vectrexroli Posted January 19, 2014 Share Posted January 19, 2014 I love the AtariAge forum, I have been following all the great discussions here for many years, but I thought that maybe I should update my avatar picture and become a bit more active here on this great forum. That idea also came into my mind again as MaximumRD often mentions this forum in his videos... If you don´t mind I would like to share here my love letter to the TI99/4A, which was my first computer I ever owned. http://youtu.be/yAOlEImLGx0 roland 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldSchoolRetroGamer Posted January 19, 2014 Share Posted January 19, 2014 (edited) Hey welcome to the forums and thanks for the mention, nice to know someone actually listens to me in my videos lol Ha Ha nice video thanks for sharing. Edited January 19, 2014 by OldSchoolRetroGamer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vectrexroli Posted January 19, 2014 Author Share Posted January 19, 2014 Hey welcome to the forums and thanks for the mention, nice to know someone actually listens to me in my videos lol Ha Ha nice video thanks for sharing. I am a huge fan of your channel and I have been watching it for quite some time, even back in the days when I had still my old username on Youtube. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
am1933 Posted January 19, 2014 Share Posted January 19, 2014 Get that bloody keyboard cleaned!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vectrexroli Posted January 19, 2014 Author Share Posted January 19, 2014 Get that bloody keyboard cleaned!!!!! Ha ha It looks worse on the video than in reality. That original dust is also from the past, so I´ll keep it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darthkur Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 The TI99/4A was my first computer as well. Got it in 83 at the age of 16. I couldn't afford a PEB or any of the other extras either back then. They were ridiculously expensive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+save2600 Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 Same here! 1st home computer was the TI-99/4A - the beige model. Bought it with my own hard earned money from a classmate during my Freshman year in H.S, or was it 8th grade? lol Quickly found another 2 or 3 other classmates that also had TI's and exchanged games and programs with. Incredible computer really. The only computer I kept throughout the 80's, while C64's, Apple's and Atari's all came and went. Still have a TI hooked up and gets played with semi-regularly! Then again, so do my Amiga's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vectrexroli Posted January 20, 2014 Author Share Posted January 20, 2014 The TI99/4A was my first computer as well. Got it in 83 at the age of 16. I couldn't afford a PEB or any of the other extras either back then. They were ridiculously expensive. Here in Austria it was even more expensive I guess and most of the times I didn´t even know that certain stuff was existing back then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vectrexroli Posted January 20, 2014 Author Share Posted January 20, 2014 Same here! 1st home computer was the TI-99/4A - the beige model. Bought it with my own hard earned money from a classmate during my Freshman year in H.S, or was it 8th grade? lol Quickly found another 2 or 3 other classmates that also had TI's and exchanged games and programs with. Incredible computer really. The only computer I kept throughout the 80's, while C64's, Apple's and Atari's all came and went. Still have a TI hooked up and gets played with semi-regularly! Then again, so do my Amiga's. Mine is hooked up as well.I found out about the new TI 99 scramble homebrew game recenetly. That one is an amazing version of the game, I like it even more than Parsec. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lynxpro Posted January 25, 2014 Share Posted January 25, 2014 My cousins got one from their parents going to a time share presentation. They had the voice adapter and Parsec which was awesome. I picked up some close out AtariSoft games [Picnic Paranoid] from Federated for like a $1, and also some joystick adapters if I recall. It had a nice keyboard and a slick case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vectrexroli Posted January 25, 2014 Author Share Posted January 25, 2014 My cousins got one from their parents going to a time share presentation. They had the voice adapter and Parsec which was awesome. I picked up some close out AtariSoft games [Picnic Paranoid] from Federated for like a $1, and also some joystick adapters if I recall. It had a nice keyboard and a slick case. Today I also have some of the great Atarisoft ports for the TI99 in my collection. I quite like Jungle Hunt, which for whatever reason came in a smaller box than Picnic Paranoia and Defender. