for making them!

@thomaseller3866 Жыл бұрын

BOSS mode was an important feature that was used to hide the game with a keyboard shortcut when your boss was coming for a surprise visit...

@DMo2345 Жыл бұрын

Test Drive II The Duel!!! I played that on my grandma's computer when I was a kid. Can't remember what PC, but I definitely recognize the joystick in your intro, so maybe it was a Tandy. Tried to get a sealed copy of The Duel for my collection but at the time the prices were nuts.

@soteful9949 Жыл бұрын

I had an SL/2 back in around 1988. Interesting, would like more like this.

@jameshenderson4089 Жыл бұрын

Every year I asked for a Tandy I ended up with a Nintendo product to hopefully make me forget about a computer. Great video. Really made me nostalgic.

@AmyGrrl78 Жыл бұрын

This was the computer I had growing up. I wish I still had it. I miss this computer so much.

@ricardoediza2690 Жыл бұрын

Time to CGQ and chill 😉

@uncario Жыл бұрын

Watching this vid I came to realize my dad had a crazy good computer back in 1991 lol. I always thought it was crap because we had it until like 1999, but it musta been a beast back in 1991 when he first put it together: Intel 486 dx33mhz with 4MB RAM and a 1MB ISA VGA card that supported up to 1024x768 @60hz with 16bit colors, and a 14” SVGA monitor too. And a 100MB hdd. The only thing it lacked was a CD rom drive.

@MrLurchsThings Жыл бұрын

The Tandy 1000 series is such a great line of machines. PC’s in general kinda bore me. They were either boring business machines and then generic white boxes. Don’t get me wrong tho, the gaming on them could be terrific. But I kinda always feel with the 1000’s, Tandy kinda went “Ok, let’s see if we can make these fun” with their Tandy graphics and sound. And as such, such a huge step up from CGA and the PC speaker. I haven’t had my HX or 1000 out for a while. Might have to change that.

@tonberryhunter Жыл бұрын

Alla Turca was the demo tune from the battery powered keyboard my family had from the late 80s early 90s. My brothers would drive me crazy by playing that demo song over and over. lol I just had a slight PTSD episode hearing it again in all its midi sounding glory.

@grafxgear Жыл бұрын

35:00 This brings me back to my days working Tech Support at Maxis. So much of our time was spent writing boot disks for people.

@markcritic2409 Жыл бұрын

The Space Quest 3 title makes a great showcase of the Tandy XT vs 286 machines... on the 286es, the logo pieces *slide* into place (etc) but the XTs will merely pop in. There's lots of other bits where the 286 is just very enhanced... made me wish my parents sprung for the TX instead of SX! ;-)

@rigues Жыл бұрын

Pretty impressive multimedia capabilities for a 286! Rondo Alla Turca became famous as one of the songs in Lemmings.

@zed-xr4353 Жыл бұрын

I agree there is just something about 5-1/4" floppy disks. Even though they were largely obsolescent by the time I had a IBM compatible PC at home, I just really like the look and feel and there is something satisfying about inserting the disk and lowering the locking arm on those drives.

@zanesdad913 Жыл бұрын

For some reason the smell of 5.25" floppies gets me in the nostalgia feels.

@zed-xr4353 Жыл бұрын

@@zanesdad913 I was going to mention the smell too, but I thought people might think I'm just a weirdo. 🤣

@zanesdad913 Жыл бұрын

@@zed-xr4353 Everybody can know I'm a weirdo. It's fine. I used to store my 5.25" floppies in a wooden slide out drawer...and the drawer had a pressed wood smell to it that added to the floppy smell. I still have that pull out drawer but not the wood surround part of it...and I found it recently in a box...and it still had that smell of wood and floppy plastic. It was like a drug hit of playing Sierra games smacked me in the face. :)

@jackilynpyzocha662 10 ай бұрын

I had the 1000 RLX HD in the 1990s. Great machine and times.

@jackilynpyzocha662 10 ай бұрын

20 MB HD and 31/2" floppy drive.

@alk7934 Жыл бұрын

I got a Tandy similar to this from my grade school when I was young. It would not boot to DOS in ROM, so they thought it was broken. I took it home and reseated the floppy drive cable and all of a sudden it booted. So it seems the ROM DOS won't boot without a floppy drive hooked up. At least that was the case with mine. That was a good computer. I wish I kept it.

