yann64andClaude Opus 5.5
3eeabe9649
6,654 pages: 1,289 machines, 702 software, 460 companies, 64 history, 17 articles, 59 fun. 4,336 media files so far; references to files not downloaded yet are left out. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com> Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01YDRjtmAiNpo5mK5N3d7QwZ
248 lines
10 KiB
Markdown
248 lines
10 KiB
Markdown
---
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title: Texas Instruments Computer 99/8
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categories:
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- Computers
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types:
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- Home Computer
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origins:
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- U.S.A.
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years:
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- '1983'
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cpus:
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- TI TMS 9995
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params:
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name: Computer 99/8
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company: /companies/texas-instruments
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company_name: Texas Instruments
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specs:
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- label: NAME
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value: Computer 99/8
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- label: MANUFACTURER
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value: Texas Instruments
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- label: TYPE
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value: Home Computer
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- label: ORIGIN
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value: U.S.A.
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- label: YEAR
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value: '1983'
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- label: END OF PRODUCTION
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value: '1983'
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- label: BUILT IN LANGUAGE
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value: TI Extended Basic II
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- label: KEYBOARD
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value: QWERTY full-stroke keyboard, 54 keys
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- label: CPU
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value: TI TMS 9995
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- label: SPEED
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value: 10,7 MHZ
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- label: CO-PROCESSOR
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value: TMS 9918A (Video Generator)
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- label: RAM
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value: |-
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64 kb (up to 15Mb !)\
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61 kb free with Basic
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- label: VRAM
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value: 16 kb
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- label: ROM
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value: 220 Kb
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- label: TEXT MODES
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value: 32 x 24 (16 colors) / 40 x 24 (2 colors)
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- label: GRAPHIC MODES
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value: 64 x 48 (with 4x4 graphic symbols), 256 x 128 (16 colors), 256 x 192 (16 colors)
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- label: COLORS
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value: '16'
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- label: SOUND
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value: 3 channels & 5 octaves, speech synthesizer built-in
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- label: I/O PORTS
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value: Tape, RGB video out (DIN), Joystick, HexBus connector, Expansion port (16 bits), Cartridge slot (GROM port)
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- label: OS
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value: P-System
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- label: PRICE
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value: planned for 600$
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tabs:
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- photos
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- emulators
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- links
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- docs
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- videos
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photos:
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- title: KEYBOARD/LABEL
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subtitle: ''
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text: ''
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image: null
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emulators:
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- title: Mess emulator
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url: http://www.mess.org
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platform: MS DOS
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text: Emulates all of the TI-99 versions, including the Geneve card
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- title: PC99
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url: http://pw2.netcom.com/~mjmw/index.html
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platform: MS DOS
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text: Quality emulator for the TI 99/4A
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- title: Classic99
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url: http://www.harmlesslion.com/software/Classic99
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platform: Windows
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text: Open Source & freeware TI-99/4A emulator for Windows 9x
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- title: Win994a
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url: http://www.99er.net/win994a.shtml
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platform: Windows
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text: Win994a is a TI-99/4A simulator written by Cory Burr that installs and runs in Windows
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- title: MacV9T9 official homepage
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url: http://perso.club-internet.fr/pytheas/english/MacV9T9.html
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platform: Apple
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text: MacV9T9 is a TI99 emulator for the Macintosh
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links:
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- title: planet-99.net
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url: http://www.planet-99.net/
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text: Lots and Lots of 4A software on this site. Disks, Cartridges, Articles - the lot!
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- title: Somtimes
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url: http://sometimes.99er.net/
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text: Demo cartridges
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- title: TI-99 4/A Forever !
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url: http://www.ti99.com
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text: Excellent site with special pages about the Computer 99/8
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- title: TI-99 4/A Webring
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url: http://e.webring.com/hub?ring=ti994a
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text: You know what it is ;-)
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- title: TI-99 Forever !
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url: http://www.ti99.com
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text: Excellent site by Fabrice Montupet
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- title: TI-99/4 Home Page at 99er.Net
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url: http://www.99er.net/
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text: THE us site to visit !
