Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!unmvax!ncar!boulder!pikes!udenva!isis!csm9a!japplega From: japplega@csm9a.UUCP (Joe Applegate) Newsgroups: comp.sys.tandy Subject: Re: Tandy Printer + PC Compatible Query Message-ID: <1411@csm9a.UUCP> Date: 10 Apr 89 05:17:21 GMT References: <1370@cunixc.cc.columbia.edu! <136500014@cpe! <1407@csm9a.UUCP! <3254@ddsw1.MCS.COM> Organization: Colorado School of Mines Lines: 124 In article <3254@ddsw1.MCS.COM>, andyross@ddsw1.MCS.COM (Andrew Rossmann) writes: > In article <1407@csm9a.UUCP! japplega@csm9a.UUCP (Joe Applegate) writes: > !! when the standards weren't quite so clear and nobody cared much) Tandy's > !! printer interface went a slightly different direction than IBM PC's. > ! > !The real facts are that Tandy has designs their peripherals and > !computers to NOT use industry standards in order to force their customers > !to ALWAYS BUY TANDY... > ! > !Case in point: The Tandy 1000 > !Non-Compatible hard disk interrupt > The SX/TX can use standard PC hard disk controllers after flipping a DIP > switch. The SL/TL only use the IBM PC standard. gee, thats nice.... I'll gladly trade you my 1000A for an SX or whatever.... The salesman that sold it guarenteed that it would work with a standard hard drive... however by the time I bought one 3 months later he no longer worked for Dandy Tandy... I know shoe stores that don't turn their personel around as fast as Tandy.... and they know more about computers! > !Reversed drive cable > ????? Power cable on the 1000 and 1000A is reversed because Tandy used an OEM drive from Teac... interestingly the folks with TEAC told me the drive used by Tandy is the cheapest they make... and they consider it a sub- standard product.... adding decent drives after mine failed within 6 months required cutting and reversing the cable AFTER I first burned out a drive! > !Non-standard JoyStick > Who uses joysticks??? I do! Most games do! AND I HAVE TO FOR WINDOWS... THE JUNK MOUSE THAT TANDY SELLS IS NOT MS COMPATIBLE! (Digi-Mouse)... of course the salesjerk that sold it said it was! > !Non-standard Parallel Port > Dates back to the Model I. Reduced costs by using an existing design. Can > EASILY be built into motherboard. Doesn't require an expensive DB25 > connection and the space it requires. But does require you to buy a Tandy printer cable even though my printer came with one that works on a real PC! > !Uses Tandy Specific 8087 (won't use IBM chip) > BULL: I'm using a stock 8087 in my SX. Like I said... I'll trade any day... I'd even buy an upgrade from Tandy... seeing they got my money in the first place.... I bought an 8087-3 for an IBM PC... put it in my 1000A and AutoCad went crazy testing confirmed that double precision reals were random numbers! Replaced it 3 times... finally I had to buy Tandy's chip... I tried for 3 months... made numerous calls to Ft. Worthless... no one would tell me what the Tandy required other than TANDY's CHIP... so I paid ~$250 in advance (the 8087-3 cost $100)... My 1000 required an 80C87... this is not a laptop??? The only reason to require a CMOS chip is to force users to buy your over- pricced product! > !Very Non-Standard - Not replacible keyboard! > Northgate offers a replacement keyboard. Where.... and does it only work on the SX and later????? Tandy also has a replacement... but it requires a software driver and so does not work with all software and definately not with Minix! > !I could beleive that 1 or 2 incompatibilities in a system were the result > !of lack of standardization but for a computer bought in 1986, such radical > !departure from standards in every peripheral interface on a machine sold > !as an IBM compatible could only be acomplished by design! > The 1000 was originally designed to be a PCjr compatible, and was > brought out in 1984, not 1986. I bought the 1000A which was advertised and sold as a redesign to by IBM PC compatible. The salesjerk who I bought it from guarenteed 100% IBM Compatiblility... Now I have been told numerous times by Tandy folks that the 1000 series has never been advertised as 100% IBM compatible so some of us from the local Tandy users group went around to over 20 Radio Shacks in the Denver area and asked if the 1000 SX was 100% IBM compatible... 88% of the responses was yes, 100% hardware and software compatible! Now who are we to believe... the administrators or the shoe salemen they hire to sell, sell, and sell... > !"Tandy, There are so many better values" > ! > !"Tandy, In Business for OUR business" > ! > !"Tandy, Sales, Sales, and Sales" > > If you hate Tandy so much, why do you read this conference??? For the same reason that I'm pres. of a Tandy Users Group and run a Tandy support BBS... because I got suckered into spending $2000+ for a system that has caused me nothing but grief and the years I spent getting around the problems engineered into the system by Tandy allow me to: A: help other users who have encoountered the same problems... and if possible let them know that Tandy has a 30 day no question asked return policy.... B: keep other users from making the same mistake that I have... I take great pleasure in the fact that over 30 people have not bought Tandy's after talking to me. And it may be more... after showing our bookstore personel the problems with Tandy's they dropped their Tandy line for PS/2's (which were actually LESS expensive anyway!)... As I have told Ed Juge on several occasions... I will happily stop bad mouthing Tandy if they take back the computer they sold me under false pretenses and give me my money back... I will never buy another Tandy computer... and will do whatever I can to discourage others from makeing the mistake I did! Fool me once shame on you.... fool me twice shame on me! - Joe Applegate - ======================STANDARD DISCLAIMER============================ All views and opinions are my own and do not represent the views or opinions of the Colorado School of Mines, whatever they might be. =====================================================================