ti 99 4a version differences

[bradhig1]

Is there any difference between the silver version and the tan version of the TI99 4A besides the colors?   My grandpa and Uncle had the silver version

[+OLD CS1]

The answer is all over the interwebs.  In short, the beige console is part of TI's cost reduction of the 4A line.  Many of them include the QI (quality improved) version of the 4A logic board, which has a lower chip-count and the ALPHA LOCK fix built-in.  Some may include the v2.2 OS which locks out non-GROM (or ROM-only) cartridges, akin to Nintendo's lock-out using the CIC.  But not necessarily either.

 

To recap: the less expensive beige console can contain the original main board, the QI main board, and either with the v2.2 OS.

[HOME AUTOMATION]

To summarize:

SILVER  = 

TAN      = 

[globeron]

1 minute ago, OLD CS1 said:

The answer is all over the interwebs.  In short, the beige console is part of TI's cost reduction of the 4A line.  Many of them include the QI (quality improved) version of the 4A logic board, which has a lower chip-count and the ALPHA LOCK fix built-in.  Some may include the v2.2 OS which locks out non-GROM (or ROM-only) cartridges, akin to Nintendo's lock-out using the CIC.  But not necessarily either.

 

To recap: the less expensive beige console can contain the original main board, the QI main board, and either with the v2.2 OS.

+ some beige consoles has a blue or red colored switch  (not sure if it relates to the original main board and QI main board). 

+ also the silver ones have different type of keyboards (mylar / brown bottom,  and better mechanical one / green bottom)

+keyboards are also different (round shaped keys,  square keys,  a place to shift in the FCTN-labels   or put it on top (and need to glue it to avoid it falls off).

+ international keyboards (e.g. Spanish)

+cases with the solid state label at the front (where normally a TI-99/4 version had the volume slider / old casing) and newer casing without that part. 

 

I have 6x different TI-99/4As 

 

 

 

 

[+Ksarul]

To add to @globeron's comments, both the Black and Silver and the Beige consoles exist with the Argentine Spanish keyboard variant (I have one of the Black and Silver ones with the modified keyboard and a 1981 date on the startup screen). There are also Beige consoles with a Control Data splash screen (I have one of those), but they are otherwise identical to the V2.2 QI consoles.

 

The other major differences are pretty much limited to the video--some are NTSC using a TMS-9918A Video chip, some are PAL (or even SECAM) using a TMS-9928 or TMS-9929 Video chip with the appropriate PAL/SECAM video modulator or a SCART RGB modulator, and a few later prototypes even use the TMS9118 Video chip.

 

The use of the 9928 (60Hz) or 9929 (50Hz) as an RGB source has taken off in the last few years now that replacements for the old TI RGB adapter have become readily available.

[+arcadeshopper]

this is in the pinned FAQ

 

[Retrospect]

I used to have the traditional Black & Silver TI99/4A .... and I honestly thought I was the only one in School who had one of these machines until one day, I think in 1987, I went round to a friend of a friend's house ... and sitting there was a TI99/4A ... but it confused me because it was beige!  I'd never heard of nor seen a beige one.  I remember he had Parsec and it looked odd 'cos the cartridge was black.  I must say I preferred mine.

[bradhig1]

I see a lot of black and silver ones on ebay including untested units.  Trying to find a good cheap one to use.

[+OLD CS1]

7 hours ago, Retrospect said:

I used to have the traditional Black & Silver TI99/4A .... and I honestly thought I was the only one in School who had one of these machines until one day, I think in 1987, I went round to a friend of a friend's house ... and sitting there was a TI99/4A ... but it confused me because it was beige!  I'd never heard of nor seen a beige one.  I remember he had Parsec and it looked odd 'cos the cartridge was black.  I must say I preferred mine.

I had pretty much the exact same experience!  But, additionally, this friend knew others with TIs, including one who ran a BBS.

7 hours ago, bradhig1 said:

I see a lot of black and silver ones on ebay including untested units.  Trying to find a good cheap one to use.

Should hook up with the guy running the thread asking about the value of his stuff.

[Casey]

18 hours ago, Retrospect said:

I used to have the traditional Black & Silver TI99/4A .... and I honestly thought I was the only one in School who had one of these machines until one day, I think in 1987, I went round to a friend of a friend's house ... and sitting there was a TI99/4A ... but it confused me because it was beige!  I'd never heard of nor seen a beige one.  I remember he had Parsec and it looked odd 'cos the cartridge was black.  I must say I preferred mine.

