From: jim@bozo.net   
      
       Well Mike, I was *almost*> as cheap as you. I had to get a LOAN to   
   afford the Model III with 16k & Level 2 ROM, at $999 in early '82..   
   And then I realized I had no way to save my "brilliant" programming, so I   
   sprung for a CCR-81 cassette deck...no way could I afford an "RS first disk   
   add-on" at about 800 bucks!   
        I suffered thru that nonsense for 6 months until I discovered Exatron's   
   Model 3 Stringy Floppy. It cost $225,  but what a revelation! I could   
   actually load a 5kB program in about 40 seconds! Hah--I was ecstatic!! Of   
   course I had to upgrade memory to 48k...got it from Level IV Systems in   
   Michigan I think, about 60% of the RS price.   
        But dammit Mike...I never got that coveted 48k medallion! Wanna sell   
   yours? I know people would be impressed by knowing I have "48,000 characters   
   of memory" as early RS catalogs said.   
       Fun memories, but seems a tad ridiculous now.   
   But I still enjoy my 2 Model III's, the Stringy Floppy, Orch-90 and the SVD   
   box I bought last year to connect PCs to 80s..   
   --jim   
      
      
      
   Mike wrote:   
    Actually, I think I had one.   
      
    I ordered the cheapest way I could for my Model III, and if the cost of   
   the INDIVIDUAL ROM chips was less than the difference from Level 1   
    to Level 2, I can tell you right now I ordered it as a Level 1.   I do   
    remember that it ended up being a special order.  (I had bought it through   
   a friends   
    'franchise store' in PA but managed to get the warehouse to ship it to   
    my office in the tower direct.  That caused me a bit of a hassle when   
    people found out what I was doing.)   
      
    I then stuffed it and upgraded everything myself.  Buying stuff like the   
    'tower' panels for the disk drives and scrounging hardware and stuff   
    elsewhere.  Memory from RFI.  I think the only parts of my Model III   
    that were Tandy after the base unit were the chips for Level 2, the   
    wiring and interconnect harnesses for the drives and RS-232, the second   
    power supply, and eventually the 'towers' for the drives, which at first   
    were two pieces of paneling...  Oh, and of course the '48K' medallion...   
    What can I say, I was cheap...   
    Mike   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)