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I'm surprised no one's mentioned the Tandy 100. There is still a lot of support out there, such as Club100, etc.

Someone should really make a new one with the same keyboard, maybe a better screen and WiFi that still runs on AA's.

There's the alphasmart, which is getting there, and runs PalmOS.

TRS80 Model 102 FTW!!!
http://www.club100.org/

I actually have one, wrote a BASIC program on it today.

Do you mean the Tandy M100?

This guy sells what you describe (a used, assumed shop-grade M100) for USD$75. His are fully-checked-out and he's considered reputable. I'd expect to pay less from a person I randomly run into online who says theirs works.

I was seriously considering getting a cosmetically nice, fully rebuilt 102 from him for USD$350. However, for less money and an actual Linux OS with vi, this new Asus may be my choice by the time I actually need the new machine. Still, for a writer, the physical attributes of the Tandy are simply unbeatable. I've never typed on any portable note-taker that even came close. My dear God, I love that keyboard!

I'd pay USD$500 if someone would start producing the 102 again with modern peripheral ports running a stripped-down Linux OS. (I say "stripped-down" since vi, network connectivity, and maybe Lynx are basically the only things I need when I'm writing on the road. Oh, yeah, and give it room for 8 AA batteries; long-lived, easily replaceable batteries are seriously useful.) Wi-fi would be an unnecessary luxury and even an ethernet port would be optional; just a couple of USB ports and I'd be happy as long as I could have that wonderful keyboard and flat-as-a-book, easy-to-tote form factor again.

OK, I'm beginning to gush. I'll stop now.

This site seems to have some information on file transfer.

I don't know about the Y2K bug. I haven't actually used the machine in many years; all I've done is occasionally verify that it's still working and wonder whether it's worth anything to anybody :)

Well, there was always the Tandy M100 http://www.club100.org/ .

I limit my vintage computing hobby to laptops. The main reason is that each laptop is the pinnacle of engineering in its day. Some aspects of vintage laptops, like battery life, boot time (if any) stand their ground against modern laptops and in important ways surpass them (Model 100 series, Cambridge Z88, NC100, NEC-8500...)

Laptops are easy to store, so you don't have a big physical space issue like you do with some of the minicomputers and even some micros. Earlier vintage laptops don't require special power supplies, and some run off off-the-shelf alkalines or rechargeable batteries.

Anyway, the place for Model 100 users to find the community is http://club100.org/

-- John.

People still use and support the Tandy Model 100 http://www.club100.org/. AFAIR, it cost more than $200 when it was new, adjusting for inflation.

But good luck getting a bunch of minimum wage high school emplyees to take directions from a computer. Managers have a hard enough time keeping them in line.

When I worked at a Sonic Drive In in 1985-6, we teens weren't any less lazy than the ones today (despite what we tell our teens now). While flipping burgers and dropping fries, I thought about my TRS-80 Model I and my new Model 100, and had a brainstorm. What if the girl at the microphone had a computer terminal, and hit a key for each food item, and then -- get this -- the order would display on a screen in the kitchen! I think I got a pretty good reception for the idea, since I'd just wowed my co-workers and the 20-something manager with the voice synthesizer I'd built for the Model 100.

But nobody thought it would work:

* The heat and grease would kill the electronics.
* Where do you mount a big ol' TV monitor?
* You'll never be able to train the cooks -- they can barely figure out the french fry timer.
* You'll never be able to train the order-takers -- they can barely figure out the bank of speaker switches.
* Special orders would be impossible.
* What's wrong with the slips of paper with orders written on them (#1 HB +O -P)?

I've often wondered two things. One, shouldn't I be a freakin' gazillionaire by now? Two, what's going to be the Next Big Thing in the minimum-wage kitchen. This may -- or may not -- be it.

...how the hell do you get the text off of it?

There are several alternative methods.

...how the hell do you get the text off of it?

There are several alternative methods.

