Archives: 1980's

The Commodore Amiga 500 List Price: US $699.99 Release Date: January 1987 The Amiga 500 can be considered as a cost-reduced version of the original Amiga 1000 computer, which was released two years earlier in 1985. The A1000 was an attractive, two-piece desktop model, while the A500 is Read More...

The Tandy TX 1000 List Price: US $1299 Release Date: 1987 The Tandy 1000 TX was similar to the 1000 SX with its detached keyboard, unique parallel port edge connector and XT-style architecture in a slightly modified case. The major difference was the 80286 CPU clocked at Read More...

The Commodore PET 4032 List Price: US $1295 Release Date: May 1980 The PET 4032 was released three years after the original PET 2001. Although it has the same CPU running at the same speed, improved circuitry allows the 4032 to run substantially faster. Other improvements include Read More...

The Atari 1040 ST List Price: US $999.99 Release Date: January 1986 The Atari 1040ST was Atari’s 1MB version ST, it also included several new enhancements included a new version of TOS which was ROM based.   It’s new features weren’t a grand leap forward (with the exception Read More...

The Macintosh Plus List Price: US $2600 Release Date: January 1986 Introduced in January 1986, two years after the original Macintosh, the Mac Plus shipped with 1 MB of RAM, a new double-sided 800 KB floppy drive, and a built-in SCSI port (the first Mac so equipped). Not Read More...

The Macintosh SE List Price: US $2900 Release Date: March 1987 Introduced along with the Mac II in March 1987, the SE came with 1 MB of RAM, one or two double-sided 800K floppies, and space to mount an internal SCSI hard drive (the second drive bay held Read More...

The Texas Instruments 99/4A List Price: US $525 Release Date: June 1981 The TI-99/4A is a redesign of the TI-99/4 system, which was discontinued. The new “4A” has a new graphics chip and a better keyboard. About the only way to expand the original TI-99/4A was from the Read More...

The Osborne 1 List Price: US $1,795 Release Date: June 1981 Released in June 1981 by the Osborne Computer Corporation, the Osborne 1 is considered to be the first true portable, full-featured computer. It includes all the components required to be a completely useful and operational computer Read More...

The Timex Sinclair 1000 List Price: US $99.95 Release Date: July 1982 The Timex Sinclair 1000 is the North American version of the Sinclair ZX-81, from British based Sinclair Research Ltd. They are nearly identical, except for the name on the front, and minor motherboard layout differences. The Read More...

The Radio Shack TRS-80 Model 4 List Price: US $999 Release Date: April 1983 The TRS‑80 Model 4, introduced on April 26, 1983, was the continuation of the TRS‑80 computer line that began with the Model I in 1977. The Model 4 was officially launched for the Read More...