TANDY INTRODUCES 80286-BASED 3000 NL COMPUTER, DESIGNED TO MEET TODAY'S DEMANDING BUSINESS NEEDS July 27, 1988 FORT WORTH, Texas--Tandy Corporation, the leading manufacturer of PC compatibles, continues its tradition of value with today's introduction of the Tandy 3000 NL personal computer, a high-performance product designed to economically meet the growing needs of today's business customers. Based on the 10 megahertz (MHz) Intel 80286 microprocessor, the 3000 NL provides business customers with increased performance to effectively manage productivity applications under the MS-DOS operating system and the power to multitask under the MS OS/2 operating system. It can also function as a powerful network workstation or workgroup communications server by performing data transfers faster than ever. A wide range of powerful video graphics options, including VGA, EGA and CGA, are supported on the 3000 NL allowing the customer to choose the display which is best-suited to the needs of the business. Standard configuration of the system includes a 3.5-inch, 1.44 megabyte (Mb) floppy disk drive, a socket for an optional 10MHz 80287 math coprocessor, and seven AT-compatible expansion slots (three 8-bit and four 16-bit) also running at 10MHz for optimum performance. These slots are software configurable to operate at 8MHz making literally hundreds of industry-standard AT and XT- compatible option boards available. The 3000 NL includes 512 kilobytes (Kb) of dynamic random access memory (RAM) expandable to 640Kb on the main logic board or directly to 1Mb using a high- speed memory expansion slot. This Tandy-designed slot, which addresses a maximum of 8Mb of high-speed memory, performs at transfer rates approximately 30 percent faster than conventional 16-bit 8MHz expansion slots. An additional 8Mb of memory may be added using the NL's 16-bit expansion slots. Customers have the flexibility to configure a system which best meets their needs through three (one 3.5-inch and two 5.25-inch) open front-accessible half-height device slots. Installation of 5.25-inch devices is made easier through the addition of a new rail system that allows the user to simply slide the disk into the slot and connect the ribbon cable. Floppy disk options include 3.5-inch, 1.44Mb or 720Kb; and 5.25-inch, 1.2Mb or 360Kb. Tandy has expanded its mass storage options to provide customers with five times the storage capacity available on previous models. These include 20Mb, 65 millisecond (ms); 40Mb, 40 or 28ms; and 70Mb, 28ms standard hard drives. Small Computer Systems Interface (SCSI) devices include 40Mb or 80Mb, 19ms hard drives; 177Mb or 344Mb, 16ms hard drives; and a 150Mb tape backup system. Other value-added features of the 3000 NL include a new 101-key enhanced keyboard with tactile feedback, bidirectional parallel port to support scanning devices in a desktop publishing environment, asynchronous serial port and keylock. "The outstanding reliability record of the Tandy 3000 line of computers has made it a popular choice in both business and education environments," said John V. Roach, chairman of the board, chief executive officer and president of Tandy Corporation. "Tandy continues to build on that reputation with a product that is designed to better meet customer needs with expandability, quality and a nationwide network of service and support." The Tandy 3000 NL personal computer (Cat. No. 25-4072) has a suggested retail price of $1,699 at Radio Shack Computer Centers, Plus Computer Centers and participating stores and dealers nationwide. Tandy is a registered trademark of Tandy Corporation. Radio Shack Computer Center is a registered service mark of Tandy Corporation. Intel is a registered trademark of Intel Corporation. MS-DOS, XENIX and MS are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. AT is a registered trademark of International Business Machines. XT is a trademark of International Business Machines. SCO is a trademark of The Santa Cruz Operation.