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| January 2, 2010, 11:35 am, tstreete wrote: | |
| Hi. Thanks for doing this website. It's been two decades since I used my Nec 8201a, but I wrote FTNOTE.BA for it back in the day, and believe it or not wrote a PhD dissertation using it (involving quite a stack of tape cassettes). It was a pleasure to see the program available on this site.
Best to all. Tom Streeter http://www.uvm.edu/~tstreete | |
| June 7, 2009, 9:46 pm, johnboy wrote: | |
| Hi Gary,
Thanks for the info. I've been trying for a couple of 8201s on ebay, but keep missing out :-( I was hoping to get one, and use it to diagnose the problem on my current one, by comparing the two. I have a reasonable knowledge of electronics, and I have the 8201 and m100 service manuals to try and help me debug the problem. The service manuals tell me what voltages to look for on the connectors to the power converter board, so I have deduced the problem is with that board. I'll figure it out eventually :-) Cheers, John | |
| May 27, 2009, 1:32 pm, gweber wrote: | |
| Hi John,
So voltage is definitely coming off the pins from the battery pack? I would check if there's any corrosion on the contacts, both on the pack as well as on the receiving connector in the NEC. It's also possible that something got fried in the power-converter board, which is internal to the NEC (it sits right above the battery cartridge slot on the inside). If it is a component failure and you felt like investing a few dollars, you can sometimes find non-working 8201s on eBay pretty cheaply ($10-20) from which you could swap in a new power supply board. Or spend a bit more and get a completely different working 8201A. Other than that, an electronics repair shop might be able to troubleshoot and fix the power problem. Gary | |
| May 25, 2009, 11:07 pm, johnboy wrote: | |
| Hi Gary, great to see he site back. I have only recently dusted off my old 8201, then your site died :-( Looks like my 8201 works off the charger fine, but not the batteries. I have installed a fresh set, and made sure the battery voltage is present at the connector to the internal power supply board - any suggestions ?
Thanks John | |
| May 24, 2009, 4:47 am, gweber wrote: | |
| Kieron, I started to reply here in the Guestbook but instead I'm moving the discussion to the Model "T" forums on this site so that we can have a dialog. Hope to see you there! --Gary | |
| March 29, 2009, 12:06 pm, *Michael Caliban wrote: | |
| JayBird, I use a "null modem" cable to send files back and forth between modenr computers and the NEC 8201A. If you need specific instructions, leave another message here and I'll help you out.
=Mike | |
| February 23, 2009, 9:29 pm, *Kieron wrote: | |
| Gary
I just knew that somewhere on the web somebody would have a site devoted to the NEC8201! Can I ask for some assistance? I have resurrected my circa 1985 8201 along with printer and disk drive. Not surprisingly the backup battery was flat so I got that swapped out yesterday. When I powered up the machine the menu failed to appear. I get a blank screen which varies in intensity but nothing else. I have done a cold reset, but to no avail. Do you have any suggestions? Regards Kieron McGrath - SCS Astro Ltd - www.scsastro.co.uk | |
| December 14, 2008, 4:54 am, *JayByrd wrote: | |
| Around about 1990 I traded an Apple II for a NEC PC-8201A even up. As a journalist, I had used the Radio Shack version, affectionately known at the time as the "Trash 80." As an on-the-road writing instrument, it still cannot be beat -- great battery life, instant boot and a decent keyboard. I just need to find a way for it to communicate with my Powerbook. | |
| September 28, 2008, 7:14 pm, *anonymous wrote: | |
| i want to collect all computers made.
