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title, categories, types, origins, years, cpus, params
title categories types origins years cpus params
Tandy Radio Shack TRS 80 Model 4P
Computers
Portable
U.S.A.
1983
Z80A
name image company company_name specs tabs forum_thread photos hardware emulators links related oc_id source
TRS 80 Model 4P /media/museum/photos/tandy_model4p_system_2.jpg /companies/tandy-radio-shack Tandy Radio Shack
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NAME TRS 80 Model 4P
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MANUFACTURER Tandy Radio Shack
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TYPE Portable
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ORIGIN U.S.A.
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YEAR October 1983
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BUILT IN LANGUAGE None
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KEYBOARD Typewriter style, 70 keys with numeric keypad and arrow keys
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CPU Z80A
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SPEED 4 MHz
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RAM 64 or 128 KB
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ROM 4 KB
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TEXT MODES 32 or 64 x 16 / 64 x 40 / 80 x 24
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GRAPHIC MODES None
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COLORS Monochrome
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SOUND Buzzer
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I/O PORTS Parallel, Serial, Expansion bus
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BUILT IN MEDIA 2 x 5.25'' SS SD 180 KB floppy drives\ Very late models had double-sided TEAC drives
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OS TRS-DOS 6.0 to 6.2, LS-DOS 6.3, CP/M
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POWER SUPPLY Built-in power supply unit
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PERIPHERALS Built-in 300-baud modem, external HDD
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PRICE $1,790
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hardware
emulators
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MODEL 4P /media/museum/photos/tandy_model4p_front_ebay_2.jpg
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FRONT /media/museum/photos/tandy_model4p_front_ebay_1.jpg
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KEYBOARD /media/museum/photos/tandy_model4p_keyboard_1.jpg
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BACK from left to right: - RS232C connector\ - I/O bus\ - parallel port /media/museum/photos/tandy_model4p_back_1.jpg
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CLOSED /media/museum/photos/tandy_model4p_closed_1.jpg
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REMOTE UNIT ACTIVE Serial# 26-1210 This rare unit is meant for teachers to control up to 16 TRS-80 Model 1 from a another TRS-80 equiped with min-disk. All the controled TRS-80 model 1 must be equiped with Level II. It cost 2895fr (France, 1981) /media/museum/hardware/tandy_trs80-m1_remote-unit-active.jpg
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NETWORK II BOX p/n 26-1211 This box allowed up to 16 TRS computer to be networked. Three network boxes were released by Tandy (I, II and III).\ The Network II required verbal communication between the server operator and the remote user, and data transfer had to be completed one user at a time.\ The network III allowed automated control of the network so that users could easily access programs and data stored on the server's storage device. Thanks to **David Sutherland** for the pictures. /media/museum/hardware/tandy_network2_s1.jpg
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DMP-200 80-column, 100 cps dot matrix printer. /media/museum/hardware/tandy_model3_dmp200_s1.jpg
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DAISY WHEEL PRINTER II Serial# 26-1158 This is a high-quality printer meant to be used with wordprocessors. Some interchangeable daisy-wheels were available (Courrier, Elite, Madeleine). It could print 163 characters per line (34cm), at a 43 cps rate. It cost 9595fr (France, 1981) /media/museum/hardware/tandy_trs80-m1_daisy-wheel-printer-2_1.jpg
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LINE PRINTER I Ref# 26-7017 This printer was a custom version of the Oki Microline 80.\ Printed lower and upper case on paper rolls or listing paper (24cm wide) from 40 to 80 columns/line, at a speed rate of 28 lines/minute. It cost 716 Euros in 1981 (France). /media/museum/hardware/tandy_model1_lineprinter1_s1.jpg
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LINE PRINTER III Serial# 26-1156 This printer can print lower and upper case, at a speed rate of 120 c/s, on paper up to 38cm wide. It is conceived for intensive use ! It cost 9950fr in 1981 (France). /media/museum/hardware/tandy_trs80-m1_line-printer-3_1.jpg
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LINE PRINTER VI Serial# 26-1166 This large printer can print lower and upper case, graphic characters and symbols at a speed rate of 100 c/s ! This is definately a professional printer. It cost 5495fr in 1981 (France). /media/museum/hardware/tandy_trs80-m1_line-printer-6_1.jpg
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TP-10 THERMAL PRINTER Box /media/museum/hardware/tandy_trs80_tp-10_thermal-printer_box.jpg
