Specs:
CPU: 80C85 running at a brisk 2.4 MHz
RAM: 32K
OS: Built-in ROM
Storage: none!
Expansion: internal 300 baud modem, cassette recorder
Display: Monochrome LCD, 40 x 8 lines
Every time I looked at a Radio Shack catalog in the mid-eighties, I always drooled over the TRS-80 line. Sure, I was an avid Coco user, but there was something about those big expensive machines... maybe because they were unattainable to a 12-year old with a meager allowance... and there was something especially interesting about the Model 100 portables!
I finally bought one in early 2006. My first truly portable TRS-80... a Model 100.
I've actually done a fair bit with Gibraltar. He's accompanied me on several trips, and I usually take him along when I'm on one of my urban walks. I find the Model 100 to be the ideal machine for on-the-spot notetaking, as it boots in two seconds flat! I've also used Gibraltar for basic text editing, and have even written a number of HTML pages using the built-in TEXT editor. However, I still feel Gibraltar could be doing more...
For one thing, I just bought a whole bunch of stuff from Club 100 (thanks again, Rick!), namely a Tandy Portable Disk Drive 2, TS-DOS, AC Adapters, and so forth. Add that to the acoustic couplers (for the built-in modem) and full set of Portable 100 magazines on CD I bought last year, and BOOM! Full-fledged productivity machine!
Gibraltar will be accompanying me on my business trip this July. I'll be using him to write reports, take notes at the seminars I'll be attending, and possibly to communicate remotely. While I can't dial into my SDF account directly with Gibraltar's built-in 300 baud modem, I can dial into Malcontent at home and upload any updates via my cable modem. Especially interesting now that I've learned a Model 100 specific termcap is floating around...
My main goal is one of productivity, to make sure I can do all my work-related stuff, or at least a rough draft, if nothing else. The only real hiccup will be tracking down a decent spreadsheet program. Lucid sounds good, but I'd still rather have Multiplan as I have a copy of it for Sigrid as well, and the files are compatible. I also have a little trick up my sleeve to help in this respect...
...and of course, Gibraltar will be used to update my blogs, and hopefully I'll be able to RetroMoBlog again this year as well!
CJ
05/28/08