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Ksarul Posted January 25, 2014 Share Posted January 25, 2014 I can answer that one, Roli: there were two waves of Atarisoft releases for the TI. The first wave were all in the larger boxes, the second were almost all in the smaller ones. I remember buying most of them right as they came out. . .and shortly thereafter I went to Germany for about 10 years, so I was almost completely clueless on US TI developments--but very well linked in to what was going on in Europe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vectrexroli Posted January 26, 2014 Author Share Posted January 26, 2014 can answer that one, Roli: there were two waves of Atarisoft releases for the TI. The first wave were all in the larger boxes, the second were almost all in the smaller ones. I remember buying most of them right as they came out. . .and shortly thereafter I went to Germany for about 10 years, so I was almost completely clueless on US TI developments--but very well linked in to what was going on in Europe. That´s interesting, thanks. That explains a lot. When eBay was new I was amazed what great stuff was available there in the US for the TI99. In Europe not so much TI99 stuff shows up and when it happens the sellers think they are sitting on a gold mine, so often it is cheaper to import from the US, at least when it comes to games. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eightbit Posted February 4, 2014 Share Posted February 4, 2014 (edited) I love the TI99/4A a lot myself. I am partial to the beige colored late model. I think it looks better...only my opinion I have a small much steadily growing collection for it, and will start attempting to program on it when I have some free summer time BTW: Be careful when purchasing a beige model. There are some "rare" models with v2.2 OS, and there cannot play AtariSoft titles. I found this out the hard way, as mine was apparently that super special rare version. I had to hunt down a non-2.2 model to play Moon Patrol! Edited February 4, 2014 by eightbit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vectrexroli Posted February 4, 2014 Author Share Posted February 4, 2014 I love the TI99/4A a lot myself. I am partial to the beige colored late model. I think it looks better...only my opinion I have a small much steadily growing collection for it, and will start attempting to program on it when I have some free summer time BTW: Be careful when purchasing a beige model. There are some "rare" models with v2.2 OS, and there cannot play AtariSoft titles. I found this out the hard way, as mine was apparently that super special rare version. I had to hunt down a non-2.2 model to play Moon Patrol! The beige model also looks great, I am not sure if it was available in my country. Yeah, I heard about the fact it is not compatible to some 3rd party games, that´s the only downside of that machine. Do you think the keyboard feels cheaper on the beige version or is the only difference the color? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
am1933 Posted February 4, 2014 Share Posted February 4, 2014 The beige model never had an official European release, no bad thing really-as the original version is still the best, nothing worse than beige plastic with a silver speech synth stuck on the side!, almost as bad as the original C64 with the 1530 C2N which was obviously coloured to match the VIC20(sorry to our Germanic viewers-VC20). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vectrexroli Posted February 4, 2014 Author Share Posted February 4, 2014 The beige model never had an official European release, no bad thing really-as the original version is still the best, nothing worse than beige plastic with a silver speech synth stuck on the side!, almost as bad as the original C64 with the 1530 C2N which was obviously coloured to match the VIC20(sorry to our Germanic viewers-VC20). Never saw one in real so I don´t know if the beige looks "cheap", but still would be nice to have one in the collection. Maybe TI planned to bring equipment on the market later that had the same beige look? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Ksarul Posted February 4, 2014 Share Posted February 4, 2014 Note on V2.2 consoles: it is possible to run the third-party cartridges on them, but it requires a device called a GROM Buster attached to the side port to do it. These are not very common, but were made by two different manufacturers: CorComp and Navarone. On TI and the transition to beige, that was a work-in-progress when they pulled out of the market. Here is a picture of what the speech synthesizer case would have looked like in beige: http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-53200-19255-0/1?ff3=4&pub=5574883395&toolid=10001&campid=5336500554&customid=&mpre=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fitm%2F131108572954 The device in the picture is a Hex-Bus Interface, which connected the TI to a whole bunch of peripherals (I have an RS-232, Printer-Plotter, 80-Column Printer, Modem, 2.8 Quick Disk, 5.25 Floppy Drive, and a Wafertape Drive for it). Many of the peripherals show up on eBay regularly, although some are quite rare. The Hex-Bus Interface doesn't show up very often either. I also have a set of the TI Joysticks in Beige, and the MBX Units were also only released in beige, although I've seen pictures of one that was in the older Black and Silver color scheme (it was a prototype). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vectrexroli Posted February 4, 2014 Author Share Posted February 4, 2014 On TI and the transition to beige, that was a work-in-progress when they pulled out of the market. Here is a picture of what the speech synthesizer case would have looked like in beige: http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-53200-19255-0/1?ff3=4&pub=5574883395&toolid=10001&campid=5336500554&customid=&mpre=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fitm%2F131108572954 Interesting stuff, thanks for showing this. MBX unit would be also on my "want have" list, but I doubt I would get the financial approval from Mrs. Vectrexroli for that. Now as I have contact to all the TI experts here in the forum: I was always wondering about the door on the front of the original silver speech synthesizer. Is this some kind of plug for something? I didn´t find anything about that in the manual. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+save2600 Posted February 4, 2014 Share Posted February 4, 2014 Really, really enjoy your videos Roli! So cool to hear the TI struck a chord with you over there. Was my first computer "love" interest as well. Looks like you got pretty good at writing Extended BASIC games too - they look fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vectrexroli Posted February 4, 2014 Author Share Posted February 4, 2014 Really, really enjoy your videos Roli! So cool to hear the TI struck a chord with you over there. Was my first computer "love" interest as well. Looks like you got pretty good at writing Extended BASIC games too - they look fun! Extended Basic was pretty easy to use as it had quite powerful commands for sprites. I had a lot of fun developing my own games back then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
am1933 Posted February 4, 2014 Share Posted February 4, 2014 Interesting stuff, thanks for showing this. MBX unit would be also on my "want have" list, but I doubt I would get the financial approval from Mrs. Vectrexroli for that. Now as I have contact to all the TI experts here in the forum: I was always wondering about the door on the front of the original silver speech synthesizer. Is this some kind of plug for something? I didn´t find anything about that in the manual. The "Door" on the speech synth was actually meant to be used mainly for rom based vocaulary updates, I believe some earlier versions of the unit still have the internal workings present. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vectrexroli Posted February 4, 2014 Author Share Posted February 4, 2014 (edited) The "Door" on the speech synth was actually meant to be used mainly for rom based vocaulary updates, I believe some earlier versions of the unit still have the internal workings present. Ah thanks, that makes sense. I remember back in the 80´s I thought that maybe I could plug in some kind of vocabulary update but never saw one in the shops. I just got the Terminal Emulator 2 cartridge recently and when I have some time I have to look into what I could do with it in combination with the speech synthesizer. There was also some speech editor cartridge available but I don´t have that and never found a ROM file for it. Edited February 4, 2014 by vectrexroli Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Gemintronic Posted February 4, 2014 Share Posted February 4, 2014 The TI was the first computer I ever wanted. I didn't even realise kids could have a computer of their own until I saw one at a sleepover. Ironically, it took me decades to obtain one for myself. Obviously I missed a great deal of fun Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vectrexroli Posted February 4, 2014 Author Share Posted February 4, 2014 The TI was the first computer I ever wanted. I didn't even realise kids could have a computer of their own until I saw one at a sleepover. Ironically, it took me many decades to obtain one for myself. Obviously I missed a great deal of fun It is never too late. I have some home computers standing around and ready to go. A C64, ViC 20, and also a ZX 81 and ZX Spectrum +2 and I all like them a lot, but I always come back to the TI 99 playing some Parsec or Tombstone City. Can´t wait when I get my new nanoPEB, as my old one stopped working and there is this awesome new homebrew title out there called TI Scramble. I love that game! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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