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EXATRON Stringy Floppy drive The Exatron Stringy Floppy (ESF) was a low-cost data—storage system that fitted the gap, between cassettes and disk drives.\ The system was based on a miniature endless—loop tape cartridge called a "wafer".\ The amount of data that could be recorded on a wafer depended on the length of tape in it, typically, a 50—foot wafer could hold at least 40 KB of programs or data. **Matt** reports to us:\ A curiousity about the model 1, CPU SPEED had a direct relatonship with STORAGE CAPACITY. if you doubled the clock speed of your MODEL 1 CPU you doubled the amount of data you could store on your stringy floppies. this is a feat that no other computer no matter how many ghz you have in your PC can do today without using compression. Thanks to **David Sutherland** for the pictures /media/museum/hardware/tandy_model3_exatronwafer_s1.jpg
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David Keil's TRS-80 Model III/4/4P Emulator Page http://discover-net.net/~dmkeil/trs80/model4.htm MS DOS This program emulates a complete TRS-80
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Matthew Reed's TRS-80 Emulator Web Site http://www.arrowweb.com/mkr/ MS DOS This page offers shareware versions of a TRS-80 Model 4 emulator and a TRS-80 Model 1-2 emulator
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TRS-80 Model III/4 Emulator http://www.vavasour.ca/jeff/trs80.html#model4 MS DOS This TRS-80 Model III/4 Emulator is a commercial product
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xtrs: TRS-80 Model I/III/4 Emulator for Unix http://www.tim-mann.org/xtrs.html Unix / Linux xtrs is a Radio Shack TRS-80 Model I/III/4/4P emulator for Unix and the X Window System
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TRS-80 Level I BASIC in a browser http://www.vavasour.ca/jeff/trs80.html#simulator Other platform With this Java emulator, you'll be able to write a BASIC program directly in your browser!
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Ira Goldklang's TRS-80 Revived Pages http://www.trs-80.com/trs80-e.htm Multiplatform A complete list of TRS-80 emulators for various platforms !
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MESS http://www.mess.org Multiplatform MESS emulator also emulates a TRS-80 systems
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8bit-micro.com - Online TRS-80 Computer Magazine HTTP://WWW.8BIT-MICRO.COM Online Magazine dedicated to the TRS-80 and other Vintage - Monthly Issues
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David's TRS-80 Page http://freespace.virgin.net/david.sampson/
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Ira Goldklang's TRS-80 Revived Pages http://www.trs-80.com/ Lof of infos about all TRS-80 computers
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Java TRS-80 Model 1 BASIC Interpreter http://ganley.org/software/trs80.html
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Mike's Personal Computer Museum http://personal.nbnet.nb.ca/mclays/trsmod1.html Level 1 & 2 Basic summaries, Tandy time-lines, price-list, etc ... !
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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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The TRS-80 Home Page http://www.kjsl.com/trs80 Full of infos
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Tim Mann's TRS-80 Page http://www.tim-mann.org/trs80.html Infos, tools and home of xtrs, a Model I/III/4 emulator for Unix
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Web Wiz CAPTCHA http://www.webwizcaptcha.com Discussion about Tandy computers
/museum/radionic-model-r1001
/museum/sysdata-eletronica-jr
/museum/tandy-radio-shack-trs-80-model-12
/museum/tandy-radio-shack-trs-80-model-16
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/museum/tandy-radio-shack-trs-80-model-ii
/museum/tandy-radio-shack-trs-80-model-iii
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url date
https://web.archive.org/web/20230608220843/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=1083 2023-06-08

The Model 4P was the transportable version of the Model 4.

Apart from the case and display sizes, technical features were almost identical to the Model 4's. The dual half-sized floppy drives were still single-sided versions but the keyboard, which slided underneath the computer, was far better than the one of the desktop version.

The external floppy drive connector was removed, as well as the Model 3 ROM, but a ROM image could be loaded from diskette to run Model 3 programs. An optional 300-baud modem could be also installed into the machine.

Very late models had double-sided TEAC drives.


Further information from Greg Trotter
I used a Model 4P for many years. It was pretty much identical to the Model 4 in functionality, except for:
- Portability, of course
- No Model III ROM (but you could load an image of the ROM into the RAM and reboot, giving perfect compatibility)
- It did have a modem card slot, except that the card edge provided power only; the outward face of the card had a short DC-25 serial cable, just long enough to get to the serial port of the 4P.
- There was no cassette interface on the 4P.
- The keyboard was indeed superior; I liked it better because it was corded and could be moved to any angle.

Of course, portable just meant "easier to transport." The entire unit weighed about 28 pounds, if I remember correctly. I lugged it through airports, and it fit quite comfortably in the overhead bin.