The Tandy 1000 is a family of IBM PC compatible home computers produced by the Tandy Corporation, and sold primarily through its Radio Shack and Radio Shack Computer Center stores. Introduced in November 1984, the original Tandy 1000 was conceived as a cost-effective alternative to IBM's PCjr, intended to provide an affordable yet capable platform for personal and educational computing. While maintaining compatibility with most IBM PC software, the system incorporated enhanced multimedia features—such as improved graphics, three-voice sound, and built-in joystick ports.
The Tandy 1000 series remained in production until its discontinuation in 1993, coinciding with Tandy's gradual exit from the PC market. Over the course of nearly a decade, the line expanded to include more than a dozen models in various form factors, reflecting ongoing advancements in PC hardware and a gradual transition toward fully standardized IBM-compatible architectures. The series played a prominent role in popularizing multimedia-capable PCs in American households during the mid-to-late 1980s.
Overview In December 1983, an executive with Tandy Corporation, maker of TRS-80 computers, said about the new IBM PCjr: "I'm sure a lot of people will be coming out with PCjr look-alikes. The market is big." While preparing the Tandy 2000—the company's first MS-DOS computer—for release in November 1983, Tandy began designing the Tandy 1000, code named "August". Unlike the 2000 it would be PC compatible with the IBM PC, and support the PCjr graphics standard.
Released in November 1984, the $1,200 Tandy 1000 offers the same functionality as the PCjr, but with an improved keyboard and better expandability and compatibility. "How could IBM have made that mistake with the PCjr?" an amazed Tandy executive said regarding the IBM chiclet keyboard, and another stated that the 1000 "is what the PCjr should have been".
The Tandy 2000—not completely PC compatible—quickly failed. Since IBM discontinued the PCjr soon after the release of the 1000, Tandy quickly removed mentions of the PCjr in advertising while emphasizing its product's PC compatibility. The company said that it designed the 1000 for compatibility with both PC and PCjr, but emphasized the former when necessary, describing it as "the first fully IBM PC-compatible computer available for less than $1000". The 1000 has joystick ports like the PCjr, and its 16-color graphics and 3-voice sound, but not the PCjr ROM cartridge ports.
Although the press saw the 1000 as former personal-computer leader Tandy admitting that it could no longer focus on proprietary products in a market the IBM PC dominated, the 1000 sold more units in the first month than any other Tandy product and by early 1985 was its best-selling computer. Although the company initially marketed the 1000 as a business computer like the IBM PC, InfoWorld stated in 1985 that Tandy "produced a real home computer". The 1000 helped the company obtain a 9.5% share of the US home-computer market in 1986, a year in which Tandy stated that half of its compatibles were purchased for the home. In 1988 CEO John Roach disagreed with Apple counterpart John Sculley's rejection of the home market: "Let him deny it. He's the only other person that's well-represented in the home market, and if he wants to abandon it, it's all right with me". Tandy also regained a significant share of the Apple-dominated educational market, which the two companies had once equally shared.
The 1000 and its many successors were successful unlike the PCjr. This was partly because it was sold in ubiquitous Radio Shack stores and partly because the computer was less costly, easier to expand, and almost entirely compatible with the IBM PC. Software companies of the era advertised their support for the Tandy platform; 28 of 66 games that Computer Gaming World tested in 1989 supported the Tandy's own graphics mode.
Design and architecture Tandy 1000 computers were some of the first IBM PC clones to incorporate a complete set of basic peripherals on the motherboard using proprietary ASICs, the forerunner of the chipset. Although the original Tandy 1000 comes in an IBM PC-like desktop case, some models, notably the 1000 EX and 1000 HX, use home-computer-style cases with the keyboard, motherboard and disk drives in one enclosure. This high level of integration made these machines a cost-effective alternative to larger and more complex IBM PC/XT and PC/AT-type systems, which require multiple add-in cards, often purchased separately, to implement a comparable feature-set to the Tandy 1000.
Being derived from IBM's PCjr architecture, the Tandy 1000 offers several important features that most IBM PC-compatibles of the time lacks, such as the PCjr's sound generator and extended CGA-compatible graphics controller. It also offers multiple built-in I/O ports, including a game port which was frequently a separate add-on card on non-Tandy machines.
The original line is equipped with the Intel 8088 CPU, which was later extended to faster clock speeds and also the 8086, 80286 and toward the end of the line with the RSX, 80386SX processors. Successors to the 1000 appended two or three letters to the name, after a space (e.g. Tandy 1000 EX and Tandy 1000 HX). In a few instances, after these letters a slash was appended, followed by either a number or additional letters (e.g. Tandy 1000 TL/2, Tandy 1000 RL/HD).
Retirement By 1993, changes in the market made it increasingly difficult for Tandy Corporation to make a profit on its computer line. Tandy Corporation sold its computer manufacturing business to AST Computers, and all Tandy computer lines were terminated. Radio Shack stores then began selling computers made by other manufacturers, such as IBM and Compaq.