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- title: Web Wiz CAPTCHA
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url: http://www.webwizcaptcha.com
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text: Discussion about Texas Instruments computers
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docs:
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- title: USER'S REFERENCE GUIDE
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url: http://www.classiccmp.org/dunfield/ti/index.htm
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cover: null
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text: |-
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[**USER'S REFERENCE GUIDE**](http://www.classiccmp.org/dunfield/ti/index.htm)written by Texas Instruments
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compiled/archived by Dave Dunfield\
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type of document : PDF\
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source : [Daves Old Computers](http://www.classiccmp.org/dunfield/)
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- title: BEGINNER'S BASIC
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url: http://www.classiccmp.org/dunfield/ti/index.htm
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cover: null
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text: |-
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[**BEGINNER'S BASIC**](http://www.classiccmp.org/dunfield/ti/index.htm)written by Texas Instruments
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compiled/archived by Dave Dunfield\
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type of document : PDF\
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source : [Daves Old Computers](http://www.classiccmp.org/dunfield/)
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- title: BASIC REFERENCE CARD
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url: http://www.classiccmp.org/dunfield/ti/index.htm
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cover: null
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text: |-
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[**BASIC REFERENCE CARD**](http://www.classiccmp.org/dunfield/ti/index.htm)written by Texas Instruments
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compiled/archived by Dave Dunfield\
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type of document : PDF\
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source : [Daves Old Computers](http://www.classiccmp.org/dunfield/)
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- title: GETTING STARTED WITH THE TEXAS INSTRUMENTS TI99/4A
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url: http://shawweb.myzen.co.uk/stephen/book.htm
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cover: /media/museum/docs/couvs/vide.gif
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text: |-
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[**GETTING STARTED WITH THE TEXAS INSTRUMENTS TI99/4A**](http://shawweb.myzen.co.uk/stephen/book.htm)written by Stephen Shaw
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compiled/archived by Stephen Shaw\
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type of document : HTML\
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source : [Stephen's Main Web Page](http://shawweb.myzen.co.uk/stephen)
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- title: PROGRAMMING DISCOVERY IN TI BASIC STUDENT GUIDE
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url: http://www.99er.net/docs.html
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cover: null
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text: |-
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[**PROGRAMMING DISCOVERY IN TI BASIC STUDENT GUIDE**](http://www.99er.net/docs.html)written by Texas Instruments Computer Advantage Club
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compiled/archived by Rich at www.99er.net\
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type of document : Unknown\
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source : [TI-99/4A Home Computer Page](http://www.99er.net/)
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- title: TI-99/4A CONSOLE & PERIPHERAL EXPANSION SYSTEM TECHNICAL DATA
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url: http://www.99er.net/docs.html
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cover: null
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text: |-
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[**TI-99/4A CONSOLE & PERIPHERAL EXPANSION SYSTEM TECHNICAL DATA**](http://www.99er.net/docs.html)written by Texas Instruments
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type of document : PDF\
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source : [TI-99/4A Home Computer Page](http://www.99er.net/)
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- title: SPEECH SYNTHESIZER MANUAL
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url: http://www.99er.net/docs.html
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cover: null
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text: |-
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[**SPEECH SYNTHESIZER MANUAL**](http://www.99er.net/docs.html)written by Texas Instruments
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type of document : PDF\
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source : [TI-99/4A Home Computer Page](http://www.99er.net/)
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- title: DISK MEMORY SYSTEM MANUAL
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url: http://www.99er.net/docs.html
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cover: null
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text: |-
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[**DISK MEMORY SYSTEM MANUAL**](http://www.99er.net/docs.html)written by Texas Instruments
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compiled/archived by Rich at www.99er.net\
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type of document : Unknown\
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source : [TI-99/4A Home Computer Page](http://www.99er.net/)
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- title: RS232 INTERFACE CARD MANUAL
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url: http://www.99er.net/docs.html
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cover: null
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text: |-
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[**RS232 INTERFACE CARD MANUAL**](http://www.99er.net/docs.html)written by Texas Instruments
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compiled/archived by Rich at www.99er.net\
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type of document : Unknown\
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source : [TI-99/4A Home Computer Page](http://www.99er.net/)
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- title: DATA RECORDER MANUAL
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url: http://www.99er.net/docs.html
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cover: null
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text: |-
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[**DATA RECORDER MANUAL**](http://www.99er.net/docs.html)written by Texas Instruments
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compiled/archived by Rich at www.99er.net\
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type of document : PDF\
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source : [TI-99/4A Home Computer Page](http://www.99er.net/)
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videos:
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- title: TV commercial featuring Bill Cosby
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url: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhsgvW9P7tI
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text: 'Length: 30 s'
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comments:
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- author: Andy (USA)
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date: Wednesday 17th June 2015
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text: The Myarc Geneve was not a "clone" of the 99/8. It used the same CPU, but absent were the Hex Bux interface, built-in speech, and the built-in USCD Pascal system. It also used a totally different operating system. People have compared it to the 99/8 but it''s in no way a "clone" of the 99/8.