and this is a great site to start with to do that | |
| August 19, 2008, 6:40 pm, *anonymous wrote: | |
| Yeah, all solid state, modern amouns of power and RAM etc, and can boot in a second like this machine. Maybe make it last as long on a chanrge, and have a similar screen, only hi-rez and color... stero speakers, and lots of USB ports... estimated development cost: $50 million. Estimated retail price, $2,000. Look on the coworker's face: Priceless. | |
| August 11, 2008, 5:51 pm, *anonymous wrote: | |
| Perhpas an new computer engineering project is in order. Alal the MacBook air only more like one of these... | |
| August 11, 2008, 2:07 am, *anonymous wrote: | |
| love the site
i want one of these things | |
| July 15, 2008, 4:31 pm, *anonymous wrote: | |
| Where can I get one? | |
| July 6, 2008, 4:53 pm, *anonymous wrote: | |
| Somebody should make a modern computer that works like these things! | |
| May 26, 2008, 11:16 am, *Brodie wrote: | |
| Do u know how to help fic laptops- lookatmystars@hotmail.com
Please email | |
| May 22, 2008, 11:23 pm, *stephen wrote: | |
| thanks for the tech docs.
I got a nec8201 off a local freecycle site in the U.K, complete with all the manuals and the sample cassette tape. | |
| January 22, 2008, 10:06 am, *anonymous wrote: | |
| Many, many thanks for keeping this site up.
Just dying to get hold of Ultrascreen8201... | |
| January 8, 2008, 10:24 am, lbickley wrote: | |
| Gary,
Thanks! Found the docs - and am about to burn a ROM or two... Cheers, Lyle | |
| January 7, 2008, 6:30 pm, gweber wrote: | |
| Lyle, great to hear from another 8201 enthusiast!
Check http://club100.org/catalog.html near the bottom. I believe the links to the ROM2/Cleuseau documentation are there. Regards, Gary | |
| January 6, 2008, 3:44 am, lbickley wrote: | |
| I recencly picked up a nice, clean 8201. Replaced the NiCad batteries and it's a happy system. Thanks for a great support site!
Question: Regarding R2CNEC.HEX. I have an EPROM burner and would like to use this ROM - but I couldn't locate the "installation, quick reference card, and docs" referenced in the description. Could someone point me to that info please? Cheers, Lyle | |
| December 17, 2007, 6:50 pm, *TomAshwell wrote: | |
| I just remembered, the guy that sold me most of the peripherals (including the video adapter) was Dan Cohen in Hawaii. Great guy! I think I still have contact info somewhere, but I doubt that 14 years later he is still doing this.
=Tom | |
| December 17, 2007, 6:46 pm, *Tom Ashwell wrote: | |
| Gary,
Sorry I ahven't been back too much, missed this as a form of messageing. I sent you an email just now. =Tom | |
| December 10, 2007, 3:27 pm, *Dave Firth wrote: | |
| Good to see your site and a few ghosts of my past still out there for the benefit of those who still use these groundbreaking machines. The years since I was active in the Model T community have flown by (grad school, 2 kids, reorgs at work, egads). My collection is in suspended animation awaiting the day when work won't get in the way of a good hobby. Keep up the fantastic work, Gary. davidfirth1@mac.com | |
| December 1, 2007, 4:27 pm, gweber wrote: | |
| Yep, I knew about this kludge. You can find a year that has its calendar days lining up perfectly with this year's calendar days. But here's the problem: I just don't like having my DATE$ function returning the correct month & day, but a completely incorrect year value! :) | |
| December 1, 2007, 4:21 am, *anonymous wrote: | |
| BTW, here is my Y2K solution. I use "parallel" years. 1990 for 2008 until March, then I use 1986. Deep in the fundimental structure of the universe there is a kludge. Look around you. You know it's there.
PC - ~ >cal 1 2008 January 2008 Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 PC - ~ >cal 1 1991 January 1991 Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 | |
| December 1, 2007, 4:11 am, *Charles Stepp wrote: | |
| Oh how I wish they would recreate the M100/200/8201 convenience using "modern" electronics. No hard drive, Monochrome "paper" screen, and 4 AA batteries. And give me a decent non-java interpreter. Maybe Display Postscript too. Built in low power bluetooth, USB and RS-232C. | |
| November 28, 2007, 1:53 pm, gweber wrote: | |
| Runic!! Haha, now that would be interesting.
