Re: My Ode to the TRS-80: Thanks for the Geek Memories . . .
I bought the Commadore off one of my people in Italy. It ran fine. The power switch busted somehow (my kids were preteen and still insist it 'just broke'). I replaced it with a metal toggle, and that was fine until one of their little buddies decided he could type with his sneakers.
When I left the Army (1992), I purchased a top-of-the-line IBM PS/1 (w/intel inside!). It's still up and running fine.
Dan