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- author: frank (us)
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date: Monday 30th July 2012
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text: http://montreal.kijiji.ca/c-acheter-et-vendre-ordinateurs-Texas-Instruments-Computer-99-8-W0QQAdIdZ400504807
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- author: Stephen Boutillette
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date: Tuesday 8th November 2011
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text: Dan you are right. I knew a few members of the North Jersey TI Users club that had them. Myarc was based in Basking Ridge, NJ and it was called the Geneve. Some used the PE box or a PC case to hose the parts. I know that at least one was still in use in the late 1990s.
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- author: Dan Cochran (Leesport, PA)
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date: Friday 2nd September 2011
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text: If I remember right, a company called Myarc produced a clone of this computer. I never saw one in person, but I saw ads for it in a TI-oriented magazine.
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- author: Alice Myers (Washington)
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date: Friday 7th July 2006
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text: The codename for the 99/8 was indeed the Armadillo. My memory is that it was virtually ready for production when marketing studies determined that the price-point they would be able to be sold for was lower than the cost of making them. If I remember correctly, competitors were pricing so low that everybody was probably losing money with each computer sold. I suspect the mind-set was "the last company to run out of money will be the winner."
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related:
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- /museum/texas-instruments-ti-99-2
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- /museum/texas-instruments-ti-99-4a
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- /museum/texas-instruments-ti-99-4a-beige
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oc_id: 268
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source:
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url: https://web.archive.org/web/20230606203013/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=268
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date: '2023-06-06'
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---
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The 99/8 was intended as an upmarket companion to the [TI 99/4A](/museum/texas-instruments-ti-99-4a/) . Something like a small business computer. However, at TI they didn't think it would generate any income, so it was never released.
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It has built-in features which were optional in the 4A : The speech synthesiser and the Pascal UCSD ROM card. It is a prototype computer and was never marketed.
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---
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Very interesting information from **CC Clarke**\
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As a young electronic technician at TI, I labored in the "trenches" during the Home Computer Wars of the early eighties. It was brutal. Our 99/4A was technologically superior to the Comodore 64, but was marketed against the VIC 20 in price.\
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The 99/8 (codenamed: **Roadrunner**) was supposed to remedy that situation. It was more advanced, cheaper to produce, (the bottom line was ALWAYs the decisive factor in corporate decision-making) and used the existing TI HexBus interface, touted as the emerging interface standard at TI.\
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Unfortunately, TI got a very bloody nose when it voluntarily recalled thousands of 99/4A AC transformers due to a perceived fusing issue.
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Thousands of 99/8s were built and warehoused (before being destroyed) after it was discovered they couldn't meet FCC EMI specs without expensive design changes.\
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In 1982/83, TI was losing more money in their Lubbock Consumer Products Division than they could justify. and the 99/8's problems made it cheaper to bury than bring to market. A few escaped and are considered collector's items.
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