Amusing yet true marketing claim by TI from Back in the Day, durable indeed

[majestyx]

Here is a piece of marketing copy (item 10) that has indeed stood the test of time. Such a shame their support for the computer ended so abruptly, but of course, money talks.

 

This comes from the "Introduction to Computing with the TI-99/4A" booklet that was put out by the TI Computer Advantage Club in the "Commonly Asked Questions" section.

 

The second one (item 12) was clearly a shot at both of Commodore's computers - the VIC 20 and the 64 - with the marketing hype taking over by mentioning only good things such as creatively arriving at access to 110K of memory and a 16-bit processor in the era of 8-bits, even if the machine really was unable to take full advantage of it. Dazzle 'em with numbers - the higher, the better, baby! (...or baffle 'em with BS, depends on your point of view)

 

 

[+Ksarul]

They are definitely durable, although when it comes to the Mitsumi keyboards, that long-term durability is a bit lacking. . .

[twoodland]

That and the painsticks I guess they liked the cost savings of the plastic membrane more than worrying about longevity. I wonder when/if they started using them in their calculators?

Edited February 1, 2019 by twoodland

[brain]

They had a good (if somewhat dubious as to usefulness) story on RAM until they looped in the cartridge.

 

Jim

[Airshack]

The 99/4s are far more durable than Commodore and Tandy. The PEB is military spec tough!

 

Maybe the original Atari 800 was tougher? Atari’s transformers fail and fry systems though.

 

The Apple II line was nice and tough too. Apple probably had the best case of the era.

Edited February 1, 2019 by Airshack

[cbmeeks]

Maybe the original Atari 800 was tougher? Atari’s transformers fail and fry systems though.

 

The Apple II line was nice and tough too. Apple probably had the best case of the era.

 

I can speak from personal experience on the Atari 800. Yes, the original 800 (not XL) was built like a tank. That enormous metal shield inside is quite impressive for an 8-bit computer. The keyboard is solid and the plastics are pretty thick. When I received mine, the seller didn't ship it well at all. It was literally wrapped in one THIN piece of bubble wrap (the kind you would wrap a small CD in) and then thrown in a box with no padding. When it arrived, almost all of the keys were off.

 

However, the keys come off easily and were easily put back on. Not a scratch on it and it worked.

 

Yes, the Apple II line was (in my opinion), one of the most beautiful lines. Especially the original II. The IIe was a close second (not really a fan of the green "plus" logo). Those are pretty tough too. And you can't beat the easy access to the ports.

 

And yes...the TI-99/4A (especially the silver model) is rugged as well. It's a very beautiful machine.

 

Another beautiful machine, IMHO, is the Commodore Plus 4. Always loved that design. Only wished the cursor keys were normal keys in the same layout as PC keyboards.

 

Who am I kidding...I think all vintage computers are beautiful. LOL