Tandy TRS-80 MC-10

UVL EDITORS are advised to investigate MC-10 games more closely due to widespread confusion concerning MC-10, TRS-80, and Coco games.

[center]Tandy slapped "TRS-80" on many different unrelated products

MC-10 is not compatible with TRS-80 Model I (the original "TRS-80"), TRS-80 Model III, TRS-80 Model 4, or Tandy TRS-80 Color Computer ("Tandy Coco").[/center]

TRS-80 Model II is not compatible with ANYTHING (as far as UVL is concerned with, for now)

Tandy TRS-80 MC-10 is not compatible with anything else except Alice (by certain definitions of compatible)

You might have noticed, the screenshots are in color... "MC-10" officially stands for "Micro Color Computer"... Uhm... Moving on.

While the Tandy Color Computer was meant to be a low-cost ($399 USD), yet color, computer. The MC-10, released shortly after, aimed to be even more affordable, ($119.95 USD), yet color. It had a version of Color BASIC from the Coco. Like the Coco, it could run TRS-80 BASIC software (as long as it was not tokenised). Running, BASIC software from the Coco was not so compatible. While all the commands were there, they didn't fully work, and again, tokens differed. There were also some high-res screen modes that didn't function correctly. They literally required more RAM that the machine was capable of being upgraded to. Numerous other commands in BASIC were undocumented and even hidden. Loading and saving from cassette tape for example. Other commands were conspicuously missing entirely. For example, it was not possible to save machine language program to cassette. This is a fundamental flaw considering that the MC-10 could not read floppy disks. Also, the serial port was multiplexed with other hardware. Most standard serial hardware wouldn't work without using advanced assembly to get the timing right. There was a special reset button that would return control of the system to the user when the serial communications hung. Some issues could be worked around using assembly code (such as the high-res modes). But many issues were unfixable. The system came with 4K and was expandable to 16k. Most comparable machines had at least 40K and were expandable to 64K or more. Tandy would have probably fixed these oversights, if they hadn't canceled the MC-10 months after introducing it.

The MC-10 sold poorly. Atari, Commodore, and Timex were getting rid of old stock that had comparable price and features. They were leaving this extreme low-end of the market due to lack of customers. Texas Instruments were dumping their 16-bit TI99/4a at a loss in the hopes that profits from their overpriced proprietary peripherals would recover the difference (1 cent razors that only work with blades that are $2 each). Timex, Mattel, and Coleco were poised to enter this slot in the market and these all seemed better than the MC-10. And all these would drop in price soon after the MC-10 hit the market. Tandy could not drop the MC-10 price to compete; price was as low as they could do from the start.

Something that The Tandy Coco and TRS-80 Model 1/3/4 lacked was an simple easy way to add memory. They required soldering (which Radio Shack did for free for TRS-80 customers, but not Coco customers). The MC-10 had an expansion port and there was a 16K memory cartridge made.

The Mantra Alice is a modification of the MC-10 design that was used in French schools. The Alice 32 was an update that included a different video chip and broke backwards compatibility. The Alice 90 used this same chip but managed to fix backwards compatibility.

PS: There was even a hip-hop band named "TRS-80". And Tandy board games with a common electronic component for them. Neither is MC-10 compatible.