Who here still has their original 8bit stuff from when they were new?

[bobotech]

I don't have anything of my original 8 bit stuff. I still sorely regret trading all of my atari 8bit stuff off back when I got bored of it. I got my 400 back in 80 or 81 when I was 12 or 13 in the winter of 80 just before xmas time. My parents got it for 550 at Macy's and the Educator kit. God how I loved that machine. Got subscriptions for Creative Computing, Softside, Compute!, and others. I lived breathed and ate my 400. I didn't have money for cool stuff like a disc drive or modem or a good monitor so i just used my 410 recorder and my little b/w tv. I did upgrade to 48k or 32k a year later. My step-dad was highly impressed that I had no qualms about opening up my 400 and installing the "no user serviceable parts" memory upgrade.

 

I had my 400 as my sole computer right up until 83 I think when I flew to DC to visit my dad (I lived in CT at the time) and brought the money I saved up so I could buy a used 1200xl off of the classified ads. Bargained the seller down from his asking price to like 190 or something by showing him ads for new 1200xls that were being dumped.

 

In 85 or 86, I finally bought a BUNCH of atari 8bit accessories like dual Indus GT drives, 850 interface, some sort of printer, a Radio Shack 300baud direct connection modem, and a ton of floppies and games from someone on our local classifieds. We had a paper back then called the Bargain News that was awesome. It was free to place ads so it was very popular. I bought the Bargain News every thursday when it came out. Found someone close to me who was selling all that Atari stuff and bought it all from him.

 

Had all that stuff until like 87 or 88 when I got the idea for trading off my Atari computer stuff for a motorcycle. I traded it all. All of my magazines, computers, accessories, everything for a motorcycle. In retrospect, it wasn't a bad trade, it was just one that I regretted doing mainly for nostalgia's sake in the future.

 

So I have nothing of my old computer stuff which still saddens me. I have since replaced ALL of it and much more except for one thing that still eludes me, an 850 interface. I don't need one but I would like to have one just because I had one back then. I even have the Atari 400 of my dreams now. I found an Atari 400 that has a full real keyboard, 48k upgrade, and other stuff. I so wanted a real keyboard for my 400. I also have 4 or 5 1200XLs, that is my favorite system mainly because I just love the look and style of it. I also have a few of the new fangled XE systems, a couple of 130xes, a 65xe, and a two or three XEGS systems and a bunch of floppy drives. No 810 drives but I think 6 1050 drives (2 are still in the original boxes and then they are in the original shipper box). I also have 2 or 3 Rana dirves, 4 Indus GT drives and one of those XE floppy drives (XF551?). Oh yeah, a 600xl and a few 800xls, never cared much for those models. Just didn't like the compact styling, they reminded me of the C64 which I always though of as being seriously ugly.

 

But I still MISS my original stuff! Oh how I would love to have my original 400 and that 1200xl that I bargained for from some stranger when i was a kid. Impressed the hell out of my dad that I was able to do something like that.

 

So how much of your original hardware and/or software do you have still?

 

[Tillek]

Still have my old 800xl with Rambo memory upgrade at my parent's house. It isn't functional but I hope to fix it someday (which is why I didn't take it when I moved out 20-some years ago). My dad also had an 800xl which is still in his den with his IndusGT and all his software (which I plan to be pulling out and using again along with all my other Atari stuff. I have my MegaSTE, my 520ST and most of my other Atari stuff that I used back in the day (some working, some not) and then added to that tons of things from Ebay over the years. Most of it hasn't been set up yet but I've been making that a priority lately.

[ledzep]

Haven't done a complete inventory but I still have all my original Atari stuff from when it was first bought in the '80s. That includes an Atari 800, a disk drive (almost positive it's an 810 but I think I have a 1050 as well), might also have an 850 but I can't remember, along with some games and load of old magazines (Antic, Analog, not sure what else). The hardware is in boxes, whatever it turns out to be. Hasn't been lit up for a long time, unfortunately. I wonder how bad the disk drives are...

[AtariGeezer]

I haven't gotten rid of anything, plus I've added lots and lots more

 

Still have my original 800 & 410 from 1981 and 2 810's from 1983.

Wish I had room to display it all...

[Mclaneinc]

I'm sort of in with you Bob, had all my original gear right until 2002 when my mother died, it was stored at her place due to space needs and sadly she passed and the secure housing people cleared out the house before I could get it back.

 

Really sad as it was all modded with custom stuff, had a proto of the computerhouse board and all sorts of Atari and C64 goodies..

 

Sad times all around...Wish I could have it and my mother back but sometimes life is a real pig..

