Tandy Introduces Key Computer Line

Company News

By Calvin Sims
The New York Times

August 4, 1987

The Tandy Corporation, which has aggressively attacked I.B.M. and other computer makers with low-cost, high-performance products, introduced a broad line of personal computers and peripherals yesterday.

Tandy executives said their machines offer more advanced features than most competing products but cost hundreds of dollars less.

Tandy, which owns and franchises the Radio Shack chain, said that it would offer a desktop computer based on the Intel 80386 microprocessor, an improved laptop computer and two computers intended primarily for the education market.

The International Business Machines Corporation is expected today to introduce a low-priced member of its new Personal System 2 computer line that is aimed at the education market. I.B.M.'s first attempt to enter this market - the PCjr - failed.

Analysts said that Tandy's machines should strengthen the Fort Worth-based company's position in the home, education and small-business markets.

''This gives Tandy the broadest product line in the industry at the best price performance,'' said Margo F. McGlade, an analyst with Paine Webber Inc. ''The offering has something for everyone.''

Tandy's new personal computer is based on the Intel Corporation's 80386 microprocessor, the industry's most powerful chip, and has a 3.5-inch, 1.44-megabyte disk drive, which is used in the new I.B.M. computers.

John V. Roach, Tandy's president and chief executive, said at a news conference that the new personal computer, which is called the Tandy 4000, is cheaper than similiarly equipped machines by I.B.M. and the Compaq Computer Corporation.

Tandy's improved laptop computer, the model 1400 LT, is the company's first use of the Microsoft Corporation's MS-DOS operating system in a portable computer.

Tandy also introduced two additions to its wide-selling 1000 family. The Tandy 1000 TX computer operates at three times the speed of I.B.M.'s PS/2 Model 30 and more than six times the speed of the PC/XT, the company said.

Tandy said its entry-level Tandy 1000 HX is priced at $699, the Tandy 1000 TX at $1,199, the Tandy 4000 at $2,599 and the new laptop model 1400 LT at $1,599. These prices do not include monitors.