Atari 1040STFM or Atari Mega 4ST? Blitter worth it?

[+eebuckeye]

I wish the Mega 4ST had composite output but is the blitter worth it? Do games have to be written to take advantage of it? What does it really do?

 

Thanks!

[Goochman]

Blitter not worth it.

 

Keyboard, cool design, 4MB memory - worth it

 

Get one of the cables which allow you too hook your ST up to an LCD monitor vs moving down to the 1040ST.

[galax]

There might be 1 game (Wings of Death) that uses the blitter on a non-STE. Not worth stressing about, it is awesome on an STFM.

 

Mega STs were desgined as the professional models; having a modulator on them wouldn't make sense, like having a modulator on an IBM PC.

 

All else being equal I'd go for the Mega for the better keyboard and 2 box design, if you are able to use the RGB output. If you need the RF or composite out, and are just using it for games, the STFM will be great.

Edited August 25, 2015 by galax

[exxosuk]

I have a blitter in my STFM, well worth it. Don't forget GEM runs faster with a blitter, not just games which use it.

[ataricrypt]

I agree, Blitter does help GEM a lot and then you can also NVDI it up also? There are a selection of games using the blitter chip, Ghost Battle being one I recently played..Elvira another iirc. There are some more but on the whole most commercial gaming companies didn't bother, sadly. Here's a nice couple of links seeing as a Blitter isn't a STE-only feature :

 

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/199980-ste-and-games-overview/

 

http://atari.8bitchip.info/steandg.html

 

I only wish Atari would have slapped in a blitter by default in the original STs!

Edited August 25, 2015 by ataricrypt

[exxosuk]

I compared warp9 vs NVDI a few months ago on AF. I half recall they might run faster on some things without the blitter. But overall, blitter and NVDI is a good thing I think. Anyway....

 

http://www.atari-forum.com/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=28093&p=274731&hilit=nvdi+warp9#p274594

 

As Atari had a socket for the blitter in later STF/M machines, obviously they were planning on adding it or offering it as a upgrade. Though when the STE came out, while it had better sound and more colours, there wouldn't exactly be any speed increase anywhere. So IMHO Atari opted to put the blitter in the STE making it a faster machine and offering better graphics options along with more colours. If Atari had put the blitter in the STFM, the STE wouldn't have been "as good" and users might not have bothered to buy the STE as much. Of course it would have added cost into the ST's back then which is a factor also.

 

<rant>

I really wish BEST would sell blitters at a more reasonable price. They could have a whole pallet load of them just sat there doing nothing. IMHO that isn't supporting the Atari community I have been asking around for the guys doing VHDL stuff if they would develop a emulated blitter. It could be tweaked to run faster or even offer more features, but nobody really seems interested in such a project. The ones that do what big bucks to the point it would be cheaper to buy a new blitter from BEST. It's annoying if you think how many ST's there are out there which could be upgraded with blitters. I want to add a blitter onto the next series of CPU boosters, but people would just have to source their own from spare/scrap machines.

</rant>

[KLund1]

I'd go with MST4. smaller footprint, front facing FDD, keyboard, and blitter. Plus an upconverter for video. This solution will cost more, but be more versitle

 

<rant /reply>

I agree about Best prices. In Best's defence; it is run by only one person. He is filling orders 7 days a week, until 11:30pm. He spends 5 hours a day just dealing with email requests. I know this becuase I was there today picking up my order, and spoke with him about how busy he is. He looks like he really needs a vaction! I think the prices are high just to keep some of the demand down. If he lowered prices I don't think he could keep up with the increase for oders. Why dosen't he higher some help? Security, i think. Anyone he highers would have to have some knowledge about Atari equipment. So theft might become an issue. Buying/installing cameras covering every part of 2 to 3 large wherehouses, and reviewing tape would be prohibitively expensive. fyi iop

</rant /reply>

[exxosuk]

Surely there isn't *that* much demand for Atari stuff to be selling at that rate though ?!

[Fletch]

Surely there isn't *that* much demand for Atari stuff to be selling at that rate though ?!

 

Being a one man shop with the amount of inventory he owns must be overwhelming at times. I've spoken to Brad and also Bruce at B&C, and they both literally have pallets of unopened inventory. They just haven't found the time apparently. Both guys have told me that these pallets could have good stuff or be just nothing, but they will probably never know.

 

They aren't getting any younger either. They are both well into their sixties.

[exxosuk]

Sounds like they really need to employ someone and get the stuff sorted out

[GadgetUK]

I would say Blitter is worth it just for the OS speed improvement if using HDD. Much easier navigating when GDI speed is so much better. Better for GEM apps as well.

[+eebuckeye]

Only problem is that I need to spend another $40 to upgrade TOS to 1.04 for my CosmoxEX! I already upgraded my 1040STFM to 4MB and TOS 1.04.

 

I think I'll keep both..

[exxosuk]

$40 for TOS ?! http://www.exxoshost.co.uk/atari/last/store.htm You might want to check out my store..

[+eebuckeye]

Excellent.. will do! I think it was $40 shipped off of eBay.