¶ Technical data
- Manufacturer: Texas Instruments
- Year of release: 1979
- OS : Basic owner
- CPU : Texas Instruments TMS9900 @ 3.3 MHz
- RAM : 16/24 KB
- Resolution : max 256 x 192, 16 colours
- Sound : 3 voices on 5 octaves and noise channel
¶ Presentation
Produced by Texas Instruments, the TI-99/4 is one of the first family computers (early 1980s). The version marketed in France soon became the TI-99/4A.
This computer has some similarities with the concept of video game console. Indeed, it can be connected to a television set via a SCART socket, can read cartridges and has a connector allowing to add two game controllers. It can also use audio cassettes to load or save programs using a standard tape recorder.
In June 1979, the American company Texas Instruments presented the TI-99/4, based on the TI-99/3 prototype. The first copies were sold in November for $1,150. The first games are Connect Four, Hangman, Yahtzee and Zero Zap.
A successor, the TI-99/7, is planned for the professional world but will never be released.
The TI-99/4A is presented to the general public in June 1981. The "A" refers to the new graphic processor: the TMS9918A chip. The latter, unlike the TMS9918, has a bitmap mode.
In December 1983, Texas Instruments officially announces that it stops the production of the TI-99/4A.