Category Archives: TRS-80 PC2

Magazine : TRS-80 Microcomputer News

I have published lot about French, German and Swiss magazines or Club papers.
Now lets talk about one US magazine !

The TRS-80 Microcomputer News was published from January 1981 to June 1984.
A new pocket computer appear in the May 1982 edition : the TRS-80 PC2 !
TRS-80_Microcomputer_News

You can discover the whole collection at Color Computer Archive

If you own the Pocketcomputer Newsletter please contact me…

The PC-2 and the Radio Shack catalogs

The Tandy PC-2 was exclusively sold by Radio Shack, in shops or catalogs.
A big thanks to Mike from www.RadioShackCatalogs.com for allowing me to publish here some pages with the PC-2 !

First we have the General catalogs for 1983 and 1984.
It’s strange but there wasn’t any PC-2 in the 1982 one.
The start price was $279.95 for the pocket and $239.95 for the printer.
The printer’s carrying case was sold apart at $29.95

1983 :
1984 :

And we have the Computer catalogs for 1983 and 1984 too.
Nothing after 1984… definitely replaced by the PC-3 !

Uh, do you see the PC-2 color page 39 ? It’s light brown, like PC-1500…
Printing problem or does it really exist a non grey version ?

1983 RSC 08 page 38:
1983 RSC 08 page 39:
1983 RSC 09 page 116:
1983 RSC 09 page 117:
1984 RSC 10 page 57:
1984 RSC 11 page 61:

And here are the Additional catalogs from 1982 to 1984.
Yes ! 1982, this the first time on catalog for the PC-2.
But at the last catalog its price was $99.95 only !

Sale 1982 n°358:
Sale 1983 n°369:
Sale 1983 n°370:
Sale 1983 n°371:
Sale 1984 n°376:
Sale 1984 n°379:

You can visit Mike’s website for more informations of Radio Shack’s story and to see these pictures in high resolution.

PC-1500, the family portrait

With the advent of small 8th and 9th so I have to redo the family photo.
So this is a total of 9 different versions of our favorite pocket computer.

PC-1500D_006

Come on, I made ​​you presentations!
From left to right and from top to bottom:

– Sharp PC-1500 Europe and North America.
– Sharp PC-1500A Europe and North America.
– Sharp PC-1500 Japan.
– Sharp PC-1501 Japan.
– Sharp PC-1500 Japan blue.
– Sharp PC-1500 RP2 Brazil
– Hiradastechnika PTA-4000 Hungary
– Hiradastechnika PTA-4000 + 16 Hungary
– Tandy / Radio Shack PC-2

What makes us 4 beautiful colors!

PC-1500D_010

Few more pictures :

PC-1500D_009PC-1500D_008PC-1500D_007

Before you go on your Internet browser to try to find those missing in your collection here is the order of rarity (the rarest to most common)
– Sharp PC-1500 Japan blue.
– Sharp PC-1500 RP2 Brazil
– Hiradastechnika PTA-4000 Hungary
– Hiradastechnika PTA-4000 + 16 Hungary
– Sharp PC-1501 Japan.
– Sharp PC-1500 Japan.
– Tandy / Radio Shack PC-2
– Sharp PC-1500A Europe and North America.
– Sharp PC-1500 Europe and North America.

I wish you good looking …

Tandy a full system closed to Sharp one.

Most of you better know the Sharp system. Why ?
Maybe because Tandy/Radio shack didn’t follow Sharp along the years for this pocket computer.
Here is the Tandy system :
EMI_2609

We know some PC-3, PC-4… but the PC-2 is still at the PC-1500 step.
I don’t know exactly why…
Someone can help me with this item ?

I already presented the PC-2.
To be precise I presented one version of the machine.
Yes, you really read “one version”, maybe the third one.
On the picture you can see lot of blue straps and a IC named “SC613128” with “A03”.
TRS-80_PC2_004

We know it’s the firmware revision. Then A03 seems to be the third.
Does someone have the first and the second ? Uh… that sounds mysterious…

I have the fourth !
Tandy_PC2_A04

As you see, no blue straps on the CPU board.
In fact it’s exactly closed to the PC-1500 evolution.
But… one moment please…
With some friends we had a really interesting discuss about Tandy and Sharp.
Like the chicken and the egg … which came first?

After reading this first article you have more questions than answers, isn’t it ?
– who have the versions one and two ???
– who can answer the chicken/egg question ???

TRS-80 PC2

Radio Shack decided to sell the PC-1500 with it’s own face.
Look at the keys, they are perfectly ordered !
But i don’t think it’s very useful.

TRS-80_PC2_001 TRS-80_PC2_002
TRS-80_PC2_003 TRS-80_PC2_006

The CPU board is not different.
TRS-80_PC2_005