http://www.computinghistory.org.uk/det/1344/Texas-Instruments-TI-99-4A/ has interesting knowledge of the serial for dating. I don't know if it was my newb brain/false memory but i thought I saw someone post a ti-99/2 prototype before (vcfed search can probably prove me right or wrong). But the models really were already stated as the 99/4 being the first and noticeable from chicklet keyboard and orange?/red keys on the bottom corners. Then i think they had an expansion system that my memory gets confused with the trs-80. I didn't realize it was a 16-bit system though. That's intriguing and worth some more reading to see what it did vs the competition. -------- Original message --------From: John Wilson via cctalk <cctalk@classiccmp.org> Date: 9/6/17 1:57 PM (GMT-06:00) To: william degnan via cctech <cct...@classiccmp.org> Subject: Re: determing date on TI 99/4 computers. On Wed, Sep 06, 2017 at 02:07:22PM -0400, william degnan via cctech wrote: >I'd double check that. I have found, at least in my experience, that the >beige are more plentiful than what you'd expect if they only made them for >a few months. I bet they were made for the last year or more of the run.
Is it possible to retrofit the beige keyboard? I remember Radio Shack was dumping surplus beige TI-99/4A keyboards super cheap for a while there, so I was wondering if maybe people could've used them as repair parts? Also, was there ever a TI-99, TI-99/2, TI-99/3 etc.? The Bill Cosby TV ads were kind of embarrassing in retrospect ... but they were funny at the time. He didn't seem like much of a computer nerd. John Wilson D Bit
