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51-465: The TRS-80 Model 100 is a notebook-sized portable computer introduced in April 1983. It was the first commercially successful notebook computer, known as laptops today, as well as one of the first notebook computers ever released. It featured a keyboard and liquid-crystal display , in a battery-powered package roughly the size and shape of a 1" 3 ring binder. The 224-page, spiral-bound User Manual

102-720: A letter -sized pad of paper . In the mid-1980s, notebooks and laptops came to represent differing form factors of portable computer in the technology press, with notebooks possessing simplified hardware and a slab-like appearance with exposed keyboard (typified by the HX-20 and the TRS-80 Model 100 ); and laptops possessing more advanced hardware and a clamshell case to protect the keyboard. These early notebooks were all but discontinued by 1987, with laptops gaining favor due to their increased versatility. By this point, however, laptops were gaining hardware features faster than

153-513: A 3.5" single-sided double-density diskette. This TPDD drive used the same DOS 1.0 format, which introduced the FAT (File Allocation Table) file system that was shared with IBM PC computer's at the time, which made it an extremely desired by businesses and government organizations. But, much to the joy of Model 100 owners, there was a second version released late in 1984, known as the TPDD2 , This TPDD2

204-523: A null modem was to connect two teleprinter terminals directly without using modems. As the RS-232 standard was adopted by other types of equipment, designers needed to decide whether their devices would have DTE-like or DCE-like interfaces. When an application required that two DTEs (or two DCEs) needed to communicate with each other, then a null modem was necessary. Null modems were commonly used for file transfer between computers, or remote operation. Under

255-1167: A serial console through which the in-kernel debugger can be dropped to in case of kernel panics, in which case the local monitor and keyboard may not be usable anymore (the GUI reserves those resources and dropping to the debugger in the case of a panic won't free them). Another context where these cables can be useful is when administering "headless" devices providing a serial administration console (i.e. managed switches, rackmount server units, and various embedded systems). An example of embedded systems that widely use null modems for remote monitoring include RTUs , device controllers, and smart sensing devices. These devices tend to reside in close proximity and lend themselves to short run serial communication through protocols such as DNP3 , Modbus , and other IEC variants. The Electric, Oil, Gas, and Water Utilities are slow to respond to newer networking technologies which may be due to large investments in capital equipment that has useful service life measured in decades. Serial ports and null modem cables are still widely used in these industries with Ethernet just slowly becoming

306-489: A size class in between notebooks and palmtop PCs . By late 1992, the higher-end notebooks had run into the same miniaturization issues that laptops had encountered in the 1980s, with some notebooks weighing as much as 14 pounds (6.4 kg). Starting in 1997, screen sizes in notebook computers began increasing rapidly, fueled by consumer preference toward larger displays over compactness. The emergence of LCD panels larger than 12.1 inches diagonally in early 1997 led to

357-476: A straight-through serial cable is used, together with a null modem adapter . The adapter contains the necessary crosslinks between the signals. Below is a very common wiring diagram for a null modem cable to interconnect two DTEs (e.g. two PCs) providing full handshaking, which works with software relying on proper assertion of the Data Carrier Detect (DCD) signal: The original application of

408-418: A widely available option. Connecting two DTE devices together requires a null modem that acts as a DCE between the devices by swapping the corresponding signals (TD-RD, DTR-DSR, and RTS-CTS). This can be done with a separate device and two cables, or using a cable wired to do this. If devices require Carrier Detect, it can be simulated by connecting DSR and DCD internally in the connector, thus obtaining CD from

459-521: Is a software solution which emulates a hardware null modem within the computer. All features of a hardware null modem are available in a virtual null modem as well. There are some advantages to this: For instance, DOSBox has allowed older DOS games to use virtual null modems. Another common example consists of Unix pseudoterminals (pty) which present a standard tty interface to user applications, including virtual serial controls. Two such ptys may easily be linked together by an application to form

