Turbo-Torch

You need to open it up (without breaking the CRT neck) and re-seat every IC and cable connection. Also spray some deoxit in the brightness and contrast pots. Keep in mind, it's an open monitor in there with stored voltage! You also won't know if caps are blown until you open it up and LOOK. There will be at least one X capacitor on the power supply board and most likely it will be blown; although, it usually doesn't keep the unit from operating. Some board revisions have more than one X cap. If any are blown, it'll be obvious as they literally blow up. There isn't much to go wrong in a basic 16K cassette based system. Unfortunately it's next to useless too as all the good software and games will require at least one disk drive and 48K. There's also the matter of getting programs to it. Unless someone added an RS232 board, the base model won't have one. Personally, I download any of the thousands of programs I want off the internet to my modern PC and then attach my Model III to that PC with a null modem and save them to disk. Someone has been selling NOS aftermarket disk controller boards on eBay for about $30 bucks. I've seen NOS RS232 board kits selling for around $50. You'd then need a good 180K or 360K 5¼ floppy drive and also a power supply from a disk based system...or simply add a separate power supply inside the machine. The additional memory is just two sets of 8 pieces of RAM that plug in, super easy to bump it to 48K. With some luck and a bit eBay searching, it's possible to turn it into a full blown disk based system for under $150.00. If you don't have the skills or have little interest in the system, it's not worth it...pass it on to someone who can appreciate it. BTW, the Vic-20 and Apple II are toys compared to a Model III.

Figured it out after watching Laser XT Restoration video by The 8-Bit Guy! Laser Compact XT looks just like the Laser 128.

I remember getting a copy of LDOS for my Model III and being blown away by all the things it was capable of compared to TRSDOS. I was finally able to take advantage of the double sided drives in my machine. Very user friendly and I still use it today. NEWDOS/80 is more powerful but a cryptic nightmare. For my PC, MS-DOS 3.x and 5.0 pretty much had everything covered. If one program wouldn't run under one, it would run under the other. Despised Windows 95 and 98 and still kick myself for spending $100 on 95. Always booted to DOS and only used Windows when needed. ME was the first Windows that impressed me...everyone hated it but I never had an issue with it. XP, 7 and 10 have been nice. Vista and 8 not so much.

Are you on food stamps too?

Possibly Laser? First time I saw them, I thought the more expensive one was just the same Apple model with more memory. I remember the main difference was the IBM version had a quite a few more keys. Floppy drive was on the right side like my EX...but definitely not a rebranded EX. Each had a card in front of it with specs but it's been so long ago I can't remember what the memory was or even if it was an 8088 or 8086.

Permanent disability, yet you never seem to have a problem traveling all over creation chasing down toys?

I remember when Sears had the Franklin line of computers. I distinctly remember two versions that resembled the EX. One of course was the Apple version and I can swear there was another that looked nearly identical that was IBM compatible. I also recall the IBM version being exactly $100 more. Only real difference was the keyboard layout. I cannot find this IBM version in a Google search! Was it something other than a Franklin? It was one piece with the keyboard and floppy drive, so not the 5000 series. This was in the mid to late 80s and definitely at Sears.

With what? I bought an EX brand new, had thousands of downloads from Rusty n Edies BBS and NEVER a compatibility issue. Only Tandy line back then that had compatibility issues was the Model 2000.

Why do you need to go to all that trouble when there is already a walk through on how to find all the eggs? Personally, I find using a walk through cheating and found all the eggs myself. That last one was a pain that took close to 3 weeks, but it was an amazing egg and the sense of achievement was even a bigger high!

Frogger, Rabbit Transit and Party Mix included in this lot and you haven't jumped on it @ $60 bucks?

Yep, probably more than 20 years ago by simply using a program to convert .bin files to wav. The Supercharger worked with many 2K and 4K games as is. For the games that don't work, there is a fairly easy mod using a few bucks worth of Radio Shack parts that allows all the 2K and 4K games to work. I burned a bunch of games on CDs and used my Sony Discman. Select the track for the game you want and a perfect load every time.

I understand reusing the same shell from the Sega when they made the Flashback portable, but if you're designing something new and specific, why not do it right and put the thumbstick on the right side where it belongs?