You actually were able to *obtiain* the PC-8241A video adapter? Curious, how did you get it? I've been looking for one for years. They never seem to come up on eBay... Isn't it great that you can have your machine stuffed into a drawer for years and its still usable? That little set of NiCad backup batteries that keep the SRAM active even without main power are quite amazing. I think I gave mine a four year workout once. Yes I would be happy to send you the Y2K fixed system ROM, either in the form of a binary ROM image if you have access to an EPROM burner and have a spare 27C256 chip handy, or you can purchase a chip directly from me. Just send me email to the address listed on the home page of this web site. By the way, Tom, you might think about subscribing to the Model "T" mailing list. It can be useful to be tapped into the quite significantly sized community of fellow NEC PC-8201A and Tandy Model 100 users. If you're interested, go to the Support Resources page on this site for details. Welcome back to the NEC laptop community! :) Gary Weber www.web8201.com | |
| November 27, 2007, 3:52 pm, *Tom Ashwell wrote: | |
| I'm glad to see these little computers are not actually out of use just yet!
I bought memory upgrades, the ROM, floppy disk drive and even the TV monitor adapter, not to mention the 8023AC printer which works perfectly with the little blighter, but I'm still missing the bar code reader. :( Anyway, I recently dusted the old girl off (after being in storeage for five years) and by golly she booted right up! Eithe the old batteries no less. I had put lithium AAs in her and that worked like a charm. Anyway, I want to get back up to speed using the NEC 8201A I have because it's always been a wonderful machine, so I plan on visiting this page often. By the way, can I get the ROM update that fixes the date (Y2K) problem? It's just a fruistration and the reson I "retired" the little blighter in the first palce. PS, a co-worker suggested I design and install a very unusual chartacter set: Runic. Should be a fun little challenge. :) How's that for weird. | |
| November 26, 2007, 5:01 pm, *Jonathan Rose wrote: | |
| Nice to see the site up and running. I'd like to get one of the NECs at some point, I think I'd prefer the nice cursor keys over the stock M100. That said, I'm a big Model 100 fan. I use them for work (custom programs, phone messages, etc), and for writing and note taking. These things beat the pants off of the chicklet keyboards on a new laptop, and the battery life is awesome.
Wish I had one back in the day. | |
| November 22, 2007, 10:12 pm, *Daniel Born wrote: | |
| I've been wanting to give Ultrascreen a second lease on life so when Gary contacted me, I was more than happy to tell him I'd help out with this project. At this point, I don't see why we would not be able to make Ultrascreen work on the 8201!
Best regards to Gary and this whole comnunity and thanks for keeping this little gem alive and kicking! Now I think I'm going to go and dust off that ol' Model 100 of mine... Now where did I put it? ;) | |
| October 29, 2007, 6:33 pm, gweber wrote: | |
| If you've ever run a website with an ASP-based guestbook that you downloaded and installed onto your web server, then you know the full headaches one can have when trying to keep ahead of the spam...
