Heh - didn't know the 2000 was based on the 186, but that seems likely. Most of those machines were well out of the range of my parent's budget - though after t

Heh - didn't know the 2000 was based on the 186, but that seems likely. Most of those machines were well out of the range of my parent's budget - though after they passed away, and I looked on their receipts for what they spent on my CoCo collection (all of which I still own) - well, I just shake my head. I guess it paid off - they did live long enough to see me become a software engineer (though as a kid I never gave that career choice an iota of thought). Anyhow - Radio Shack/Tandy always did have a thing about custom machine designs; they always wanted things to be in-house, and that too probably helped cause their eventual demise, because it took a long time for them to sell a "clone" (I can't recall which was their first true clone; I want to say it was the Tandy 4000 or 5000 - I think it had an "MPC" designation, and came with a CD-ROM drive, and was super expensive at the time). Of course, they eventually just started selling other brand's clones, and not even rebadging them, much like they did the RCA line of audio/video components (I have a Realistic 100 watt component stereo that I got in high school picked from separate components - still works well; got an amp/receiver, the 15-band EQ with the LED display in the middle, and a tape deck - coupled to a pair of 12 inch 3-way speakers they sold - still a nice system, though a bit rough on the edges today).