@sewart Жыл бұрын

Thanks for this wonderful trip down memory lane. We were a Tandy 1000RL family.

@8bitwarrior Жыл бұрын

You need Silpheed and oils well from sierra.. great video

@Cowclops Жыл бұрын

Right there with you on dos 5. I ended up using dos 5 on all the retro pcs that it was appropriate to run on because I had working 720K dos 5 disks that came with a computer my parents bought in 1992. It seems like there aren't a ton of benefits OR drawbacks to using dos 5.0 or 6.22 on retro machines, since they'll both run essentially any dos software and the primary benefits of 6.22 are the addons it came with. I just use 5 because it was the lazy option, but there's no real reason not to.

@Canadas_Very_Own Жыл бұрын

Ah, boss keys. From that time when a lot of people still didn’t really know how computers worked.

@ice_fox Жыл бұрын

Damn, I need to get me one of those hard drive computer systems.

@jackilynpyzocha662 10 ай бұрын

I loved and miss my 1000 RLX

@shireoryx6153 Жыл бұрын

IIRC didn't those Tandys have proprietary connectors, other things? I seem to recall buying my 1st internal 3.5 hddd for my generic 286 and noticing Tandys were "different"

@pussywran Жыл бұрын

Not sure if this is considered a game console but you should review the " Socrates "

@CrazyMan_Engineer Жыл бұрын

I had one with the 30 mb hd upgrade kit. I played space quest 3 on it with Tandy sound by the way don't touch the metal plate. It also had a talking parrot.

@lap456 Жыл бұрын

Mine was a version that came after the TL/2; but it was my 1st computer. Man I never tough CD-ROM drives were an option for computers in the 1980s. Since my 1st real induction to the CD-ROM was part of 1st big computer move DOS to Windows 95; and man it was not easy to learn. It was the computer I got after that with Windows 98 that I finally cound work with it without any iusees since at that point I learned how to use it and doing thing's I never did before. The cost was sread out since at the time my mom worked for school borad and my dad worked for PHI so didn't pay like the $3,000 shown in the video.

@changkwangoh Жыл бұрын

I love this comp. We used this in typing class and I played several DOS games on it.

@user-or6yn8pm3c 9 күн бұрын

The PC only made it as a game platform when VGA graphics was introduced in the late 80s. Prior to that Commodore had the best computer gaming both the 64 and the Amiga.

@AsifAlli Жыл бұрын

Loved your video. Where did you get all your sierra games from? Is there a downloadable link? Or did you purchase them used from ebay?

@CGQuarterly Жыл бұрын

I have physical copies of a lot of them, just from scouring the thrift stores back in the day. A good place to look for downloadable copies is The Internet Archive.

@briannorthFW Жыл бұрын

RadioShack’s biggest issue was they were never able to move on past their early success, they felt like they never kept up with the scene, sort of like burying their heads in the sand and continue doing the same thing-sort of stuck in time. It was a fun place to come in, but as you said you’d go get your electronics somewhere else

@Schush Жыл бұрын

I wish Radio Shack remained being an electronics store. Once they started removing certain electronics and replacing with cell phones - it was over. I recall the last Shack store I went to, it was basically a cell phone store - seems to coincide with their demise.

@Retrocidal Жыл бұрын

Hope your doing OK I am.also struggling wish you the best stay strong

@CGQuarterly Жыл бұрын

I've had a bit of a crazy year so far but I'm getting there. You do the same!

@RobinFowler1982 Жыл бұрын

My first PC :)

@juanbermudez964 Жыл бұрын

What do you mean that looking at old computer hardware insides is not interesting? I believe is just as amazing as the outside and the software, so please do, I want to see more inside of old computers, I love to see how the old computers and consoles that I had when I was little look from the inside,... I love old tech hardware, its fascinating

@silentfanatic Жыл бұрын

RIP the late 80s when everyone apparently kept their $4000 computer in the kitchen.

@fnjesusfreak Жыл бұрын

Several versions of Arkanoid 2 have a level editor.

@MrEd-qg8td Жыл бұрын

I noticed that your TL/2 has some empty RAM sockets. Should be 4 of them. What you can do is install 4 4464 type RAM chips into those sockets and then set a jumper to give you 768K of RAM. The advantage of doing this is that the extra 128K of memory will be used by the video controller giving you back 128k or there abouts of conventional memory. I did it to my 1000 TX.