So, finally, I have made changes to Web 8201's guestbook that should eliminate this terrible abuse once and for all! The Spam-Free Guestbook Service has saved us... Since this guestbook is now hosted elsewhere, there was no way to import all prior guest entries. So what did I do? Copy & paste EVERY entry into the new web form! You think I'm a glutton for punishment, do you? Hardly. I just couldn't see losing all of those entries from all of you fellow notebook computer enthusiasts out there.. Only took me about an hour! :) With that, I bid you all a heartfelt "Welcome Back" to Web 8201. The site was down for many months but is back for good. I did have to shuffle a few things around to support my new port-redirected internal URLs, so if you notice any dead links, let me know. Cheers!!! Gary Weber Web 8201 Creator | |
| October 29, 2007, 6:09 pm, *Steven Stone wrote: | |
| 6.Nov.2006 19:24 From: Steven Stone
Stevenstone93@sbcglobal.net To: All Hi there, I'm a big vintage computer collector like you all are. As for the 8201s, I have 3 right now, cherry condition, they work marvelously. I love your site!! Thanks, Steve. | |
| October 29, 2007, 6:05 pm, *John Arnold wrote: | |
| 17.Aug.2006 18:47 From: John Arnold
j1j11j@yahoo.com To: All My friend introduced me to the Tandy T100. I preferred the the 8201 when I encountered it. I particularly like the "write protectable" second memory bank - mine has 32k. I used my 8201 weekly last year to do rough draft homework papers porting it into a home computer w/ a large screen. I was trying to get 8 meg memory chips out of another NEC 8201 when I bent two of their gold pin legs Maybe someone knows how to repair my clumsiness? Two of the legs on the end broke on each chip. I assume they are the same chips used in a T100 but am not certain. Let me me know if you can use them. They were working when I descided to try to fill in the slots in my other puter. Thanks for your help and support! Jack | |
| October 29, 2007, 6:04 pm, *KEITH HAMILTON wrote: | |
| 19.Jul.2006 3:41 From: KEITH HAMILTON
keh77gd@bellsouth.net To: All I haven't used my 8201-A in 15 years, but have kept it plugged into the AC current for all of that time. It was my first computer in 1985 and I just haven't had the heart to part with it. It has the ROM chip from Traveling Software that gives me Data Base, Outline and a third function that doesn't come to my mind as I write this. I need another cup of coffee. Keith | |
| October 29, 2007, 6:04 pm, *Rufus wrote: | |
| 6.May.2006 19:22 From: Rufus
RufusSatanis@AOL.com To: All Hi ! Very nice side. For the NEC8300 there are many OptionROM´s Online. Did someone knows how they can convert in plain Binary form. My Eprom Burner can´t use the INTEL HEX form. Can one tell me the format of the Intel form of a file? is that right that :2000 means the store-address in RAM the next four digits xxxx after them the address on real position in the ROM and the last two Digits the checksum of a row? why is a Rom with max 32KByte 77KByte big? is there a program on DOS or WIN 31;95;98;ME;NT4 wihch can Convert it in BIN? greetings Rufus | |
| October 29, 2007, 6:04 pm, *Joe Agnello wrote: | |
| 28.Dec.2005 17:59 From: Joe Agnello
jjaela@adelphia.net To: All I own two 8201A's. I just aquired high speed internet access and am now enjoying the web sites for the old computers. I also own a Zenith Supersport 286. | |
| October 29, 2007, 6:04 pm, *Ed wrote: | |
| 21.Oct.2005 9:51 From: Ed
ejreynld@earthlink.net To: All Just found the link to this site at Rick Hanson's, wonderful except that there are several dead links. Yepper, I realize that you like most of us do have another life, along with it's associated responsibilites. Thanks for being here. | |
| October 29, 2007, 6:03 pm, *K. Solowoniuk wrote: | |
| 4.Oct.2005 18:41 From: K. Solowoniuk
ksolow@telus.net To: All I'm really starting to gain some appreciation for the early computers, especially when they're still capable of performing all of the necessary tasks that I use my massive and modern desktop pc for. I can't wait to get my hands on one. ~Keep it rolling~ ~kjs~ | |
| October 29, 2007, 6:03 pm, *Saul Bryan wrote: | |
| 12.Sep.2005 5:11 From: Saul Bryan
sbryan1(at)bigpond.net.au To: All Hey, cool site! I wonder about the 8201 - looks quite thick compared to the Model 100. Is it a lot chunkier? I wrote have a model 100 review here if you are interested - http://www.users.bigpond.net.au/sbryan/other/TRS80Model100.html Regards, Saul | |
| October 29, 2007, 6:03 pm, *Peter Rodman wrote: | |
| 9.Aug.2005 15:26 From: Peter Rodman
psrodman@sbcglobal.net To: All Great to see there's a site for these machines. | |
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