My experience was nearly the exact opposite.   I had a beige 99/4A and I knew a couple other kids my age who also got them when TI was pretty much giving them away.  Then I went to my best friend's house and saw they had a black/silver 99/4A and I had never seen one like that before.  Very strange.  (I tend to prefer the beige ones, but I reckon that's just because that's what I've always had.)

[Retrospect]

14 minutes ago, Casey said:

My experience was nearly the exact opposite.   I had a beige 99/4A and I knew a couple other kids my age who also got them when TI was pretty much giving them away.  Then I went to my best friend's house and saw they had a black/silver 99/4A and I had never seen one like that before.  Very strange.  (I tend to prefer the beige ones, but I reckon that's just because that's what I've always had.)

Yeah that is a strange coincidence lol   .. I literally knew of one other kid.  The only other lad who had a TI was my friend who mine for a while when  I got a C64

[+OLD CS1]

5 hours ago, Casey said:

My experience was nearly the exact opposite.   I had a beige 99/4A and I knew a couple other kids my age who also got them when TI was pretty much giving them away.  Then I went to my best friend's house and saw they had a black/silver 99/4A and I had never seen one like that before.  Very strange.  (I tend to prefer the beige ones, but I reckon that's just because that's what I've always had.)

You just described my computer buddy who lived down the street from me whose sister used to hit on me all the time.  He had the beige 4A, I had the silver.  He came over and told me he thought my silver one looked weird.  We programmed on Apples at school, and thought we would start programming games on the TI.  Never went anywhere with it.  I am me, but you ain't him, right?

[dphirschler]

Couple more cosmetic differences:

• Beige has a different power switch.  I much prefer this one.  It's on top and very easy to slide.
• Beige is missing the power LED.  But it can be added if you solder it and drill a hole for it.
• Beige may also have beige-colored joystick and/or cassette ports.
• Beige is missing the sliding door that covers the side port (where the Speech Synth plugs in).
• Some beige units have beige keyboard overlay strips.

Also, I am not sure but I think some beige units have a more efficient internal power supply board, recognizable by only two pins in the connector at the back.  The part I am not sure about is if that is restricted to only QI consoles or not.

 

Darryl

[+Ksarul]

The later internal power supply board (2-pin) shows up on a significant fraction of the Beige consoles--some QI, some not. As these were also the power supplies Radio Shack sold later as surplus parts in their stores (along with keyboards and video modulators), a lot of them made their way into systems that didn't start out with that type, especially if the original internal power supply failed.

[Retrospect]

I don't know if this has been asked / answered before , and I've not seen it in the FAQ .... but I was thinking this morning, with the different version of beige consoles, in 1983 was there ever a black and silver console with a 1983 copyright boot screen?    

[+OLD CS1]

2 hours ago, Retrospect said:

in 1983 was there ever a black and silver console with a 1983 copyright boot screen?

Yes.  I have a black and silver v2.2 console.

[Retrospect]

14 minutes ago, OLD CS1 said:

Yes.  I have a black and silver v2.2 console.

They must be quite rare.  So on your cartridge part area is it blank, as in it doesn't have the "Solid State" badge?  

[+OLD CS1]

4 minutes ago, Retrospect said:

They must be quite rare.  So on your cartridge part area is it blank, as in it doesn't have the "Solid State" badge?  

That is a more difficult question to answer straight away.  I will have to find it when I get back home in a couple of weeks.

[Retrospect]

Just now, OLD CS1 said:

That is a more difficult question to answer straight away.  I will have to find it when I get back home in a couple of weeks.

Okay.  I have one upstairs, a console i bought some years ago.  I mistakenly thought it to be a pristine 1981 model but it has no Solid State badge on the cartridge runway.  All '81 models did have those as they were coming off the back of the 99/4 which had it's volume slider covered up with the badge.  Mine must be either an 82 or 83 I might have to look later for the code stamp on the back. 

[+Ksarul]

One note on consoles with the V2.2 GROMs: you could buy these from TI BITD, and a lot of people also played motherboard mix-and-match. The mobo may be a later one with 2.2 GROM, or it may be an earlier one with the 2.2 GROM replacing the regular one. The latter is less likely, but possible, whereas the former is very possible if the console ever got sent to TI for repair. . .

[Casey]

Wouldn't you have loved that?  Send your TI in for repair and when it comes back, you can't play Ms. Pac Man.