510-407: Is asymmetric as to the definitions of the two ends of the communications link, assuming that one end is a DTE and the other is a DCE , e.g. a modem . With a null modem connection the transmit and receive lines are crosslinked. Depending on the purpose, sometimes also one or more handshake lines are crosslinked. Several wiring layouts are in use because the null modem connection is not covered by

561-419: Is incompatible with the previous types of cables' hardware flow control, due to a crossing of its RTS/CTS pins. With suitable software, the cable is capable of much higher speeds than its predecessors. It also supports software flow control. A virtual null modem is a communication method to connect two computer applications directly using a virtual serial port . Unlike a null modem cable, a virtual null modem

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612-647: Is nearly the same size as the computer itself and adds to the value of the Model 100, particularly if it still has the pouch in good condition that was included to help protect the manual from damage during the owner's travels. The Model 100 was made by Kyocera , and originally sold in Japan as the Kyotronic 85 . Although a slow seller for Kyocera in Japan, the rights to the machine were purchased by Tandy Corporation and

663-543: Is similar to other Microsoft BASICs of the time and includes good support for the hardware features of the machine: pixel addressing of the display, support for the internal modem and serial port, monophonic sound, access to tape and RAM files, support for the real-time clock and the bar code reader, and I/O redirection between the machine's various logical devices. Like previous Microsoft BASIC interpreters , variable names were restricted to two characters and all program lines and subroutines were numbered and not named. However,

714-714: The Amiga computer, a null modem connection was a common way of playing multiplayer games between two machines. The popularity and availability of faster information exchange systems such as Ethernet made the use of null modem cables less common. In modern systems, such a cable can still be useful for kernel mode development, since it allows the user to remotely debug a kernel with a minimum of device drivers and code (a serial driver mainly consists of two FIFO buffers and an interrupt service routine ). KGDB for Linux , ddb for BSD , and WinDbg or KD for Windows can be used to remotely debug systems, for example. This can also provide

765-522: The Microsoft Windows operating system , the direct cable connection can be used over a null modem connection. The later versions of MS-DOS were shipped with the InterLnk program. Both pieces of software allow the mapping of a hard disk on one computer as a network drive on the other computer. No Ethernet hardware (such as a network interface card or a modem) is required for this. On

816-402: The Model 100 can't handle, where 1924 would be used for 2024 in real life. Since the century of the date is not important for any of the software functions, and the real-time clock hardware in the Model 100 does not have a calendar and requires the day of the week to be set independently of the date, the flaw does not at all impair the usability of the computer; it is cosmetic. When introduced,

867-473: The Model 100 to display 40 or 80 column video on an external television set or video monitor via a single RCA video connector. Another popular feature of the Model 100 was its generous options to share files locally or globally via standard telephone lines. The 3 options were: 1) The built-in Hayes compatible 300 baud direct connect modem connected to a telephone line via a standard RJ-25 connector. 2) Thru

918-408: The Model 100, providing a range of customized application software. Only one optional ROM can be installed at a time. Some commercial software applications for the Model 100 were also distributed on cassette. The Model 100 ROM has a Y2K bug; the century displayed on the main menu was hard-coded as "19XX". Workarounds exist for this problem. Most people just use 19xx again instead of 20xx, which

969-451: The RS-232 standard. Originally, the RS-232 standard was developed and used for teleprinter machines which could communicate with each other over phone lines. Each teleprinter would be physically connected to its modem via an RS-232 connection and the modems could call each other to establish a remote connection between the teleprinters. If a user wished to connect two teleprinters directly without modems (null modem) then they would crosslink

1020-632: The Radio Shack Model 100 showed the world what a light and small notebook computer could do, which eventually led to the laptop computers that we are all still using today. Cursor keys are used to navigate the menu and select one of the internal or added application programs, or any data file to be worked upon. The 32 kilobyte read-only memory of the Model 100 contains the N82 version of the Microsoft BASIC 80 programming language. This

