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title, categories, types, origins, years, cpus, params
title categories types origins years cpus params
Tandy Radio Shack 1000 SL & SL/2
Computers
Home Computer
U.S.A.
1989
Intel 8086
name image company company_name specs tabs forum_thread photos hardware emulators links docs related oc_id source
1000 SL & SL/2 /media/museum/photos/tandy-1000sl2_1s.jpg /companies/tandy-radio-shack Tandy Radio Shack
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NAME 1000 SL & SL/2
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MANUFACTURER Tandy Radio Shack
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TYPE Home Computer
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ORIGIN U.S.A.
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YEAR ? 1989
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KEYBOARD full stroke keyboard with numeric keypad and function keys (102 keys)
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CPU Intel 8086
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SPEED 8 MHz
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CO-PROCESSOR Intel 8087 optional
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RAM SL: 384 KB (up to 640 KB)\ SL/2: 512 KB (up to 640 KB)
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VRAM Unknown
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ROM 512 KB (DOS 3.3 on drive C: + main Deskmate 3 program)
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TEXT MODES 80 x 25 / 40 x 25
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GRAPHIC MODES CGA/TGA, 160 x 200, 320 x 200, 640 x 200
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COLORS 16 colours
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SOUND 3 voices & 1 sound channel + 8-bit mono DAC
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SIZE / WEIGHT 354 x 394 x 140 mm / 7.8 Kg
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I/O PORTS keyboard (DIN 5), 2 x joysticks (DIN 6), monitor video output, composite video output, lightpen, parallel port, serial (RS232c) port, 5 internal expansion slots (ISA XT), audio mono output, audio mono inputs (mic + line)
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BUILT IN MEDIA SL: one 5.25'' floppy disk drive (360 KB)\ SL /2: one 3.5'' floppy disk drive (720 KB)
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OS MS-DOS 3.3, DeskMate 3 and GW Microsoft Basic included with the system
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POWER SUPPLY Built-in power supply
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PRICE 1000 SL/2 = 9990 FF (France, 1990)
photos
hardware
emulators
links
docs
1185
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1000 SL /media/museum/photos/tandy_1000sl_1.jpg
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1000 SL/2 Thanks to [www.mo5.com](http://www.mo5.com) for this picture /media/museum/photos/tandy-1000sl2_1.jpg
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TANDY JOYSTICK /media/museum/hardware/tandy_1000_joy_1.jpg
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TANDY 300 BAUD MODEM with box & doc /media/museum/hardware/tandy_1000_300baudmodem.jpg
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Tand-Em http://www.emu-france.com/?page=fichiers&idMachine=157 MS DOS Only dedicated Tandy 1000/IBM PC Jr emulator (offical site seems dead)
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DOSBox http://sourceforge.net/projects/dosbox Windows Exellent PC emulator to play old DOS games, including Tandy 1000 ones
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MESS http://www.mess.org Multiplatform This famous emulator can emulate Tandy 1000 systems
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Radio Shack systems documentation http://support.radioshack.com/productinfo/ProductResults.asp?Name=Tandy_Desktops&ID=001001001 Radio Shack still offers some old docs on their support site. Download while available!!
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RadioShackCatalogs.com http://www.RadioShackCatalogs.com Here, you can actually/virtually flip-through the pages to view the content of every RadioShack catalog!
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Tandy 100 Webring http://r.webring.com/hub?ring=tandy1000 dedicated webring listing Tandy 1000 websites
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Tandy 1000 EX/HX, PCjr videogames http://www.brooksdeforest.com/tandy1000/ Games for download
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Tandy 1000 roms http://retrograde.trustno1.org/tandyroms.htm BIOS roms to use with emulators
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Tandy 1000-series FAQ http://www.oldskool.org/guides/tvdog/1kfaq.html Excellent FAQ. Very complete
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Wikipedia - Tandy 1000 entry http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tandy_1000 Nice article from Wikipedia
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Web Wiz CAPTCHA http://www.webwizcaptcha.com FTP Mirror Site for Tandy 1000 programs and documentation
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INTRODUCTION TO THE TANDY 1000 - A TUTORIAL TO DESKMATE ftp://ftp.robertstinnett.com/mirror/Tandy1000/documents/ /media/museum/docs/couvs/tandy_1000_introduction.jpg [**INTRODUCTION TO THE TANDY 1000 - A TUTORIAL TO DESKMATE**](ftp://ftp.robertstinnett.com/mirror/Tandy1000/documents/)written by Tandy Corporation  type of document : PDF\  size : 7 MB\  source : [ftp.robertstinnett.com](ftp://ftp.robertstinnett.com/mirror)
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TANDY 1000 - DOS MANUAL ftp://ftp.robertstinnett.com/mirror/Tandy1000/documents/ /media/museum/docs/couvs/tandu_1000_dos_manual.jpg [**TANDY 1000 - DOS MANUAL**](ftp://ftp.robertstinnett.com/mirror/Tandy1000/documents/)written by Tandy Corporation  type of document : PDF\  size : 8 MB\  source : [ftp.robertstinnett.com](ftp://ftp.robertstinnett.com/mirror)
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TANDY 1000 PROGRAMMER'S REFERENCE ftp://ftp.robertstinnett.com/mirror/Tandy1000/documents/ /media/museum/docs/couvs/tandy_1000_programmers-reference.jpg [**TANDY 1000 PROGRAMMER'S REFERENCE**](ftp://ftp.robertstinnett.com/mirror/Tandy1000/documents/)written by Tandy Corporation  type of document : PDF\  size : 6.5 MB\  source : [ftp.robertstinnett.com](ftp://ftp.robertstinnett.com/mirror)
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TANDY 1000 SERVICE MANUAL ftp://ftp.robertstinnett.com/mirror/Tandy1000/documents/ /media/museum/docs/couvs/tandy_1000_service-manual.jpg [**TANDY 1000 SERVICE MANUAL**](ftp://ftp.robertstinnett.com/mirror/Tandy1000/documents/)written by Tandy Corporation  type of document : PDF\  size : 13.5 MB\  source : [ftp.robertstinnett.com](ftp://ftp.robertstinnett.com/mirror)
/museum/tandy-radio-shack-1000
/museum/tandy-radio-shack-1000-ex
/museum/tandy-radio-shack-1000-hx
/museum/tandy-radio-shack-1000-sx
/museum/tandy-radio-shack-1000-tx
1218
url date
https://web.archive.org/web/20230320222056/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=1218 2023-03-20