Reception In an article subtitled "Junior meets his match", John J. Anderson of Creative Computing called the original Tandy 1000 "the machine IBM was too inept, incapable, or afraid to manufacture. It is sure to put a whopping dent not only into PCjr sales, but into sales of the PC 'senior' as well". He favorably mentioned its low price, good PC-software compatibility, and bundled DeskMate ("you might never need another software package for your computer"). 80 Micro approved of the 1000s PC compatibility and stated that the exterior design "gives it a feeling of quality and confidence". The magazine concluded that "Tandy's machine closely emulates the most basic functions of an IBM PC, and it does so at an affordable price ... along with the security of Tandy's substantial support network", but wondered if people would buy the 1000 if IBM lowered the price of the PC.
InfoWorld highlighted the Tandy 1000's affordability, noting that it was "fully one-third less than a comparably equipped IBM PC." The magazine suggested that the computer was primarily aimed at "the elusive home computer market" and speculated that "in retrospect it might have been the PCjr's final straw." Describing the Tandy 1000 as "almost as fully IBM PC compatible as a computer can get," InfoWorld gave a mixed review of the bundled DeskMate software and pointed out the system's limitation in not supporting full-length PC expansion cards. The review concluded that "by making the 1000 inexpensive and adaptable" and including DeskMate, "Tandy produced a real home computer."
BYTE called the 1000 "a good, reasonably priced IBM PC clone that has most of the best features of the IBM PC and PCjr ... at current prices it is a very good alternative". It approved of the 1000's use of the 2000's keyboard, and high level of software compatibility. The magazine stated that DeskMate was "fairly good ... but a little extra programming work could have turned [it] into a much better program", noting that—for example—the word processor did not have a Move command. BYTE also mentioned the computer's short slots. Preferring the Leading Edge Model D among inexpensive computers, PC Magazine also noted the 1000's short slots and criticized its fit and finish ("not even close to the IBM standard"), but acknowledged the low price and bundled hardware features.
Technical details All Tandy 1000 computers feature built-in video hardware, enhanced sound hardware (based on one of several variants of the Texas Instruments SN76496 sound generator) and several peripheral interfaces, including game ports compatible with those on the TRS-80 Color Computer, an IBM-standard floppy-disk controller supporting two drives, and a parallel printer port, all integrated into the motherboard in addition to the hardware standard on the IBM PC/XT and, in later Tandy 1000 models, PC/AT motherboards.
For the original Tandy 1000, the designers omitted a direct memory access (DMA) controller because the PCjr does not have one, and they believed that those who needed it would add it with additional memory for the computer; they omitted the RS-232 port because all Tandy printers use the parallel port and, they believed, most customers would use internal modems. The earlier models of the Tandy 1000 have a composite video output, and can be used with a color or monochrome composite monitor, or a TV with an RF modulator. The original 1000 and SX has a light-pen port. Unlike most PC clones, several Tandy 1000 computers have MS-DOS built into ROM and can boot in a few seconds. Tandy bundled DeskMate, a graphical suite of consumer-oriented applications, with various Tandy 1000 models.
Early Tandy 1000 models use Phoenix BIOS. Common models of the machine include the Tandy 1000, 1000 EX, 1000 HX, 1000 SX, 1000 TX, 1000 SL, 1000 RL, and 1000 TL. With the exception of the RLX and RSX, the Tandy 1000 machines are XT-class machines, which cannot support extended memory despite some models using 80286 processors. The RLX is an oddity, as it is an XT-class machine that supports 384 KB of extended memory, and the RSX is a fully AT-class machine which can support up to 9 MB of extended memory.
Expansion slots With the exception of the 1000 EX and HX, Tandy used industry standard 8-bit XT ISA slots in their desktop models, including the SX, TX, SL, and TL series, but the actual length is limited to 10.5 inches (266.7 mm) or shorter, rather than the industry standard XT length of 13 inches (330.2 mm). While many 8-bit cards meet this length requirement, some cards such as hard cards, EMS memory cards, and multifunction cards that require the standard 13-inch length do not fit in the 1000s case. The EX and HX utilize a PLUS-style connector, which is electronically identical to an 8-bit XT ISA slot, but has a 62-pin pin header instead of a card edge, rendering it incompatible with ISA cards without an adapter. The PLUS connector was designed for compactness in these models with built-in keyboards. The 1000 RSX features two 16-bit AT ISA slots.
Hard disk drives As hard disk drives at the time of the Tandy 1000's introduction were very expensive, Tandy 1000 systems are not usually equipped with hard drives. However, it is possible to add a hard drive to most Tandy 1000 computers. Most of the desktop-type Tandy 1000 units can accept regular 8-bit ISA bus MFM, RLL and SCSI controllers like typical XT-class machines; however, care has to be taken when configuring the cards so that they do not cause conflicts with the on-board Tandy-designed peripherals.