TI 99/4A

[rmas70!trl]

I have received several replies to my inquires about the
Texas Instruments personal/home computer, TI 99/4A. I am suprised
my the lack of knowledge surrounding this little 16 bitter critter.
Most of the incoming mail contained questions, not answers ! I called
the folks at TI and they were of little help. I did find out that
assembly language tools and a PASCAL compiler will soon hit the
marketplace. There are a few scattered user's groups forming here
in Ohio, and I suspect that is true elsewhere.

I have been waiting for other companies to provide hardware/
software for this machine, but as of now, the only people preparing
either is Milton Bradley, providing firmware games. (By firmware
I mean the 'plug-in' chips with burned-in software). I have heard
rumors that a company, unknown to me, is marketing some assembly
level programming packages.

My reaction to the 99/4A so far is favorable. The color
graphics are competitive with Atari's and the sound generator
can produce any four frequencies at a given time. I have used the
disk drives and RS232 interface module and feel satisfied. The
largest drawback is the slowness of the BASIC interpetor. It is
noticably slower than its competitors. My second complaint lies
with TI, getting information from them has been less than desirable.

If anyone has information they wish to share,

''''''' I'm HERE ! '''''

Tom Lanning
BTL-CB 1B319
1-614-860-4153
cbosg!rmas70!trl