@saratov99 Жыл бұрын

Chris, Commander Keen is famously EGA, not VGA. I know it blew my mind as well when i realized that, use of color is so good! In fact all pre Wolfenstein 3D ID Software games were EGA. BTW i seriously consider Secret of the Oracle as greaterst platformer ever. And Dangerous Dave in the Haunted Mansion as top 10 as well.

@CGQuarterly Жыл бұрын

TIL

@ztothepunk Жыл бұрын

I have a full working 1000 T/L and original monitlr (not the 2) and I've replaced the hdd with CF card reader. But I got a vga card for it bc some games weren't loading displaying using the TGA graphics and some were crashing when loading the TGA versions on some discs. But then worked with vga. But then using VGA caused me to lose sound or music in some games. Then I found a utility the lets me switch between both tga or vga when I need to but I've not tinkered with it recently enough to try it.

@CGQuarterly Жыл бұрын

Regarding the games crashing when loading the TGA version, how much memory do you have allocated to graphics in the BIOS?

@ztothepunk Жыл бұрын

@@CGQuarterly thats a good question. Are you asking without the vga card installed? Bc that comes with video memory of its own. I originally attributed game crashes to possible corrupted sectors of old physical media floppies. Other than during the installation of the dos and desk mate to the cf card I've not messed with bios much to make note of my ram use

@jongeo Жыл бұрын

I think rather than the mic input being stereo, it could also be expecting a balanced (TRS) connection.

@trr94001 Жыл бұрын

The TX/TL series machines had 286 processors but they were still XT class machines otherwise. Likely Stunts would run a bit better on a 286 with a fully AT compatible board.

@Skipntosh Жыл бұрын

Chris is going the distance!

@CGQuarterly Жыл бұрын

Funny you should say that because I've had a Cake song (though a different one) stuck in my head this morning.

@fuchnorris6277 Жыл бұрын

I know not the best but I loved my Franklyn Ace 500 apple lle knock off lol

@CGQuarterly Жыл бұрын

Dude the Apple IIe was one of the heavy-hitter home computers of the 80s!

@golinart4570 Жыл бұрын

Hello, I recently came across a Tandy 1000 with CM-11 monitor. (Think it's the same one used in your video) Would it be possible to hook up an RGB scart computer with an adapter? I want to hook up a SCART device to the monitor using an adapter.

@CGQuarterly Жыл бұрын

I don’t believe that’s possible.

@juanbermudez964 Жыл бұрын

1:29:18 I love golf games too, one of my favourite games for the neo Geo AES is big tournament golf, I can play that game for hrs, one single button gets me hrs and hrs of fun, Ans yes I do own a copy of that game and yes I paid over $2.5k for it back in 2007 everyone called me crazy, right. Now. Its costs way more then that, the same thing with my metal slug games, my mom called me crazy. When I fly out to Japan to buy of those games, spend over 30k in Japan, now only couple of games are worth the $30k, and I loved my trip to Japan, that was one of the best times of my life, I almost stayed there for ever, its an amazing country, only thing I don't like is the earthquakes lol they got a very big one while I was there.. A different time a few years ago

@MrDarchangelomni Жыл бұрын

u should be able to switch to resident tetris from inside any other non protected or "real" 8088 mode dos app. like from inside edit, or dbase for example.

@DookNookim Жыл бұрын

Frenkel here. Thank you for running Commander Keen 4 on a real Tandy computer. This is the first time I see my port running on a computer with a real CRT monitor. That black bar at the bottom is kinda annoying. Maybe it's less annoying if I give it the same color as the border. The graphics can get corrupted if there's not enough video memory. Was it set to 128K in the BIOS? The game expects at least 32K. I use ADJMEM -16 in PCem to set it to 32K. BTW, did you cut the opening purple text screen that shows which hardware is detected and how much memory is available to the game from this video?

@CGQuarterly Жыл бұрын

Frenkel! Yeah, I think you're right. I changed the video memory from 16k to 128k but I think I did it after playing Keen 4. And yes I did cut that hardware detection screen out just because I didn't have anything interesting to say about it. I didn't notice the black bar while playing so I don't think it's a big deal, but of course it's your port! Thanks for making it, and exciting that you saw my video!