The Tandy 1000 SL series of computers were an update of the Tandy 1000 SX. They came in a redesigned case and, in the case of the TL/2 and above, featured onboard XT IDE hard disk controllers (These controllers are not AT IDE compatible and thus will not work with modern ATA hard drives).

The Tandy 1000 SL boasted an Intel 8086 processor running at 8 MHz. The 8086's 16-bit bus gave it a small but definite performance advantage over the earlier 8088-based Tandy 1000s. The SL came with 384 KB of memory preinstalled, whereas the SL/2 offered 512 KB. Both machines could be expanded to 640 KB.

The Tandy SL model was equiped with a 5.25" floppy disk drive (360 KB) whereas the SL/2 featured a 3.5" floppy disk drive (720 KB). It was possible to add a second disk drive or even a hard disk.

The SL series offered two innovations over the earlier SX series. One is high resolution (640x200) 16 color graphics; the other is an improved sound circuit, using an 8-bit mono DAC alongside the PSSJ 3-voice sound source. The DAC gave the SL series digital sound output capabilities not much unlike those of the early 8-bit SoundBlaster line of audio cards: 3 PCM voices, 8-bit DMA up to 22050 KHz, audio mono output, audio mono inputs (mic + line), sampling at 5512 KHz, 11025 KHz and 22050 KHz.

One interesting feature was the 512 KB BIOS, from which 350 KB where available as a read-only C: drive. DOS 3.3 and the main component of Deskmate 3 where stored on it. This was excellent as you could access DOS and start to work only within a few seconds (an unreachable dream nowadays).

There is no internal clock but one called "SmartWatch" was available as an option. There was thus a socket on the electronic board reserved for it.


Contributors: Derek McDonald (aka “Skel”)
Sources: Wikipedia, MO5.com

Ray Jewhurst comments:
The SL and SL/2 both came with Deskmate 3 not Deskmate 2 I know this because I used to be a Radio Shack store manager in the early 90's and Deskmate 3 was one of improvement over the SX.

We need more info about this computer ! If you designed, used, or have more info about this system, please send us pictures or anything you might find useful.