...how the hell do you get the text off of it?

There are several alternative methods.

Some more on Gate's + Allen's original BASIC is preserved here . I recommend finding the Gates interview in Programmers at Work too. Oh hey, there's copy on the same page! Gates is really pretty amazing. I'd rather have Steve Jobs market my project, though...

I have owned a few devices that would qualify:

- Radio Shack Model 100 (http://www.club100.org/), was a great very simple computer that was completely indestructible. Sure, it used cassettes for storage, but who needs storage when you have a serial port and a modem? They're on eBay for $25-50.
- Atari and HP both made stripped down DOS handhelds with decent, if small, keyboards. They were great for taking notes in class/meetings.
- Apple's eMate was wonderful for this. It ran the Newton OS, so it was fast and simple to use, and had a real keyboard, so it was pleasant to type on.
- I often wondered why Apple never sold a stripped down Apple II with AppleWorks in ROM as the perfect word processor. You could make a PDA with a 6502 and 128 KB of RAM for under a dollar (my watch and cell phone both have better tech), stick in a B&W display and a keyboard, and perhaps a CF or CD slot for storage, and have a perfect "workstation" for trivial cost. Sure, no web browsing, but for text editing, spreadsheet, and simple database work, it's just great. I still think that someone could crank out tons of these things and sell them in the third world...

Type it out in plain text/ascii and format it properly when you get home and u/l the files to your real computer via it's RS-232 serial port. 16 + Hour battery life on 4 AA batteries that you can find anywhere. Full sized keyboard, small form factor. There have been many a journalist/writer who swears by one of these for use in absolutely primitive/harsh 3rd world conditions. These little suckers are apparently very tough and tres retro. Wired had an article about the TRS 100/102's and other old/obsolete but still serviceable computers.

Some of the lower memory versions are avaiable /near-mint/used/refurbished starting at $75.

Or check out E-Bay, found a few going really cheap right now:

• Model 100's
• http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ca tegory=74947&item=5197944964&rd=1

• http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ca tegory=1247&item=5199719083&rd=1

• http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ca tegory=74947&item=5200179003&rd=1

• http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ca tegory=74947&item=5201521879&rd=1

  Model 102's

• http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ca tegory=4193&item=5200512388&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW

• http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ca tegory=74947&item=5200683165&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW

• http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ca tegory=74947&item=5200683165&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW

DaveC

Looks a lot like the Tandy 100. I still have one, last time I used was 4 years ago to take some notes abord a ship. Even if have more than 20 years, is still useful. I think this "notebooks" is conceptually based in that machine :)

The last piece of code that Bill Gates made a substancial contribution to is the Editor in the TRS-80 Model 100. He wrote that one, in Assembler.

It's pretty good.

If you're not looking for something new or fancy, you may like a Tandy 100 or 102. They are ancient laptops, however, they do exactly what you want. They get great battery life on four AAs, however, it will not fit into your pocket. Take a look at Club 100 and see if it is what you want.
Then again, you could get a cheap Palm and a keyboard.

If you want a small, notebook-sized machine to carry around and take notes on without opening it up like a clamshell laptop, I recommend the TRS-80 Model 100. The screen's kinda small, but the keyboard is a joy, and its battery life beats the pants (and shirt and socks and underpants) off any laptop on the market. The Bill-Gates-written BASIC interpreter might make some queasy, but it's a really nice piece of gear.

Actually, the Osborne DID come first. The Model 100 came out in mid-83, had a 40x8 display, weighed three and a half pounds, had 32k of memory, and ran for 20 hours off of AA batteries. It wasn't the first portable, but it was one of the very first machines that could be called 'notebook' (it was roughly the size of an 8.5x11" book). See Club 100 for more information, and even parts for these beauties.

actually, it looks like a cross between an emate and a tandy model 100. it'll be interesting to see if it finds a niche.

really a recycled Tandy 100 ...