TRS-80 MC-10

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Image:TRS-80 MC-10 Microcomputer.jpg The TRS-80 MC-10 microcomputer is a lesser-known member of the TRS-80 line of home computers, produced by Tandy Corporation in the early 1980s and sold through their RadioShack chain of electronics stores. It was apparently designed as a low-cost alternative to Tandy's own TRS-80 Color Computer to compete with entry-level machines that had previously dominated the market, such as the Commodore VIC-20 and Sinclair ZX81.

Due to its limited feature set, the MC-10 was of value primarily to hobbyists and as an introduction to computer programming. It was not a commercial success and was discontinued only a year after its introduction.

A clone of the MC-10, the Alice, was marketed in France through a collaboration among Tandy, Matra, and Hachette.

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Description

About the size of a hardcover book, the MC-10 came equipped with four kilobytes of RAM, a Motorola MC6803 eight-bit microprocessor, a built-in serial port, and graphics capabilities similar to those of the original Color Computer (provided by the same Motorola MC6847 video display generator).

Like most early home computers, the MC-10 included a BASIC interpreter in ROM and used regular audio cassettes for bulk storage. Text and graphics were displayed on a television set via a built-in RF modulator. Less common for machines in its class was the integrated RS-232 serial port, which allowed the MC-10 to use a wide variety of line printers and modems without additional hardware.

Even so, at the time of its release in 1983, the MC-10's specifications were underwhelming. Disk drives, full-travel keyboards, medium-resolution graphics, and complete 64-kilobyte memory banks were becoming popular features for home computers; the MC-10 offered none of these, severely limiting the functions it could perform and the range of users to which it could appeal. Even hobbyists did not seem drawn by its low price tag.

The MC-10 was discontinued in 1984, along with the 16KB memory upgrade and small amount of cassette-based software that had been released for it. It never achieved a wide following.

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Specifications

CPU: Motorola 6803 @ 0.89 MHz
RAM: 4KB on-board, expandable to 20KB via external expansion pack
ROM: 8KB (Micro Color Basic, developed by Microsoft)
VDG: MC6847
- Text: 32x16
- Low-res: 64x32, 8 color (4bpp)
- Low-res: 64x64, 4 color (2bpp)
- Med-res: 128x64, 2 color (1bpp)
- Med-res: 128x64, 4 color (2bpp)
- Med-hi: 128x96, 2 color (1bpp)
- Med-hi: 128x96, 4 color (2bpp)
- Hi-res: 128x192, 2 color (2bpp)
- Hi-res: 128x192, 4 color (2bpp) (required memory-pak)
- Hi-res: 256x192, 2 color (1bpp) (required memory-pak)
I/O Ports:
- RS-232C serial interface (300-9600 baud; 600 baud from BASIC)
- Cassette interface (1500 baud)
- Internal RF modulator
- Memory expansion interface