Megamaniac Posted December 4, 2003 Share Posted December 4, 2003 I might be interested in trying to get an old Atari computer on eBay, mainly to play games. Any recommendations? I have a working Atari 400 and enjoy playing cartridges. Should I just stick with it or should I consider one of the later issues? Are they backwards compatible? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryan Posted December 4, 2003 Share Posted December 4, 2003 Something with 64K should run just about anything. The 800XL is good choice IMHO. Just get the Super Video upgrade done to clean up the picture. The 65XE, 130XE, or XEGS are fine too. -Bry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robcatron Posted December 5, 2003 Share Posted December 5, 2003 I agree -- 800XL is a good choice. Love the cartridge slot. Much better than any of the XE series -- plus, arguably, the keyboard is slightly better than the XE. I love the old 800's keyboard the best, but alas, you cannot play all of the games, where, if you had a translator cart, you could play everything on the 800XL Rob Catron Frankfort, KY Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+davidcalgary29 Posted December 5, 2003 Share Posted December 5, 2003 Avoid the 65XE and 130XE if you plan to purchase and use homebrew carts. I nearly destroyed one excellent multicart that I purchased from Nir Dary when attempting to wiggle it into the rear cartridge slot of my 130XE. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A2600 Posted December 5, 2003 Share Posted December 5, 2003 Id go for the 800, I love that thing but if you are looking for a bit more power go with the 800XL (64K) Stay away from the XE line (eventhough I own one) the keyboard is very unconfortable and you are getting the same 64K's. and if you have a 130XE (like me) there is actually little need for 128K's So go with the 800 or the 800XL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goochman Posted December 5, 2003 Share Posted December 5, 2003 Avoid the 65XE and 130XE if you plan to purchase and use homebrew carts. I nearly destroyed one excellent multicart that I purchased from Nir Dary when attempting to wiggle it into the rear cartridge slot of my 130XE. Hmmmmm, the Sunmark carts have worked great in my 130XE - But I agree the 800XL is prob the best choice for 8bit gaming. Nice compact design and good keyboard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted December 5, 2003 Share Posted December 5, 2003 Id go for the 800, I love that thing The 800 is my favorite Atari computer, just because it looks so impressive. I still hope that someone will come out with a "retrofit" for it that will make it compatible with XL/XE games. Of course you'd still be missing the expansion port. Tempest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oesii Posted December 5, 2003 Share Posted December 5, 2003 Avoid the 65XE and 130XE if you plan to purchase and use homebrew carts. I nearly destroyed one excellent multicart that I purchased from Nir Dary when attempting to wiggle it into the rear cartridge slot of my 130XE. I'd have to agree with this one, the 130XE and the XEGS have flakier cart slots than the rest of the computers. I've been having trouble with homebrews and flashcarts on these two machines. My recommendation for game-playing would be the 800XL. Now for tinkering and stuff the 130XE is fine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robcatron Posted December 5, 2003 Share Posted December 5, 2003 I am using the XEGS right now for my gaming computer, but it takes up tay too much space with the detachable keyboard and all. It's cartridge slot is the next best thing to the 800XL. Mine has a flaky Power Button -- I don't know if this is normal or not, but if I don't leave the system off for a few seconds, pressing the on off switch is like a system reset -- anyone else noticed this? Rob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryan Posted December 5, 2003 Share Posted December 5, 2003 I am using the XEGS right now for my gaming computer, but it takes up tay too much space with the detachable keyboard and all. It's cartridge slot is the next best thing to the 800XL. Mine has a flaky Power Button -- I don't know if this is normal or not, but if I don't leave the system off for a few seconds, pressing the on off switch is like a system reset -- anyone else noticed this? Rob The XL/XE OS uses "magic" values stored in memory to determine if the system is being reset or turned on for the 1st time. When you cycle power very quickly, the contents of RAM may not have deteriorated enough to destroy those values. It seems to be worse after upgrading to more RAM. I have to leave my 256K machine off for 5-10 seconds before it will reboot properly. -Bry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Megamaniac Posted December 5, 2003 Author Share Posted December 5, 2003 Good food for thought. I think I'm leaning toward an 800XL based on all the comments above. Are there any link recommendations that will tell me what to expect