Cracking Open the Tandy Model 100

Back in the early 1980s if you wanted to compute on the go, your options were sorely limited. As you saw in the Osbourne I and TRS-80 Model 4P photo galleries, you practically had to be a body builder to take your computer with you. Weighing in at over 20 lbs each, they were called luggables for a reason. Plus, to add insult to injury, unless you were near an electrical outlet, you couldn't use them for much other than a footrest.

Debuting in March 1983, the Tandy Model 100 changed all of that. It was the first popular computer that was truly portable. The Tandy 100 weighed in at just 3 lbs with the batteries (4 AAs) installed. It had the same basic dimensions as a piece of paper and was less than 3" thick.

When we cracked open the MacBook Air, it showed what 21st Century technology looks like. It's a very clean design with a mass of computer placed IC's spaced around a small system board.

Now, we take a turn cracking open the Tandy Model 100.