tandy 1100 fd laptop questions
russ ballinger
I was recently given a Tandy 1100 fd laptop. Does anyone know if there
were any "updgrade" options? Could one add a hard drive and make it intos
an 1100 hd? Newer versions of dos? More memory? I know about the modem
(2400 baud), is there a faster one? Who the manufacturer was (I assume it
was not Tandy). Anyone else make batteries for it?
Thanks in advance.
John Hattan
rh...@ernie.rsvl.unisys.com (russ ballinger) wrote:
>I was recently given a Tandy 1100 fd laptop. Does anyone know if there
>were any "updgrade" options? Could one add a hard drive and make it intos
>an 1100 hd?
Doubtful, as I don't think it had a hard drive controller. Your best
bet for a hard drive or CD-ROM are those parallel-port external models.
Of course, that limits its portability a bit :)
> Newer versions of dos?
The 1100FD had DOS and DeskMate in ROM. If you have the setup disk (or
it has a ROM setup program, I don't recall), you can probably disable
the ROM boot in favor of a floppy disk boot.
If you're running floppy-only, however, you've just added another disk
to carry around. Anything that requires a later version of DOS probably
won't work on it anyway. 640k and CGA is pretty limiting nowadays.
> More memory? I know about the modem (2400 baud), is there a faster one?
Don't know these, but I'm doubtful on both counts.
> Who the manufacturer was (I assume it was not Tandy).
If it wasn't, it was Matsushita. I think it was Tandy.
> Anyone else make batteries for it?
If it's a custom battery, it's doubtful.
Strangely enough, I actually wanted one of these when they came out.
The DOS and DeskMate WP in ROM were perfect for note-taking, which is
all I wanted to do with it. With an 8086 and no hard drive, it probably
wasn't too hard on batteries either. Of course, it was too heavy and
too expensive for the glorified organizer that it was.
---
John Hattan High UberPopeness -The First Church of Shatnerology
The Code Zone Sweet Software for a Saturnine World
hat...@fastlane.net http://www.fastlane.net/~hattan/
Fred McKenzie
In article <5dt9o3$t15$1...@ernie.rsvl.unisys.com>,
rh...@ernie.rsvl.unisys.com (russ ballinger) wrote:
> I was recently given a Tandy 1100 fd laptop. Does anyone know if there
> were any "updgrade" options? Could one add a hard drive and make it intos
> (2400 baud), is there a faster one? Who the manufacturer was (I assume it
> was not Tandy). Anyone else make batteries for it?
Russ-
I have the 1110HD, and previously had the 1100FD.
1. The only upgrade I know of, is the 2400 Baud modem. (See 3 below.)
2. It may be possible to add a hard drive, but you would have to figure
it out for yourself. I'm not aware of any magazine articles or kits for
that. Cost would probably exceed the price of a used 1110HD.
3. Newer versions of DOS should work with it. I made up a 720 disk with
System 6, to use with an Iomega "parallel" Zip drive. The Zip requires
System 5 as a minimum. (Even though the Zip instructions said a 286 CPU
was required, it seemed to work OK.)
4. I wouldn't expect you could add more memory and make it work. I think
MS-DOS requires at least a 386 for extended memory.
5. The manufacturer was Panasonic (Matsushita Electric). I think the
nearly identical model, was their CF-150. It had a different ROM in place
of the built-in DOS with DeskMate, and it is conceivable that a Panasonic
ROM would work in the Tandy. (My experience with Panasonic back then, was
that they would list various options with their products, but somehow
couldn't deliver them.)
6. Batteries are a special problem. They are lead-acid "Gel Cells", and
will be ruined by sulfation if left discharged for long. They must be
kept on continuous charge to prevent this. (Unlike NiCds, continuous
charge with the correct charger, won't ruin them.)
Battery companies that carry replacements for many different products,
have stopped carrying slow-moving Gel Cells, since they are likely to
sulfate while sitting on their shelves. Consequently, the only source I
know of, is Tandy. When I needed a new one about two years ago, I had to
wait several months until a new batch came in! I think the price was
around $45 by then. The same battery fits both the 1100FD and the 1110HD.
Fred
barrym
russ ballinger (rh...@ernie.rsvl.unisys.com) wrote:
: I was recently given a Tandy 1100 fd laptop. Does anyone know if there
: were any "updgrade" options? Could one add a hard drive and make it intos
: an 1100 hd? Newer versions of dos? More memory? I know about the modem
: (2400 baud), is there a faster one? Who the manufacturer was (I assume it
: was not Tandy). Anyone else make batteries for it?
That's a fairly different system, with not dos in rom and
other changes. I don't know about adding a hard drive.
It was made by Panasonic.
I have an 1110hd that I bought new when they were discontinuing
them. It's held up well. It's a pretty tough little system.
The batteries from Radio Shack are still available and they hold
up real well.
Barry
gsa...@freenet.edmonton.ab.ca
John Hattan (hat...@fastlane.net) wrote:
: rh...@ernie.rsvl.unisys.com (russ ballinger) wrote:
: >I was recently given a Tandy 1100 fd laptop. Does anyone know if there
: >were any "updgrade" options? Could one add a hard drive and make it intos
: >an 1100 hd?
Mine has a ZIP drive connected to the parallel port and it works fine.
When I first bought it back in 1990 I also installed a 1Mb ram drive from
where I run most of my programs.
--
gsa...@freenet.edmonton.ab.ca
blacke...@gmail.com
Captain Nemo
KENNETH UDUT
On 21:22 22/07 , blacke...@gmail.com wrote:
>On the off chance that anybody is still viewing this thread 22+ years later, has anybody come across a technical manual for the 1100FD? I'm suspecting the 50-pin internal expansion port is a trunchated 8-bit ISA connector, rather than an IDE hard drive deader. I'd be able to make use of either, but I need a pinout for that 50-pin connector.
>
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