The Panasonic Business Partner 1650, also known as the FX 1650, is a PC clone from 1989. Everyone was making 286 based PC clones in 1989, but this Panasonic is a little bit different. Whether that is a good thing or a bad thing depends on when you bought it. The label on the back provides a clue.
The Panasonic Business Partner 1650 is a Tandy 1000 TL in disguise. And not much of a disguise at that. Where you would find the familiar Tandy badge, you find a Panasonic logo and model number instead.
Internally, it’s a Tandy 1000, complete with Tandy 1000 16-color graphics and three channel audio.
It makes for a fun retro system, since it claims to be a boring office computer, but it runs all of your 1980s Tandy 1000 favorites, because that’s what it is.
Why Panasonic sold rebranded Tandy 1000s
Panasonic isn’t the first name that comes to mind when it comes to computers. They make a lot of other consumer electronics, and they also make, or used to make, a lot of peripherals. I owned two different Panasonic printers, and both of them went obsolete before they gave me any trouble.
They had reasonable success selling laptop computers. The Toughbook line of ruggedized machines isn’t necessarily a household name, but you see them pretty frequently in environments that need machines that can take a lot of abuse while remaining portable. And in the 1980s, when everyone was still trying to figure out laptop computers, Panasonic was there, and they were no more unsuccessful than anyone else.
Desktop computers were another story. In the mid-1980s, they had a big footprint XT clone just like everyone else did, and there was nothing at all wrong with it, but for whatever reason, Panasonic was far more successful selling VCRs and microwaves. And printers, for that matter.
In 1989, Panasonic and Tandy Corporation entered into a marriage of convenience. Tandy was losing money but still had the best selling line of PCs on the market. They were hoping it was a temporary glitch. Panasonic had well-regarded laptop designs, and Tandy really wanted to sell PC compatible laptops. Tandy would make desktop computers for Panasonic, and Panasonic would make laptop computers for Tandy. It looked like an arrangement that would help both companies fill holes in their product line while keeping their factories humming making what each company made best.
Why it didn’t work
The Panasonic Business Partner 1650 looked like a good deal. It cost $599, at least if you bought it through a mail order discounter, and for your money, you got a 286 processor with a megabyte of RAM.
And it might have been fine if 1990 hadn’t happened. But 1990 did happen, and it brought Microsoft Windows 3.0 with it. On paper, the 1650 could run Windows. In practice, the processor was marginal, the amount of memory was marginal, and the Tandy 16 color graphics was a liability.
If you just wanted to run WordPerfect and Lotus 1-2-3 for MS-DOS, it was fine. But that wasn’t a growth market, and both Tandy and Panasonic needed a growth market.
It wasn’t really until 1992 that Tandy figured out the formula that would work for the Windows era. But that wasn’t what Panasonic signed up for. They signed up for immediate help, so in 1992, the two companies ended their agreement.
When a 286 isn’t a PC/AT
The biggest problem with the Panasonic Business Partner was that even though it had a 286 processor in it, it was more of an XT than an AT. Even the IBM PC/XT-286 was closer to an AT then the 1650 was.
It had a 286 processor in it, but it only had 8-bit expansion slots. That meant you couldn’t put extended memory in it, only expanded memory. You also couldn’t put a 16-bit hard drive controller in it, so that limited the kind of hard drives you could use, and you couldn’t put a 16-bit VGA card in it.
These weren’t necessarily showstoppers, if you knew what you were getting into. But that type of product wasn’t a good fit for the Panasonic brand. At least during my lifetime, when you were in the market for anything with electronics in it, whether it was a portable radio or a major purchase like a laser printer, Panasonic was a safe choice. It wouldn’t be the cheapest product in the category, and it probably wouldn’t be the most expensive either, but you could buy a Panasonic and not have to worry about it.
The 1650 wasn’t that kind of product. I’m not sure it was the least Panasoniciest thing that ever Panasonicked, but it’s a candidate.
Using a Panasonic 1650 today
The Panasonic Business Partner 1650 was the wrong machine for 1989, but it can be a nice hobby machine today. It is a Tandy 1000 with Tandy graphics and sound, but it also takes a regular PS/2 keyboard, so if you find one without a keyboard, you probably have one that will work.
A 286 isn’t necessarily the ideal retro PC, but this may be an exception to that rule. It will run Tandy 1000 titles, and it has a faster processor, so later titles that struggle on 8088 CPUs will run better on a 1650.
And if you are nostalgic for those titles and the distinctive look of the Tandy 16-color palette and Tandy sound, the processor is fast enough to play titles like The Secret of Monkey Island or even Civilization without it being a completely miserable experience.
And since it has ISA expansion slots, albeit 8-bit, you do have options for making it a nice retro computer. You can install an Ethernet card to facilitate transferring software to it. You can install an XT IDE card for storage, and really the most difficult thing will be finding a suitable display for it. It will work with a television that takes a composite input, but some kind of CGA compatible display is more ideal.
David Farquhar is a computer security professional, entrepreneur, and author. He started his career as a part-time computer technician in 1994, worked his way up to system administrator by 1997, and has specialized in vulnerability management since 2013. He invests in real estate on the side and his hobbies include O gauge trains, baseball cards, and retro computers and video games. A University of Missouri graduate, he holds CISSP and Security+ certifications. He lives in St. Louis with his family.
I used to have one of these when I was maybe 10; I don’t have the PC anymore unfortunately, but do have the manual and DOS reference booklet. I remember it running many older DOS-era games well, such as Lemmings and Civilization; enough games at the time supported Tandy graphics that the lack of VGA wasn’t too terrible.
Regarding the Toughbook series, I have the CF-30 model, and it (running Linux / dosbox) makes a pretty good modern retro gaming PC; it has a pretty good combination of “good enough” CPU / memory (Core 2 Duo, 4GB), and has wifi/ethernet/USB/SATA, paired with things common only on older laptops, like a pretty decent non-chiclet keyboard with a numlock key, and a 4:3 1024×768 display; well-suited for anything dosbox, and many early 3d era GOG games.
I’ve heard at least one other story like that. I also remember the first time I saw Windows on a machine that was actually capable of running it. I was in a group of people and almost everyone ran out and got one. Except me, I got an Amiga, but that’s another story.
The Toughbook CF-30 sounds like it would be a really nice retro gaming PC, an ideal display and enough modern conveniences to provide a good user experience today. I’d never thought of them for that, but that’s a good use.