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Raspberry Pi but it's a TRS-80 [1]

['Rob Beschizza']

Date: 2024-07-22

The TRS-80 was among America's first successful home computers and for a while outsold Apple and Commodore's own entry-level machines. Now you can enjoy the experience of a Z80 in a box thanks to the Raspberry Pi and Joe Pasqua's handsome 3D-printed pseudo-replica.

The 3D-printable design includes a 5-inch 640×480 display and two decorative but non-functional floppy drives. The floppy drives have LEDs that can flash randomly to help convey the feel of the classic 1980s computer. The cutout below, where the original TRS-80 would include a keyboard, is designed to hold an inexpensive, off-the-shelf wireless keyboard and trackpad.

The software and 3D-printing specs, including TRSDOS emulation, is on Github along with Pasqua's documentation for the project.

This repository contains the instructions for building a Faux TRS-80. The model is meant to evoke the feel of a TRS-80 Model 3 or Model 4 computer, but is not an exact replica of either. It has mounting spots for a Raspberry Pi, display, and associated hardware that allow you to run a TRS-80 emulator and get the true Tandy experience. I use the extremely impressive trs80gp emulator and it works great! Take a look at a short video of the model in operation.

We often write about fantasy consoles and focused-writing gadgetry that often boils down to imposing technically limited environments on the user, and think it's high time for a well-designed "late 1970s text-only fantasy machine" that captures some perfect functionality and aesthetic therein but with modern affordances up to and maaaaybe including LLMs. I should not be allowed to name this machine, though, as I would name it "ANSI Pants."

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