TI-99/4A

Texas Instruments built its home computer around a 16-bit TMS9900 processor, derived from its own minicomputer line, at a time when its rivals ran 8-bit chips. It launched in 1981 at $525, and by 1983 a price war with Commodore had TI selling it at a loss for under $100. TI announced its exit that October, and about 2.8 million had shipped by the time production ended in early 1984. The fun today lies in the cartridges and the add-ons. Parsec remains a favorite, and the Speech Synthesizer module adds spoken sound effects to games such as Parsec and Alpiner, which still surprises anyone hearing it for the first time. Look for a console bundled with that module.