Editing Aster CT-80 (section)

==Models==
Three models were sold. The first model (launched June 1982) looked like the [[IBM PC]], a rectangular base unit with two [[floppy]] drives on the front, and a monitor on top with a separate detachable keyboard. The second incarnation was a much smaller unit the width of two 5{{frac|1|4}}" floppy drives stacked on top of each other, and the third incarnation looked like a flattened [[Apple II|Apple]] with a built-in keyboard.

All units ran much faster than the original [[TRS-80]], at 4 [[Megahertz|MHz]], (with a software selectable throttle to the original speed for compatibility purposes) and the display supported upper and lower case, hardware snow suppression (video ram bus arbitration logic), and an improved character font set. The floppy disk interface supported dual density, and disk capacities up to 800 [[Kilobyte|KB]], more than four times the capacity of the original TRS-80. A special version of [[NewDos/80]], (an improved [[TRS-DOS]] compatible [[Disk operating system]]) was used to support these disk capacities when using the TRS-80 compatibility mode.

For the educational market a version of the first model was produced with a new plastic enclosure (the First Asters had an all-metal enclosure) that also had an opening on the top in which a cassette recorder could be placed. This model was used in a cluster with one Aster (with disk drives) for the teacher, and eight disk less versions for the pupils. The pupils could download software from the teachers computer through a network based on a fast serial connection, as well as sending back their work to the teachers computer. There was also hardware in place through which the teacher could see the display of each pupils screen on his own monitor.