The “Tandy 200” (Tandy had by then dropped the TRS-80 label) is an upgraded TRS-80 Model 100. The most noticeable upgrade, of course, is the new clamshell display, with twice the display area as on the Model 100. Better cursor keys are another improvement.
The -200 also has banked memory. Presumably for backwards compatibility, the system memory is limited to 32kB, but the -200 can access three (?) memory banks of 32kB each, by switching between them. Kind of like having three different computers in one, I guess?
The processor in the Model 100, -102, and Tandy 200 is an Intel 8085. Despite the similarity in number to the Intel 8088 powering the original IBM PC, the 8085 is essentially an 8080 with a few tweaks and a single-rail 5V power supply to make integration easier. It has more in common with Z80 machines like the Timex/Sinclair 1000 than it does with x86 machines.
While the Tandy 200 is an improvement over the Model 100, it turned out to not be as popular. Even the Model 102 — really just an updated 100 — sold more units. The reasons given were price (the larger display no doubt cost more) and size. While the -200 is significantly thicker and heavier than a Model 100, the laptops of just a few years later would make it almost look like a pocket computer. (IBM PC Convertible with optional printer module, we’re looking at you.)
While I don’t have nearly as much personal history with this one as with my Model 100 (which was my main computer for a few years until I built the ‘486), it’s interesting to see the differences.
I should put an ESP32 on the RS232 port as a dongle and let it browse the Web via lynx…
