When I received my first TI-99/4A back in 1980, I couldn't believe my eyes. Owning this little powerhouse was nothing less than an out-of-reach dream for me - much like affording a Ferrari is today. Seeing as though my parents barely made "ends meet" at the time, this or any computer was way out of my thought range. Now, roughly 25 years later, I still experience the same exciting chill that ran up my spine when I first laid my hands on my very own!

For it's time, the Texas Instrument TI-99/4A's hardware list was top notch, and the Apple IIe, Commodor 64 & VIC 20 were left far behind in speed, graphics & sound capabilities. The silver & black TI-99/4A (or cream color in the later years) included a full QWERTY keyboard, a TI TMS 9900 CPU @ 3.3 MHz, a TMS 9918 video / sprite coprocessor, 16KB of RAM (upgradable to 52), 16KB of VRAM, 26K of ROM, 16 colors, a TMS9919 3 voice 1 noise (3 channels, 5 octaves) for sound and TONS of games & application command modules (or cartridges) that would plug into the TI-99/4A's cartridge slot. Atari was one manufacturer to churn out memorable command modules like "Defender", "Jungle Hunt", etc... as well as Parker Bros, Microsoft & Texas Instruments.

There are a number of peripherals to interface the TI-99/4A with as well - including a Cassette Tape Recorder, 2 Joysticks (which came with the unit), a 300 Baud Modem, Super Sketch, a Monitor (Zenith Color TV), a Dot-Matrix Printer, Milton Bradley Expansion System, Speech Synthesizer and a Peripheral Expansion (P.E.) Box to name most. The Peripheral Expansion Box was something I had always dreamed of owning because it allowed you to add a SS/SD Floppy Disk Drive via a floppy controller card, as well as the possibility of adding other expansion cards like the 32K memory expansion card.

Computing during the 1980's was not just about gaming & applications (& the Internet) like it is today - it was far more intellectually interactive & diverse - based on popular interests in programming. I myself had already started programming in BASIC since the Commodore PET back in 1974, so I had a programming foundation already established. However, Texas Instruments really put a lot of power at your fingertips with their included version of BASIC named "TI BASIC". Their clear, concise introductory programming manuals were easy to read, as I understood them when I was just 10. In addition, they then released an "Extended BASIC" module, which added even greater capabilities, including the power of "Sprites" - definable character blocks that you could move around the screen - without having to draw them, erase them & then re-draw them in another position like in "TI BASIC". This was not rocket science by the way, and didn't take a geniuses mentality to accomplish.

I had programmed countless games & miscellaneous programs over roughly 6 years. I had become quite creative - programming Monopoly, (well, at least until I received a *Memory Full error) Hockey, Duck Hunt, etc... The main program I associate with my TI-99/4A memories is another one I myself created and named "Room Clean-Up". You see, one of my biggest problems as a kid was cleaning my room. I never wanted to do it, and when I did, it felt to me like running down the Poltergeist hallway. I would start cleaning my room with good intensions, but quickly became discouraged because it was taking so long, & I had wanted to be out doing something else. With good reason, my mother would not let me out until it was completed.

So, when I was 12, I created this "Room Clean-Up" program to give me a preprogrammed amount of time to clean under my bed, clean my closet, make my bed, clean around my bed, etc... I would then hit the space bar when I was done cleaning a given part of my room, and it would then take me to the next job in the list. It added the amount of time together at the end & kept a comparative "score". I then had my whole room clean in under 10 minutes, compared to the sometimes "x" amount of minutes or hours it would take me normally. I would often compete with it to see if I could clean it faster than I had ever done prior. Regardless, it also acted like an excellent checklist. I guess you can say I outsmarted myself - or I smarted myself - whichever.

I always thought if I had only owned the P.E. Box at the time I was programming my Monopoly game, it would have eliminated my problem of running out of memory. Keep in mind that Monopoly was a HUGE program, and took me well over a week to write. It contained roughly 4,000 lines of commands - including dozens of redefined characters, DATA definitions & variables - if I remember correctly. My version of Monopoly might have even made Bill Cosby (TI's TI-99/4A spokesperson) proud!

I still have that Texas Instruments TI-99/4A today, and it's in pretty good shape given I've moved several times over the last almost 25 years. Unfortunately I was never financially able to obtain additional add-ons for it like the Speech Synthesizer, Peripheral Expansion Box, Printer, etc... Now, with eBay making those garage sale “hopeful’s” more accessible, I recently began buying parts & upgrades. I hope to have as close to a complete system as I can soon, given the fact that I'm not Rockefeller. I look forward to showing my wife and my little girls a taste of how cool it was growing up in the early 80's with a computer like the TI-99/4A. In my opinion, this relic kicks every other computer available at that time square in the butt! As far as its competition was concerned, the Apple IIe was slow, expensive & HEAVY while the Commodore 64 was a plastic piece of junk that broke all of the time. (I know this because I used to fix my friends C64 & its disk drives often.)

Hands down, this computer was "The Motts" - and those few who grew bored of using it represented the very small percentage of owners ignorant toward its vast capabilities. To this day I am still a HUGE fan of the Texas Instruments TI-99/4A, and it will forever be a part of both mine & my family's lives. * * * * * 5 Stars.

Recommended: Yes