These are some shots of a late TI

These are some shots of a late TI-CC-40 prototype. From the date code, it appears this unit was made in mid 1982, not too long before the '40 was introduced. There aren't a whole lot of changes, but what was changed, I feel, made the unit significantly more marketable and reliable. Obviously, comments are always welcome.

Okay, doesn't look a whole lot different, but take a close look at the cartridge port.
The fellow I received this from referred to these contacts as "tiger stripes." I can understand how it got that name.	Here's what the cartridges look like. Notice the 2 bands on the bottom. Those are the contacts for the tiger stripes.
Here's an EXTREME close up of the contacts. I think I know why this was changed to the edge card format. Get these buggers dirty and cartridge no-workie!	Back view. Notice anything missing? Yep, the battery access door wasn't installed. You had to remove the back of the computer to install the batteries.
The serial and date code. If my memory serves me correctly, this unit was manufactured in Abilene, TX on the 39th week of 1982. Seeing how the '40 was introduced in 1983, this had to be a fairly late prototype.	Looking inside the '40 several things are apparent. The "clump" of resistors for the hexbus interface are not present. Notice also the 2 sockets for memory chips in the lower portion of the circuit board.
A closer view of the sockets and another chip mounted "dead-bug" style I haven't done any poking around, but this looks like a memory decoder based on the location of the IC. Those sockets sure look tempting don't they? I may have to try to upgrade the memory a tad from the 2K onboard. The fellow that I got this from said the unit might not recognize the 8K chips. I intend to find out!	This is the result of the fre(3) command. 1.6K of free RAM available for use. WHOOHOOO!!! Daddy's going to have a lot of fun with that!