Model 100 Stuff: What's a DVI

From: Richard A. Cini, Jr. <rcini_at_msn.com>
Date: Fri Aug 1 07:37:03 1997

To all of those that asked what the Model 100 DVI is...

        Ths Disk-Video Interface is a rectangular box (mostly hollow), the size of
half of a PC which enables the Model 100 to use 5-1/4" floppy disks and to
hook-up to a standard composite monitor or a TV on channel 3 or 4. It could
display 40x24 or 80x24 characters.

        Costing around $500, the unit typically (and I'd have to dig-out an old
catalog to check; it's been a while) came with 1 or 2 floppy disk drives and
had a built-in power supply. The companion monitor (an optional-extra) was a
composite green-screen. The included diskette was for a simple disk-based DOS
wedge for BASIC. Connection to the M100 was accomplished through a shielded,
flat, 40-pin ribbon cable with a custom pin arangement that attached to the
40-pin DIP socket on the bottom of the M100. The standard DIP socket on the
M100 was retrofitted with a ZIF socket to ease the stress on the cable.

        The insulation-displacement connector on the M100 side pearced the cable in a
non-standard way, preventing meer mortals from making a cable on their own
with parts from Digi-Key--I tried! BTW, replacements are $24 from Tandy Parts.
As an aside, DOS disks are $5.

        As far as I know, the DVI came out before the other floppy drives for the
M100, the PDD1 and PDD2.

        I hope that this clears things up.


-------------------------------------------------
Rich Cini/WUGNET
 e-mail: rcini_at_msn.com
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Received on Fri Aug 01 1997 - 07:37:03 BST