The Tandy / Radio Shack Color Computer 2 (CoCo 2) arrived in 1983 as a shorter, cheaper follow-on to the 1980 Color Computer. Same Motorola 6809E, same cartridge slot, same TV RF output. Smaller board, later a real keyboard, Color BASIC or Extended Color BASIC, and RAM from 16 KB to 64 KB depending on the catalog number. In the MicroBasement it sits with the other CoCo as the mid-life 6809 home machine, not a Model I / III Z80 TRS-80.
Tandy built the first Color Computer from the Videotex terminal: 6809E, MC6847 video, Microsoft Color BASIC. The CoCo 2 kept that architecture and shrank the case about a quarter. Badge wording shifted during the run from Radio Shack TRS-80 Color Computer to Tandy Color Computer. Software and most cartridges stayed compatible with the CoCo 1.
Released September 1983. Early boards still had the chiclet keyboard; later production got a full-stroke 53-key keyboard. Some units were built in the U.S., some in Korea. Street and catalog prices moved with RAM and ROM: 16 KB Color BASIC around $160-$240, Extended Color BASIC and 64 KB machines higher. The CoCo 2 ran until 1986, when the Color Computer 3 took the slot.
It is not compatible with Model I / III / 4 TRS-80 disks or software. The Dragon 32/64 is the close cousin (same 6809 family).
Color BASIC and Extended Color BASIC in ROM. Program Paks for games and education. Disk systems ran Radio Shack Disk BASIC or Microware OS-9. Rainbow magazine and the CoCo clubs carried the scene. The 6809 made it a favorite for people who wanted something other than a 6502 or Z80.
The CoCo 2 was the volume Color Computer: cheaper than the first CoCo, still a 6809, still a cartridge slot, still a TV. It did not fight the Apple II on slots or the C64 on sprites. It held a Radio Shack aisle and a stubborn user group until the CoCo 3. In the MicroBasement it is the 6809 home computer between the original CoCo and the CoCo 3, and a reminder that TRS-80 on the badge did not mean Z80.