This is an inexpensive yet excellent temperature controlled unit. Been using mine for a few years and have no complaints. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06Y5V41DB/ Search that model number on Amazon or eBay for the best price and be sure sure it's the + model with the yellow/blue Japan heater. For desoldering... https://www.radioshack.com/products/radioshack-45-watt-desoldering-iron It heats up quickly and the cone tips are easy to replace. I bought my first one back in the 80s and bought a replacement about a year ago. Probably hard to find one now but it appears the ECG J-045-DS available on eBay is the same unit. Beware of any cheap Hakko units from a place like aliexpress. It'll be a fake junk knock off at half the price of a real Hakko, yet 3X the price of the unit I mentioned above which actually does a good job and gets decent reviews.

I still have my Battlestar Galactica I bought new. I couldn't put that game down back in the day; easily my all time favorite handheld. Funny how it was a budget priced game back then and now they sell for a decent chunk of change.

Yes, about $10 more than a premium new release cartridge but that also included Phaser Patrol which was better than any $30+ game I had played up until that point. That's a game I still love to play today. imo, $45 was a killer deal to get game quality (and multi loads) that was right up there with an 8 bit computer or the newly released ColecoVision. Also, most games were $15 bucks. I know Frogger was the most expensive ($25?)...I remember asking and getting that one for Christmas. I'm not saying the SC is dirt common; however, you can go to eBay at any given time and choose from several at reasonable prices.

I think the biggest problem with ET is that they used one of the best family movies of all time (strong appeal to kids!) and then made a complex game aimed at 12 and above. It's a game where you had to READ THE MANUAL. With the big name attached to it, it needed to be much more simple for the average 7 year old or adults who couldn't read. I received it Christmas Eve of '82 and loved that game; although, after 5 minutes of roaming around, I realized I needed to crack open the manual. My nephew and I must have played it till 2:00 am. I also remember finding that Yar Easter egg a few weeks later and no one at school would believe me.

I bought the Arcadia version right after it was released and they weren't expensive at $45.00. I bought mine at Camelot Music in our mall...they were the place to get the latest greatest games and the rare titles from manufacturers you never heard of. When I fired up Phaser Patrol for the first time, I knew I added some serious power to my 2600. Few months later Toys R Us was selling them and all the games...anyone who thinks these things are super rare must not have been around in the early 80s. I bought all the available games at the time except for Fireball and Party Mix. When I got my 7800 in the late 80s, I tried the SC on it and that was the end of that SC. Possibly a coincidence but no SC will ever go into that pos 7800 again. In the 90s, someone found a large stash and was selling them dirt cheap on RGVC. I bought two; one I use and still have the original box and the other is still shrink wrapped today. Once again, not exactly rare. Picked up a 3rd one for a few bucks from someone on RGVC. He sorta butchered it trying to mod it (zero soldering skills) but it was an easy fix and I was happy to have a modded SC without the guilt of blemishing a new one. Also bought the numbered Stella Gets a New Brain CD when they were being offered on RGVC. I loved that newsgroup...I wonder if there are any hold-outs left?

You need to provide more information. When you hit reset, does everything boot back up normally? Do other disk based programs work or is it only a problem with that CPM disk? Can you spin up a disk drive by doing the DIR command? Does the directory show? If the monitor is dimming, along with strange characters showing up (especially during disk access), most likely caps are failing inside the power supply. Also likely: Oxidized mylar flex cables that go from the motherboard to the RS232 board, another to the disk controller and possibly another smaller one used as a jumper on the motherboard. Pull and reseat them in their connectors. I would also pull and reseat every socketed IC. Better yet, when you pull any component, give the socket and pins a light spray of DeoxIT. If you don't know what you're doing, don't even try to take the IV apart. You're dealing with hazardous voltages and a picture tube neck that will break if you separate the cabinet wrong.

That seems to be apples and oranges as it was meant to compete with endless amounts of handhelds like Entex Space Invader or Merlin. Microvision was fairly popular when I was in grade school and I'm guessing it did well for Milton Bradley. Also, LCD issues started happening about 3 decades later....not during or even long after its viable life.