1071-616: The UltraLite made concessions in terms of data storage compatibility, Compaq 's LTE line of notebooks in 1989 was the first to have full feature parity with the heaviest laptops of the time and jumpstarted the industry for these new notebooks, with scores of other manufacturers announcing their own notebooks. Toshiba in 1989 released the DynaBook in Japan, the "world's first A4 binder size" notebook computer. In direct response to Compaq, both Apple and IBM , top players in

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1122-470: The West, bringing the cost of notebooks down on the low end of the market. Laptops and notebooks continued to occupy discrete market segments into the mid-1990s, with unit sales tracked separately by research firms such as Dataquest . Notebooks were seen as having a footprint exactly that of or smaller than letter paper (8.5 by 11 inches or 22 by 28 centimetres), while laptops were larger. This distinction

1173-516: The acoustic coupler, which were basically suction cups that worked perfectly on pay phone hand receivers and served the same function as the aforementioned RJ-25 connector option. 3) The RS-232 serial port connected to a null modem adapter cable if transferring between computers that were right beside each other. And, with the built-in TELCOM firmware, the Model 100 was an incredibly convenient option for journalists and other professionals to work on

1224-449: The breaking of the 8.5-by-11-inch size barrier. By 1999, portable manufacturers had started integrating 13-, 14-, and even 15-inch LCD panels on their notebooks. Ergonomic considerations, as well the integration of pointing devices such as touchpads , also necessitated increasing the size of laptops to accommodate a larger palm rest area. These developments led to the distinction between and laptops and notebooks becoming blurred by

1275-413: The cable pin out merely loops back, and does not physically support the hardware flow control. This cable could be used with more software but it had no actual enhancements over its predecessor. The software would work thinking it had hardware flow control but could suddenly stop when higher speeds were reached and with no identifiable reason. In this cable the flow control lines are still looped back to

1326-683: The computer industry, made their hotly anticipated entries in the notebook market in 1991, respectively, with the PowerBook and the PS/2 Note (a predecessor to the ThinkPad ). Under the aegis of the Industrial Technology Research Institute , dozens of Taiwanese computer manufacturers formed a consortium to mass manufacture notebook computers starting in 1991. These Taiwanese notebook computers soon flooded

1377-431: The connections. The term null modem may also refer to the cable or adapter itself as well as the connection method. Null modem cables were a popular method for transferring data between the early personal computers from the 1980s to the early 1990s. A null modem cable is a RS-232 serial cable where the transmit and receive lines are crosslinked. In some cables there are also handshake lines crosslinked. In many situations

1428-461: The cursor movement and character deletion <Control><alpha> key combinations on the left hand side of the keyboard; the commands for activating Wordstar menus, like the <Ctrl><K> Block menu, were not functional. Invisible files in the system RAM named "Hayashi" and "Suzuki" commemorate the names of designers Junji Hayashi and Jay Suzuki. Another invisible deleted file named "RickY" refers to Rick Yamashita. The Model 100 firmware

1479-544: The default for floating point numbers is double-precision. The ROM also contains a terminal program , TELCOM; an address/phone book organizer, ADDRSS; a to-do list organizer, SCHEDL; and a simple text editor, TEXT. The TELCOM program allows automation of a login sequence to a remote system under control of the BASIC interpreter. As with other home computers of the era, a vast collection of PEEK and POKE locations were collected by avid hobbyists. The Model 100 TEXT editor

1530-507: The device. However, they are done so in a way that still permits Request To Send (RTS) and Clear To Send (CTS) flow control but has no actual functionality. The only way the flow control signal would reach the other device is if the opposite device checked for a Carrier Detect (CD) signal (at pin 1 on a DE-9 cable and pin 8 on a DB-25 cable). As a result, only specially designed software could make use of this partial handshaking. Software flow control still worked with this cable. This cable