[Ely]

I still have my 130XE and 1050 that I bought new in Dec 1986 mail order from Silica shop in the UK (prices at the time 130XE - £99, 1050 - £129). I was sixteen at the time and when I posted the order I wrote my first ever cheque to pay for it. A few days later the cheque came back, I forgot to sign it!!

 

I also still have my 520STFM from Oct 1989, can't remember where I got that from or what I paid for that though.

[+bf2k+]

I have an 800xl and a 1050 that I bought in the mid-80's... but my first 800 is long gone. I don't even remember who I sold it to.

 

All of my other stuff has been acquired since 1995.

[Mclaneinc]

But did you sign that Cq

 

Ah, Bedford, used to have a contact up there Called Neal, big in to the 8bit and C64....

[TMR]

i've still got my original 800XL but it's poorly... the "plan" is to perform surgery on it at some point, but i don't trust myself enough with a soldering iron! =-)

[Mclaneinc]

I have an 800xl and a 1050 that I bought in the mid-80's... but my first 800 is long gone. I don't even remember who I sold it to.

 

All of my other stuff has been acquired since 1995.

 

I was very lucky to be gifted a whole set of stuff a couple of years back, a friend had his stuff in storage but wanted to end paying for it so offered it to me.

 

The little haul was:

 

2 1050's (1 dead)

1 800

1 800XL

1 Atari 1040ST

1 US Super Nintendo with Wildcard

1 Playstation 2 with games

 

Plus loads of disks for all

 

Plus other kind people on here have sent me some carts, such a wonderful group..

[Ely]

But did you sign that Cq

 

Ah, Bedford, used to have a contact up there Called Neal, big in to the 8bit and C64....

Haha, yes of course I did. Never not signed one since, although I've not written a cheque for years

 

I wasn't in Bedford at the time (I was in East Yorkshire, about 10 miles from Hull). I didn't move here until summer 1989.

[Keatah]

I'm happy to still have my Apple II consoles.

 

4 Apple II

3 Apple II+

3 Apple //e

2 Apple //e platinum

2 Apple IIgs

2 Apple ///

1 Apple ///+

2 Apple //c

 

TRS-80 Pocket Computer 1,2,4 + all accessories and tapes and dox and box

TI-59 Calculator + all accessories and modules and dox and box

 

All the other shit I disposed of years ago.

[flashjazzcat]

Still got my original 65XE's motherboard, but I more or less destroyed it six years ago when I was learning to fit and remove upgrades. The case has new innards in it. Still got my XF-551, which runs like a dream, and my SDX cart. That's pretty much all I had back in the day.

[kenjennings]

I do still have the 800XL from 1984 which was upgraded with 256K and multi-switch OS in 1987.

Unfortunately, my very first Atari (an 800) was sold to buy my very first Amiga (which was sold to buy my second Amiga)

Regret selling those and have since replaced both from ebay in recent years.

 

However, I never dumped any of the software, peripherals, controllers or accessories for the Atari.

I just can't remember which boxes some of it is in right now.

[+DrVenkman]

I had a 400 that we got in 1982, then upgraded to an 800 less than a year later. I added a 1050 drive in '84, and used that machine for a couple more years until I got an ST in '90 right before I started college. I let my brother have my 800, the 1050 and all my carts and controllers. Years passed and eventually I started missing all my 8-bit stuff. I went on a spree on eBay around 2001 or '02, and over the course of a year or so, I acquired a 400, an 800, a pair of 600XL's, a pair of 800XL's, and a pair of 1200XL's, plus a few 1050's, some 410's, a 1010 and a couple of printers. I messed around with them for a year or so then put them back into storage and didn't get them out again until a month or so ago.

 

Interestingly, during this process I started doing through other things I've had boxed up for a long time and found my stash of floppy disks from high school. After 30 years of indifferent, utterly careless storage in a cardboard box, moved from place to place three or four times, they pretty much all still worked and are readable! I recently acquired a 10502PC device and imaged them all to .ATR and began cataloging them - original game disks for a few of my favorites, high school term papers written in AtariWriter, doodles made on my Touch Tablet in AtariArtist, some cracks that a friend gave me, games and utilities I typed in from Antic and ANALOG ... it's been quite a nostalgia trip to find that stuff. I also found my Touch Tablet but I guess my AtariArtist cart went with the rest of the stuff to my brother years ago.

 

Amusingly, I also found my original manuals for the 400, 800, my 410 Program Recorder, the books from the Programmer Kit, the copy of DE RE ATARI I ordered from APX 30 years ago, and my original 1980's sales receipts for everything but the 1050.