Context of the era? lol! My Microvision is far more enjoyable and playable than a Game.com. I remember buying one when they came out for $70 bucks. Tried it out in the car and I walked right back into Kay-Bee and got a refund. Few months later, I picked one up on clearance for $10.00. It was an ok disposable time killer to keep on the console of my work truck between calls. I recall Monopoly being fun and that's about it. The classic game collection was really disappointing...the machine had the hp to run the graphics and sound, but like any game that involved movement, the screen made it unplayable. I also have the communications cart. Wtf was the point of that even back in '97? I attached it to a modem and called into our local library, which was like a BBS where you could see what books were in stock and reserve them; it barely worked with that. The few BBSs left at that point were too far advanced for the game.com to handle. Of course it never worked with my isp. A unique and really fun handheld from that "era" is the Cybiko. I have two Cybiko Xtremes and still love to play around with them. Many excellent games (especially the home brew) and many of the same PDA functions that I now use a smartphone for at work today. Hell, I even have the little expansion piece that expands the memory and allows MP3 music...damn cool having a portable MP3 player 17 years ago! I also liked being able to compose emails while at work and then simply plug it into my PC when I got home to send them out. Then there's the whole wireless texting between units and even one program that allowed them to be used as walkie talkies. Now THAT was a cool device, way ahead of its time that didn't deserve an early death.

Telix I've had the same copy that eventually makes it to every new PC I've owned. It still has all the local BBS names, numbers and passwords in the dialing directory from when I was using it in the 80s. It has a nice host function that operates like a BBS. I often use it with a null modem to transfer files with other computers. For example, I can use my current PC to download Model III software off the net and then attach my Model III to the PC with a null modem cable and "call" the PC. Now I can transfer all those programs to the Model III as if I were calling an old school BBS. It is more tedious these days as the last few versions of Windows require DOSBox for it work.

Yes, DC is on the left scale and AC is on the right. Set it to 20 volts DC and test it on one of your 9 Volt batteries. If you have the coax hooked up to the antenna output, you could try laying a fluorescent tube light-bulb along side the coax. If there's enough high static voltage present during the degauss process, the tube should flicker. If that happens, you definitely don't want to use that TV with anything you care about.

Left (common) and center (VΩmAF°) are where your leads plug in for volts and ohms. The 10 Amp unfused port on the right is for current. Hard to tell from the pic on my screen but it appears the AC is on the right side of the scale with 200 and 600 volt selections. The left side with more selections in blue should be your DC scale (straight line with dashes under it). As mentioned by 1050, if it's a high voltage static charge, your VOM will be useless. Just don't be coming in contact with anything on that TV while it's plugged in. And keep in mind that if it is a high static charge, it will jump out and bite you.

Lol. Live and learn...now when I run into something odd like that (especially when it's not hardwired in) I run a contactless voltage detector around the unit.

All TVs and monitors have a simple circuit that activates the degaussing coil for several seconds when it's first turned on. You should not be getting a line voltage or static shock from a properly functioning coil circuit. The housing is plastic. The chassis is inside and you touched something metal whether is was a screw or any jack on the back to get a shock. If you got bit while pressing the manual degauss button then you possibly have a problem in that circuit...such as the coil coating worn through on a metal mount. I'd have to see a pic of the meter. Most only need different ports for when you're checking current draw. I have to say I'm not comfortable at this point on giving out advice when it comes to possible line voltage and someone new at troubleshooting. Years ago an oddball commercial 460 volt through the wall HVAC unit damn near kill me. A maintenance guy thought he was doing me a favor by removing the unit and bringing back into his shop for me to work on. He had it on a wooden rolling platform with rubber wheels and had it plugged. I had my left arm on the metal top and reached to grab a screwdriver from my tool bag when my right hand brushed up against a metal conduit on the wall. I woke up about 10' away covered in blood with a small hole blown through my finger after completing the circuit of 277 volts (had I hit the other leg for 460 I'd probably be dead). Turns out it had a heating coil break and touch the inside of the metal cabinet which allowed that leg of 277 to energize the cabinet. When I went to unplug the unit, I found the outlet in his shop was not the correct pattern, so to make it fit, the dumb bastard cut off the ground prong! Had he not done that, it would have tripped a breaker (which is what the initial service call was for). I recall some games with bright backgrounds (such as Bowling and PacMan) looking much better with the B/W switch on while using a B/W TV. It helped improve the contrast quite a bit.