1581-433: The earliest notebooks had monochrome-only LCDs , whereas laptops had color LCDs since 1989 (with NEC's ProSpeed CSX ). Others still preferred laptops for their keyboards, which featured fuller-sized layouts and often superior build quality; journalists evaluated the keyboard poorly in most early notebooks. The year 1991 saw the first notebooks with color displays, as well as the emergence of subnotebooks , which occupy

TRS-80 Model 100 - Misplaced Pages Continue

1632-648: The early 1980s, coined to describe portable computers in a size class smaller than the contemporary mainstream units (so-called "luggables" ) but larger than pocket computers . The etymologist William Safire traced the origin of laptop to some time before 1984; the earliest attestation of laptop found by the Oxford English Dictionary dates to 1983. The word is modeled after the term desktop , as in desktop computer . Notebook , meanwhile, emerged earlier in 1982 to describe Epson 's HX-20 portable, whose dimensions roughly correspond to

1683-602: The early 1980s. The popularity of this form factor waned in the middle of the decade, as larger, clamshell -style laptops offered far more capability. In 1988, NEC 's UltraLite defined a new category of notebook: it achieved IBM PC compatibility , making it technically as versatile as the largest laptops, while occupying a letter-paper footprint in a clamshell case. A handful of computer manufacturers followed suit with their own notebooks, including Compaq , whose successful LTE achieved full feature parity with laptops and spurred many others to produce their own notebooks. By 1991,

1734-418: The early 2000s. In English-speaking territories, laptop is now the more common term to describe any clamshell portable computer—notebook-sized or otherwise—likely because of the lack of ambiguity with actual paper notebooks . Null modem Null modem is a communication method to directly connect two DTEs ( computer , terminal , printer , etc.) using an RS-232 serial cable . The name stems from

1785-487: The go for the first time and simply transfer files globally with the ease of saving their work on their external storage. In fact, it was common knowledge that the Model 100 was originally used extensively on the NASA space shuttle and was for many years, as NASA frequently showed video at the time of astronauts posing with them on the evening news. Also, Tandy/Radio Shack offered a first of its kind Bar Code Reader Wand, which

1836-416: The historical use of RS-232 cables to connect two teleprinter devices or two modems in order to communicate with one another; null modem communication refers to using a crossed-over RS-232 cable to connect the teleprinters directly to one another without the modems. It is also used to serially connect a computer to a printer, since both are DTE , and is known as a Printer Cable . The RS-232 standard

1887-557: The industry could miniaturize their parts, leading to very heavy laptops—some upwards of 20 pounds (9.1 kg). In October 1988, NEC released the UltraLite , the first notebook-sized clamshell laptop compatible with the IBM PC . The term notebook was promptly revived by journalists to describe the new class of laptop that the UltraLite had invented. Competitors soon came out with competing models, and while initial entries like

1938-548: The notebook industry was in full swing. Notebooks and laptops occupied distinct market segments into the mid-1990s, but customer preference for larger screens led to notebooks converging with laptops in the late 1990s. Since the early 2000s, the terms laptop and notebook are used interchangeably, irrespective of physical dimensions, with laptop being the more common term in English-speaking territories. The terms laptop and notebook both trace their origins to

1989-467: The portability and simplicity of the Model 100 made it attractive to journalists, who could type about 11 pages of text (if upgraded to the maximum of 32 KB RAM) and then transmit it for electronic editing and production using the built-in modem and TELCOM program. Notebook (laptop) The term notebook was coined to describe slab-like portable computers that had a letter-paper footprint, such as Epson 's HX-20 and Tandy 's TRS-80 Model 100 of

2040-474: The remote DTR signal. One feature of the Yost standard is that a null modem cable is a " rollover cable " that just reverses pins 1 through 8 on one end to 8 through 1 on the other end. The simplest type of serial cable has no hardware handshaking. This cable has only the data and signal ground wires connected. All of the other pins have no connection. With this type of cable flow control has to be implemented in

2091-401: The software. The use of this cable is restricted to data-traffic only on its cross-connected Rx and Tx lines. This cable can also be used in devices that do not need or make use of modem control signals. Because of the compatibility issues and potential problems with a simple null modem cable, a solution was developed to trick the software into thinking there was handshaking available. However,

