Opry99er Posted November 6, 2019 Share Posted November 6, 2019 Picked this thing up on auction.... should have it next week: planning on installing a REX from arcadeshopper.com and I will hopefully be able to BBS via the internal modem. Anyone else here use one one of these babies? 5 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Posted November 6, 2019 Share Posted November 6, 2019 You have done a great thing, I really love the 100 and 102!!! I need to get another one. Did so much typing on those "back in the day"... ..Al 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Opry99er Posted November 6, 2019 Author Share Posted November 6, 2019 From what I gather, these were hot commodities when they came out. Imagine a traveling sports writer from Milwaukee covering a Brewers/Mets game in New York--1985. He would watch the game, type his story up with a cigar in his mouth, and then when the game ended--he would rush to find an open phone line so he could dial in to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's system and upload his story to the editor's computer. Too good... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted November 6, 2019 Share Posted November 6, 2019 What did you do? You got a portable computer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swami Posted November 6, 2019 Share Posted November 6, 2019 Early laptop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Opry99er Posted November 6, 2019 Author Share Posted November 6, 2019 I am looking forward to making a few BBS dial-up videos with this. I then plan to write a small short story on it (just because I can) and then I'll maybe try to get it to talk to my TI-99.... just for fun. I can imagine carrying this thing around with me... to shows and even to work. Will definitely draw some attention. Next will be figuring out a good way to print to a modern printer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Opry99er Posted November 6, 2019 Author Share Posted November 6, 2019 What games are available on this system? I saw a slalom game and a dungeon crawler.... anyone have links to a repository? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaybird3rd Posted November 6, 2019 Share Posted November 6, 2019 Great machine! I bought my refurbished 102 from Rick Hanson of Club 100, a few years before he passed away. I subsequently upgraded it with the REX flash memory upgrade, which is also great. I haven't used it recently, but it's a perfect little machine for note-taking. The last time I took it to work for taking notes during a faculty meeting, it got quite a lot of interest; despite its age, several of the people who stopped to look at it were genuinely impressed. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Opry99er Posted November 6, 2019 Author Share Posted November 6, 2019 Thanks for the info! I checked out Club100. Very very cool site-- I'm excited, for sure. I've never had a portable like a 100,102, CC-40, etc... The 102 seems like the most capable of these, and I got one in great shape with original packaging. Hoping the modem works, cuz that is one main reason I bought it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbo-Torch Posted November 7, 2019 Share Posted November 7, 2019 They are great little computers that can still be somewhat useful today. I like to keep a journal of complex equipment I work on out in the field for future trouble shooting and the 100 makes a perfect notebook. I'm supplied with the latest smart phone and laptop but hate dickin' around with the tiny smart phone screen or taking the laptop out of its Pelican case, waiting for it to boot up, setting up a hotspot with the phone, hoping it's not going to update Windows 10 and then typing on its modern piss poor crap keyboard. With a Model 100, flip a switch and you're instantly presented with a menu that doesn't require reading glasses. And the keyboard is phenomenal! I would love to find a modern laptop with a keyboard even half as good as a 100. Seriously, it's almost as good as the ALPS keyboard in my Model III. Lastly you have a real RS232 port and built in com program which is great for communicating with old legacy equipment. Oh and they run for an eternity on 4 AA batteries. I do wish they had a back light that could be turned on/off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+sm3 Posted November 7, 2019 Share Posted November 7, 2019 Awesome! Good call on the REX. I picked up a REX from ArcadeShopper as well and RAM upgrade. It works great! Plus you don't have to worry about the date being wrong on the screen any longer, but of course it does more than that. Lots more to buy now too since you have the 102. You can get a floppy drive and a DVI, to name a few I recently lucked out and got a NADSbox for my 100 as well. Have fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Opry99er Posted November 7, 2019 Author Share Posted November 7, 2019 Wow!!! Sounds like a blast! Is there any video out on it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+sm3 Posted November 7, 2019 Share Posted November 7, 2019 23 minutes ago, Opry99er said: Wow!!! Sounds like a blast! Is there any video out on it? Well, it was the early 80s, so you can get text output on a TV or monitor ;) Here are a few links and a guy messing with a DVI on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mt6AmyLKkXQ http://tandy.wiki/Disk/Video_Interface http://www.classiccmp.org/dunfield/kyocera/dvi.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Opry99er Posted November 7, 2019 Author Share Posted November 7, 2019 Yeah, that's what I'm looking for. I will be BBSing on this device, and having more than 8 lines of text will be helpful. Thanks for the link! I'll check it out now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+sm3 Posted November 7, 2019 Share Posted November 7, 2019 7 minutes ago, Opry99er said: Yeah, that's what I'm looking for. I will be BBSing on this device, and having more than 8 lines of text will be helpful. Thanks for the link! I'll check it out now. The DVI is somewhat rare on eBay of course, but you can find them now and then. Same thing with the external floppy, but you'll probably need to replace the belt on it if you find one. ArcadeShopper sells floppies for the external drive as well! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+chue Posted November 7, 2019 Share Posted November 7, 2019 You'll probably want to take it apart and make sure to replace the internal battery. Those batteries will damage the motherboard if you leave them in. I have a few M100s and have replaced the batteries with super capacitors. See the before (brown battery) and after (blue supercap) in the attached pics. Just something to keep in mind - I believe that it won't boot if there's no battery. I would also recommend you replace the capacitors on the board as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Opry99er Posted November 7, 2019 Author Share Posted November 7, 2019 Yikes!! I don't know if I'm comfortable soldering on this little guy. Wonder if there are replacement batteries available that will fit between the posts there... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaybird3rd Posted November 7, 2019 Share Posted November 7, 2019 The 102 was widely used by journalists back in the day because of its (very good!) full-stroke keyboard and built-in modem, and I know for certain that it was still being used for that purpose into the late 1990s. I worked for a small IT company in those years, and one of our clients was the New Jersey Herald, which had a fleet of 102s for their field reporters: they would write their stories on the 102, dial in to the main office, and upload them to an automated system which had a small bank of modems. I didn't get to work on this system directly, but I did see it in use. I remember that it had a Hercules monochrome monitor that failed at some point, because we helped them procure some spares. It was a pretty old-fashioned place—they were still doing their newspaper layouts with pasted strips of paper, which I also got to see—so I wouldn't be surprised if they kept that system in service well into the 2000s. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Opry99er Posted November 7, 2019 Author Share Posted November 7, 2019 27 minutes ago, jaybird3rd said: The 102 was widely used by journalists back in the day because of its (very good!) full-stroke keyboard and built-in modem, and I know for certain that it was still being used for that purpose into the late 1990s. I worked for a small IT company in those years, and one of our clients was the New Jersey Herald, which had a fleet of 102s for their field reporters: they would write their stories on the 102, dial in to the main office, and upload them to an automated system which had a small bank of modems. I didn't get to work on this system directly, but I did see it in use. I remember that it had a Hercules monochrome monitor that failed at some point, because we helped them procure some spares. It was a pretty old-fashioned place—they were still doing their newspaper layouts with pasted strips of paper, which I also got to see—so I wouldn't be surprised if they kept that system in service well into the 2000s. That's awesome! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhd Posted November 7, 2019 Share Posted November 7, 2019 20 hours ago, Turbo-Torch said: They are great little computers that can still be somewhat useful today. I like to keep a journal of complex equipment I work on out in the field for future trouble shooting and the 100 makes a perfect notebook. How easy is it to transfer files from the Model 100 to another (modern) system? I have contemplated buying one several times, but the (in)ability to get data off the system has always stopped me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Opry99er Posted November 7, 2019 Author Share Posted November 7, 2019 Easy to transfer via RS232 it seems... you can also use an Android device I or a PC as a TPDD. It looks to be extremely versatile in that regard. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Opry99er Posted November 7, 2019 Author Share Posted November 7, 2019 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+sm3 Posted November 7, 2019 Share Posted November 7, 2019 Now that's a retro enthusiast! He even has a payphone installed. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbo-Torch Posted November 8, 2019 Share Posted November 8, 2019 3 hours ago, jhd said: How easy is it to transfer files from the Model 100 to another (modern) system? I have contemplated buying one several times, but the (in)ability to get data off the system has always stopped me. Going to try this again, posts go into that cloudflare thing and never show up. The built in modem or using a null modem with the rs232 should do what you need. It also has a cassette interface so you could probably download programs, convert them to a wav or mp3 and then load it that way. I've called current BBSs using the built in telcom program and it works well. Look into getting one just for the fun of it. They made so many, it's got to be one of the cheapest vintage computers out there. A really nice one shouldn't go for more than $50 bucks. If you want a DVI, that'll probably cost a small fortune. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Opry99er Posted November 8, 2019 Author Share Posted November 8, 2019 Surprisingly, getting a complete and tested 100/102 isn't as cheap as $50 usually. I had to get the prettiest and most complete one out there (ugh) and that cost me a chunk. But it will hold up on the resale market in case I ever need to move off it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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