Edited August 1, 2014 by DrVenkman

[spookt]

Despite my recent clear out I still have my original 600XL which was my 1st Atari. It's a little more capable now, having an Ultimate 1mb and stereo board fitted. I still have my original Pole Position cart that came with it those many Christmases ago too.

[Rybags]

Owned a 16K 400 and a 600XL before getting the 800XL I still have.

Sold the first 2 in aid of paying for the upgrades at the time, so they're no longer with me.

 

Got the 800XL in 1984, still have the 1010 I got with the 400 and the 1050 I got new in 1984.

Overall, I've bought a lot more Atari gear than I've sold.

 

Bought a 520 ST/FM new in 1988, it died in the first week so I took it back and paid a bit more for a 1040 ST/FM.

Sold it off nearly 10 years ago, was given another one about a year later.

 

So as it turns out I've got the same model Atari stuff back now, got a 48K 400, got a 600XL (which I put 64K into) as well as the ST mentioned.

Had a 2600 which was sold when I got the 400 but in recent times bought 2 jrs.

Edited August 1, 2014 by Rybags

[Tezz]

I still have all my original Atari HW. 800xl/1010 (1984), 1050 (1986), 1040 ST (1987), 130xe/xc12 (1989). I've kept all of my original machines except for my Spectrum that I gave away some time around 1986 although I've bought and restored one again this year. I swapped my c64 for another 800xl in 1986.

[bbking67]

My first original Atari was an 800XL and I have an 800XL that I've had in my possession since the 80's... I don't know if it's my original one though. It certainly could be, but it's a bit too pristine. I think I have my 130XE purchased ion 1986, but i have three. One is not working and looks pretty nasty (yellowed). I suspect that's the original one.

 

I have a Multi I/O, but again I can't say if it's my original bought in the 80's as I have owned several. I have my original box from ICD (plain white nothing fancy). my original Indus GT disappeared... possibly lost in a flood. I have several 1050's I acquired in my teens...

[+bcombee]

Almost all of my 8-bit hardware is from my original run -- an Atari 800, a 1050, XF551, and a 130XE, plus lots of cartridges and disk games. Of course, I've added to that over the years!

[+SoulBuster]

I started with a 400, 410 and 2 joysticks. Although I no longer have those, I still have my original purchase of my 130xe modded to 320 and US OS, 2 XF551 drives, 2 black boxes, Sparta X Cart, SX212 [waited for months for this], xm301. Everything else I picked up used.

[Alfred]

I still have almost everything I ever purchased back then, along with systems I acquired from other people when they gave them up. Maybe eight or ten 800XL machines, 5 with 256K Rambo boards,3 130XEs, 3 Black boxes, 3 MIOs, ATR-8000, 8 1050 drives, 810 drive, Rana, GT Indus, 850s, P:R connections, a 1090XL, the various printers (1025, 1029, 1027, the plotter) etc. The one thing I don't have is the two 8 inch floppy drives that I got with the ATR. They were massive and the power supply weighed almost sixty pounds. I finally got rid of them when I got my second Black Box.

[kogden]

Unfortunately, I don't have any of the ORIGINAL gear I had back in the day. I started with a 5200, then a 400 briefly my dad found at a yard sale, then I got a 130XE w/ Omnimon ROM and a 1010. Then my dad found me a 1050 Happy Drive and a 1020 plotter. During this time my parents had ST's.

 

Anyway.... my 130XE died at some point right around 1991/1992 (likely RAM failure) and my dad decided to give it to one of his friends and got me a Mac Plus w/ 4MB of RAM and a 20MB HDD. I wanted an ST but he saw the writing on the wall and was pissed off at Atari so we went Apple. I liked my Plus but I really missed my 8-bit. It was more "fun" but the Plus was more capable when it came to real computing tasks.

 

Nowadays, I have everything I had in my childhood rig except Omnimon and the 1020. And now I don't have to beg my Dad for toys to plug into it.

 

Current gear: 400, 800, 600XL (320K), 800XL (512K), 130XE, 1050 Happy Drive, Atari 850, SIO2PC, IDEPlus 2, Light Pen, Touch Tablet.

 

All I really want now is an Incognito board for the 800, an Ultimate 1MB for the XE and an SIO2SD.

[+Ripdubski]

Atari 800 (48K) - same one I bought back in 81, still works.

Atari CX40 (x2) - mint from way back

Atari CX30 - mint drom way back

 

Atari Basic, Pac-Man, Donkey Kong - very good condition

 

Everything else has been re-acquired.

[Chilly Willy]

Still have my original A400, my brother's A400 (modded to allow switching the cart on/off), his old 800XL, along with every other computer I've ever gotten. Apples, Amigas, Macs, PCs, C64s... some I bought later in life real cheap, like the Apple IIc+ and the C64.