TRS-80 Model 100 - Misplaced Pages Continue

2142-568: The time, but a hardware modification was available that made this possible. The Model 100's original form of external storage was the port for a cassette audiotape recorder that would lay alongside the Model 100. Eventually, the instantly popular alternative to the cassette tape drives were the Tandy Portable Disk Drive (TPDD). The TPDD was introduced in 1983 and was an industry standard RS-232 serial port connected device capable of storing 100 KB of data FM-encoded on

2193-486: The world. It became one of the company's most popular models of all time, selling 6,000 units in the first month, with over 100,000 units eventually being sold globally before being discontinued in 1991. The Olivetti M-10 and the NEC PC-8201 and PC-8300 were also built on the same Kyocera platform, with some design and hardware differences, which limited their compatibility with the Model 100. The Model 100

2244-404: Was appreciated by many types of industries for a number of reasons, including accounting for, tracking and ordering inventory with a simple swipe of the pen attached to a notebook computer. This was a game changer for companies that came to appreciate the ease and speed this little notebook computer offered them more accurate inventory control while greatly decreasing the cost of labor. In short,

2295-555: Was considered important to business buyers, whose attaché cases often had a compartment exactly that size. An additional distinction was weight, with 8 pounds (3.6 kg) a loose upper limit for what journalists would accept as a "notebook" in the press. Aside from size and weight considerations, notebooks were also seen as more sleek and stylish than the bulkier laptops. Compared to notebooks, however, laptops saw quicker improvements in processing speed and memory; featured better upgradability; and were less easy to steal . In addition,

2346-591: Was labeled as being for the Radio Shack Model 100 and Tandy 102/200 and could store 200 KB on the same 3-1/2" floppy as the previous drive. Also available was the Disk/Video Interface (DVI), which was also released in late 1984. The DVI, which could be bought at local Radio Shack stores with 1 single-sided double-density (SS/DD) 180 KB 5-1/4" disk drive. But, you could also place a special order thru Radio Shack to have your DVI built with 2 SS/DD 5-1/4" disk drives. The custom ordered dual drive DVI

2397-547: Was noticeably slow in execution, especially for fast touch typists . This was due partly to the slow 8085 CPU and due partly to the slow response time of the LCD screen. Often after speed-typing a sentence or two, the user would have to wait several seconds for the computer to "catch up". A perhaps not well-known but documented feature of TEXT was that it partially supported the WordStar command interface. The supported commands were

2448-427: Was originally marketed as a Micro Executive Work Station (MEWS), although the term did not catch on and was eventually dropped. The 8K and 24K versions sold for US$ 1,099 and US$ 1,399 respectively. The Model 100 was promoted as being able to run up to 20 hours and maintain memory up to 30 days on a set of four alkaline AA batteries . It could not run from the rechargeable nickel-cadmium batteries available at

2499-448: Was so rare that The Smithsonian Museum hasn't even got one on display, instead having to settle for the single drive DVI. The monitors used with the DVI were typically in monochrome due to the more desirable and less stressful to the human eye amber screen still being considerably more expensive at the time. But, regardless of the number of drives or color of the screen used, the DVI allowed

2550-470: Was the last Microsoft product that Bill Gates developed personally, along with Suzuki. According to Gates, "part of my nostalgia about this machine is this was the last machine where I wrote a very high percentage of the code in the product". Added applications and data files are stored in the internal battery-backed RAM; these can be loaded from and stored to an audio cassette tape recorder or external floppy disk drive. Optional ROMs can be installed in

2601-569: Was wildly popular. This popularity was further boosted by there even being a monthly Model 100 magazine that shared stories of people that owned them, including astronauts aboard the NASA Space Shuttles, and always included program code listed that was submitted by subscribers to the magazine. The Model 100 was sold through Radio Shack stores in the United States and Canada and affiliated dealers in other countries around

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