NEW TANDY 1000 SL PERSONAL COMPUTER FEATURES HIGH FIDELITY SOUND AND ADVANCED EASE-OF-USE TECHNOLOGY July 27, 1988 FORT WORTH, TEXAS -- Tandy Corporation, America's Technology Answer and the leading manufacturer of PC-compatible personal computers, today strengthened its commitment to quality, value and ease-of-use by introducing the Tandy 1000 SL personal computer, a new generation of the best-selling Tandy 1000 SX personal computer. At a suggested retail price of $899, the Tandy 1000 SL personal computer is an affordable system designed with the most requested features of home, education and small business users. The 8086-based 1000 SL is faster than the original 1000 SX, with a processing speed comparable to IBM PS/2 Model 25 and Model 30 computers. The 1000 SL also features a new high fidelity sound technology and a tactile-feel, 101-key keyboard which is fully compatible with the IBM Enhanced Keyboard. Tandy, the first manufacturer to introduce "Power and Run" design in a PC/XT- compatible desktop computer, has enhanced this innovative yet easy-to-use technology in the 1000 SL. The 1000 SL has its MS-DOS 3.3 operating system and a new release of the graphics-oriented DeskMate interface stored in read only memory (ROM). This "Power and Run" design eliminates confusing start-up procedures for the user and proceeds directly into the industry-accepted, user-friendly DeskMate interface. Unless specified, the user will never be confronted with cryptic prompts or strange commands when operating the computer. Another useful feature stored in ROM is an 80,000-word spelling dictionary for use with any application written under the DeskMate interface. Just as Tandy pioneered "Power and Run," the company now brings built-in advanced audio "input and output" technology to personal computing. Tandy's 1000 SL is the first MS-DOS personal computer to include the ability to record, store and playback speech and sound through the use of internal digital to analog and analog to digital converter circuitry. With this innovation, Tandy has given software developers one of the most exciting new tools yet with which to create quality products not available to the industry today. In addition to audio input and output, the Tandy 1000 SL personal computer supports three new on-board video modes, including monochrome text (MDA), Hercules monochrome graphics and an enhanced 640 x 200 high-resolution color graphics mode with the ability to display a full 16 colors. Optional EGA and VGA adapters are also available. All of these characteristics make the 1000 SL a perfect solution for personal finance and productivity, entertainment, classroom instructional labs, network workstations, curriculum and lesson planning, telecommunications and home education. The standard configuration of the 1000 SL includes 384Kb of memory, expandable to 640Kb on the main board, one 5.25-inch 360Kb internal floppy disk drive, five PC-compatible 10-inch expansion slots, and support for an optional 8087 math coprocessor. For increased storage capacity, a second 5.25-inch 360Kb or 3.5-inch 720Kb internal floppy disk drive may be added. Tandy has devised a new drive mounting device which gives the user quick and easy installation of additional internal floppy drives. Other storage options offered are 20 megabyte (Mb) and 40Mb hard disk cards. In the Tandy tradition of value-added features, standard interfaces included in the 1000 SL are a parallel printer port, RS-232 serial port for mouse support or communication, microphone/audio input jack, headphone jack with volume control, RGBI monitor port and two joystick ports. These interfaces are not found on many PC/XT-compatible computers except as extra cost options. Without sacrificing expandability, the sleek footprint of the 1000 SL has been reduced to only 5.1 x 15.5 x 13.1 (HxWxD) inches. The Tandy 1000 SL personal computer (Cat. No. 25-1401) will be available in September. Prices are good at Radio Shack Computer Centers, Plus Computer Centers and participating stores and dealers nationwide. Tandy is a registered trademark of Tandy Corporation. Radio Shack and Radio Shack Computer Center are registered service marks of Tandy Corporation. DeskMate and America's Technology Answer are trademarks of Tandy Corporation. MS-DOS is a registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. IBM is a registered trademark of International Business Machines Corporation.