website/content/museum/texas-instruments-computer-99-8.md

title, categories, types, origins, years, cpus, params

title	categories	types	origins	years	cpus	params
Texas Instruments Computer 99/8	Computers	Home Computer	U.S.A.	1983	TI TMS 9995	name image company company_name specs tabs forum_thread photos emulators links docs videos related oc_id source Computer 99/8 /media/museum/photos/texas_instrument_ti99-8_1.jpg /companies/texas-instruments Texas Instruments label value NAME Computer 99/8 label value MANUFACTURER Texas Instruments label value TYPE Home Computer label value ORIGIN U.S.A. label value YEAR 1983 label value END OF PRODUCTION 1983 label value BUILT IN LANGUAGE TI Extended Basic II label value KEYBOARD QWERTY full-stroke keyboard, 54 keys label value CPU TI TMS 9995 label value SPEED 10,7 MHZ label value CO-PROCESSOR TMS 9918A (Video Generator) label value RAM 64 kb (up to 15Mb !)\ 61 kb free with Basic label value VRAM 16 kb label value ROM 220 Kb label value TEXT MODES 32 x 24 (16 colors) / 40 x 24 (2 colors) label value GRAPHIC MODES 64 x 48 (with 4x4 graphic symbols), 256 x 128 (16 colors), 256 x 192 (16 colors) label value COLORS 16 label value SOUND 3 channels & 5 octaves, speech synthesizer built-in label value I/O PORTS Tape, RGB video out (DIN), Joystick, HexBus connector, Expansion port (16 bits), Cartridge slot (GROM port) label value OS P-System label value PRICE planned for 600$ photos emulators links docs videos 278 title subtitle text image KEYBOARD/LABEL /media/museum/photos/texas_ti99_8_closeup_1.jpg title url platform text Mess emulator http://www.mess.org MS DOS Emulates all of the TI-99 versions, including the Geneve card title url platform text PC99 http://pw2.netcom.com/~mjmw/index.html MS DOS Quality emulator for the TI 99/4A title url platform text Classic99 http://www.harmlesslion.com/software/Classic99 Windows Open Source & freeware TI-99/4A emulator for Windows 9x title url platform text Win994a http://www.99er.net/win994a.shtml Windows Win994a is a TI-99/4A simulator written by Cory Burr that installs and runs in Windows title url platform text MacV9T9 official homepage http://perso.club-internet.fr/pytheas/english/MacV9T9.html Apple MacV9T9 is a TI99 emulator for the Macintosh title url text planet-99.net http://www.planet-99.net/ Lots and Lots of 4A software on this site. Disks, Cartridges, Articles - the lot! title url text Somtimes http://sometimes.99er.net/ Demo cartridges title url text TI-99 4/A Forever ! http://www.ti99.com Excellent site with special pages about the Computer 99/8 title url text TI-99 4/A Webring http://e.webring.com/hub?ring=ti994a You know what it is ;-) title url text TI-99 Forever ! http://www.ti99.com Excellent site by Fabrice Montupet title url text TI-99/4 Home Page at 99er.Net http://www.99er.net/ THE us site to visit ! title url text Web Wiz CAPTCHA http://www.webwizcaptcha.com Discussion about Texas Instruments computers title url cover text USER'S REFERENCE GUIDE http://www.classiccmp.org/dunfield/ti/index.htm /media/museum/docs/couvs/texas-instruments_ti99-4a_user-reference-guide.jpg [**USER'S REFERENCE GUIDE**](http://www.classiccmp.org/dunfield/ti/index.htm)written by Texas Instruments  compiled/archived by Dave Dunfield\  type of document : PDF\  source : [Daves Old Computers](http://www.classiccmp.org/dunfield/) title url cover text BEGINNER'S BASIC http://www.classiccmp.org/dunfield/ti/index.htm /media/museum/docs/couvs/texas-instruments_ti99-4a_beginners-basic.jpg [**BEGINNER'S BASIC**](http://www.classiccmp.org/dunfield/ti/index.htm)written by Texas Instruments  compiled/archived by Dave Dunfield\  type of document : PDF\  source : [Daves Old Computers](http://www.classiccmp.org/dunfield/) title url cover text BASIC REFERENCE CARD http://www.classiccmp.org/dunfield/ti/index.htm /media/museum/docs/couvs/texas-instruments_ti99-4a_basic-reference-card.jpg [**BASIC REFERENCE CARD**](http://www.classiccmp.org/dunfield/ti/index.htm)written by Texas Instruments  compiled/archived by Dave Dunfield\  type of document : PDF\  source : [Daves Old Computers](http://www.classiccmp.org/dunfield/) title url cover text GETTING STARTED WITH THE TEXAS INSTRUMENTS TI99/4A http://shawweb.myzen.co.uk/stephen/book.htm /media/museum/docs/couvs/vide.gif [**GETTING STARTED WITH THE TEXAS INSTRUMENTS TI99/4A**](http://shawweb.myzen.co.uk/stephen/book.htm)written by Stephen Shaw  compiled/archived by Stephen Shaw\  type of document : HTML\  source : [Stephen's Main Web Page](http://shawweb.myzen.co.uk/stephen) title url cover text PROGRAMMING DISCOVERY IN TI BASIC STUDENT GUIDE http://www.99er.net/docs.html /media/museum/docs/couvs/texas-instruments_ti99-4a_programming_discovery.jpg [**PROGRAMMING DISCOVERY IN TI BASIC STUDENT GUIDE**](http://www.99er.net/docs.html)written by Texas Instruments Computer Advantage Club  compiled/archived by Rich at www.99er.net\  type of document : Unknown\  source : [TI-99/4A Home Computer Page](http://www.99er.net/) title url cover text TI-99/4A CONSOLE & PERIPHERAL EXPANSION SYSTEM TECHNICAL DATA http://www.99er.net/docs.html /media/museum/docs/couvs/texas-instruments_ti99-4a_technical_data.jpg [**TI-99/4A CONSOLE & PERIPHERAL EXPANSION SYSTEM TECHNICAL DATA**](http://www.99er.net/docs.html)written by Texas Instruments  type of document : PDF\  source : [TI-99/4A Home Computer Page](http://www.99er.net/) title url cover text SPEECH SYNTHESIZER MANUAL http://www.99er.net/docs.html /media/museum/docs/couvs/texas-instruments_ti99-4a_speech-module-manual.jpg [**SPEECH SYNTHESIZER MANUAL**](http://www.99er.net/docs.html)written by Texas Instruments  type of document : PDF\  source : [TI-99/4A Home Computer Page](http://www.99er.net/) title url cover text DISK MEMORY SYSTEM MANUAL http://www.99er.net/docs.html /media/museum/docs/couvs/texas-instruments_ti99-4a_disk-memory-system.jpg [**DISK MEMORY SYSTEM MANUAL**](http://www.99er.net/docs.html)written by Texas Instruments  compiled/archived by Rich at www.99er.net\  type of document : Unknown\  source : [TI-99/4A Home Computer Page](http://www.99er.net/) title url cover text RS232 INTERFACE CARD MANUAL http://www.99er.net/docs.html /media/museum/docs/couvs/texas-instruments_ti99-4a_rs232.jpg [**RS232 INTERFACE CARD MANUAL**](http://www.99er.net/docs.html)written by Texas Instruments  compiled/archived by Rich at www.99er.net\  type of document : Unknown\  source : [TI-99/4A Home Computer Page](http://www.99er.net/) title url cover text DATA RECORDER MANUAL http://www.99er.net/docs.html /media/museum/docs/couvs/texas-instruments_ti99-4a_data-recorder.jpg [**DATA RECORDER MANUAL**](http://www.99er.net/docs.html)written by Texas Instruments  compiled/archived by Rich at www.99er.net\  type of document : PDF\  source : [TI-99/4A Home Computer Page](http://www.99er.net/) title url text TV commercial featuring Bill Cosby https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhsgvW9P7tI Length: 30 s /museum/texas-instruments-ti-99-2 /museum/texas-instruments-ti-99-4a /museum/texas-instruments-ti-99-4a-beige 268 url date https://web.archive.org/web/20230606203013/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=268 2023-06-06

The 99/8 was intended as an upmarket companion to the 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.

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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Very interesting information from CC Clarke
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.
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.
Unfortunately, TI got a very bloody nose when it voluntarily recalled thousands of 99/4A AC transformers due to a perceived fusing issue.

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.
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.