@DookNookim Жыл бұрын

@@CGQuarterly The transition from the DOS prompt to the title screen was seamless, so I thought there was a bug that caused the hardware detection screen to be skipped.😅 If you had set the video memory to 128k, you would probably get errors in the game that there's not enough memory. The Tandy version is quite memory hungry, because the sprites take up almost twice as much memory as in the EGA version. The first level is one of the most memory intensive levels in the game, so you get the not enough memory errors quite early in the game.

@DookNookim Жыл бұрын

The bar isn't black anymore in the newest version, it's the same color as the border. I've also added a check to see if there's 32k of video memory.

@fandangobrandango7864 Жыл бұрын

There's a great electronic rock band called Master Boot Record.

@demonsty Жыл бұрын

i had that game pad!

@joe--cool Жыл бұрын

Still have it. Even with the little screw in joystick. It's a great piece of hardware.

@markshade8398 11 ай бұрын

Minor correction... Not " in ROM on the hard drive". ROM is a chip on the motherboard. Hard drive is hard drive. Even machines with no hd had the ROM... All of them did. A minor point but an important one.

@marccaselle8108 7 ай бұрын

I never find computer games at thrift store and when i do its all the hidden object and casio games. Besides. I have dosbox and games on my tower 🙂

@jackilynpyzocha662 10 ай бұрын

You can get an anti-glare screen; it was worth it!

@jackilynpyzocha662 10 ай бұрын

By Tandy, for their monitors. In the day!

@thepirategamerboy12 Жыл бұрын

1:47:19 For me, I've had the complete opposite experience. I find computer games way more often than console games.

@Whyteeford Жыл бұрын

I played stunts endlessly on my Tandy lol. But no Midnight Rescue or Doom?

@CGQuarterly Жыл бұрын

No way Doom would run on this PC. It's not even fast enough to run Wolfenstein, which also requires a CPU capable of running protected mode software. But there were of course many variations of the Tandy 1000, and if you had one with a 386 or better in it, then you could run more games.

@Whyteeford Жыл бұрын

@@CGQuarterly true. Pretty sure mine was a 486

@cameronpickard7456 Жыл бұрын

you seem like computer genius wish were my it guy

@ez054098 Жыл бұрын

Status “A” is active partition.

@CGQuarterly Жыл бұрын

Yeah, I realized that while I was editing the video. “Oh, A is ‘active’… Duh.”

@ez054098 Жыл бұрын

@@CGQuarterly The MS DOS takes me back. I worked for Fidelity National Title in 1992 doing some IT. Windows 3.1 and Novell 3.12.

@Lachlant1984 Жыл бұрын

I presume you have external speakers connected to the Tandy 1000, yes?

@CGQuarterly Жыл бұрын

Yes, they’re up the shelf with the 1000SX.

@SwearMY 9 ай бұрын

My first computer, Tandy 1000 TL2. Meant to buy it when it was put on clearance, but missed it (I worked at Radio Shack). The guy who bought it returned it, in pieces, and brought it in in a little red wagon. Once it had been returned, I bought that immediately and reassembled it. Worked great for many, many years. It'd forgotten that the power switch was a foot or so long. Love the original diskette box there on the right.

@BollingHolt 7 ай бұрын

What a great video! I just acquired a TL/2 yesterday (recapturing my youth). Came with no floppies and no hard disk, so I'm obviously going to be installing a solid state solution. Do you have a link to any of the utilities you used here, such as the SETUPTL2 executable?

@wetrucken1689 Жыл бұрын

Had the exact same computer as a kid my parents paid $3.000 for the whole thing they also got the printer with it I thought it was a great computer

@demonsty Жыл бұрын

$3 thats a good deal.

@alexshadowfax1119 22 күн бұрын

I know very little about the mechanical parts of a computer but wouldn't you want to keep an older vintage computer with its stock parts? Is it not like people who collect older cars? They usually try to keep it as stock as possible, im just curious, thank you.

@CGQuarterly 6 күн бұрын

I didn’t do anything destructive to the computer. The hard drive appears to have died after I bought it, and those hard drives are a bit hard to come by so I chose to go with the CF card solution, but I could totally take that back out if I found a replacement hard drive.

@biffrapper Жыл бұрын

You may say 80s but this computer did not exist in the 80s. The Tandy 1000 SX/TX line were the mid-80s Tandy machines that were the best for DOS gaming until 1990.

@MrDarchangelomni Жыл бұрын

CAR 54 WHERE ARE YOOO? Car 54: At Herman Munsters house dummy!