from this unit? Floppy drive? etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ApolloBoy Posted December 6, 2003 Share Posted December 6, 2003 Good food for thought. I think I'm leaning toward an 800XL based on all the comments above. Are there any link recommendations that will tell me what to expect from this unit? Floppy drive? etc. Well I don't have any links, but since I'm a proud owner of an 8-bit, I can help you. On disk drives, Atari made 3 disk drives. There is the 810, the 1050, and the rare XF551. The 810 was the orignal one made in 1979, and it can literally take a beating. You can tell by simply looking at it. I own two of them, and even though one of them somehow refuses to load disks, my other one works like a charm. The 1050 was made in 1982 and it's smaller and slightly better than the 810. The 1050 also matches the XL line (600, 800, 1200) in styling. I have one of these, and it's my "daily driver". The XF551 was made around 1988 when Atari ran out of old 1050 drives they had laying around their warehouses. The XF551 is very rare because the XE line was failing at the time, and most people who already owned an XE used either the 1050 or a third-party drive (like the Indus GT). The XF551 is in a Mega ST-esque case, and it can also read double-sided/double-density disks (the 810 is SS/SD, the 1050 is SS/Enhanced SD). To load a disk, all you need to do is turn on your disk drive, insert a disk, close the door latch, and turn on the computer (like the Apple II). If you wanna do more with your disk drive, you'll need to get a DOS disk (preferrably DOS 2.5). If you have any more questions, you can PM me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Megamaniac Posted December 6, 2003 Author Share Posted December 6, 2003 Did any computers in the Atari line have a built-in floppy? Not that I hate peripherals, but I hate peripherals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryan Posted December 6, 2003 Share Posted December 6, 2003 Did any computers in the Atari line have a built-in floppy? Not that I hate peripherals, but I hate peripherals. Only in prototype form. You'll need to get a drive or use APE to emulate a drive with a PC. -Bry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ApolloBoy Posted December 6, 2003 Share Posted December 6, 2003 Did any computers in the Atari line have a built-in floppy? Not that I hate peripherals, but I hate peripherals. Only in prototype form. You'll need to get a drive or use APE to emulate a drive with a PC. -Bry Actually, I think the 1450XLD was released, just in limited quantities. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryan Posted December 6, 2003 Share Posted December 6, 2003 My understanding is that there are only a few complete ones, and they have hand-wired floppy controller boards. -Bry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjk7382 Posted December 6, 2003 Share Posted December 6, 2003 I have a 400 and just recently got a disk drive (1050) and found that I can't run half of the software that I already have. Definitely get something with 64k memory If anyone has an 800 or any larger ram than 16k machine, PM me. I have a bunch of software that I can't run. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heaven/TQA Posted December 6, 2003 Share Posted December 6, 2003 800XL... i love the cart slot... if you love brown, if not (grey more modern style) get an 130xe... hve ps. the "tank" 800 (not XL model) is of course the nicest one but i would just get it for M.U.L.E. as 800 has 4 joystick ports... and is really massive... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+davidcalgary29 Posted December 6, 2003 Share Posted December 6, 2003 Good food for thought. I think I'm leaning toward an 800XL based on all the comments above. Are there any link recommendations that will tell me what to expect from this unit? Floppy drive? etc. Well I don't have any links, but since I'm a proud owner of an 8-bit, I can help you. On disk drives, Atari made 3 disk drives. There is the 810, the 1050, and the rare XF551. The 810 was the orignal one made in 1979, and it can literally take a beating. You can tell by simply looking at it. I own two of them, and even though one of them somehow refuses to load disks, my other one works like a charm. The 1050 was made in 1982 and it's smaller and slightly better than the 810. The 1050 also matches the XL line (600, 800, 1200) in styling. I have one of these, and it's my "daily driver". The XF551 was made around 1988 when Atari ran out of old 1050 drives they had laying around their warehouses. The XF551 is very rare because the XE line was failing at the time, and most people who already owned an XE used either the 1050 or a third-party drive (like the Indus GT). The XF551 is in a Mega ST-esque case, and it can also read double-sided/double-density disks (the 810 is SS/SD, the 1050 is SS/Enhanced SD). To load a disk, all you need to do is turn on your disk drive, insert a disk, close the door latch, and turn on the computer (like the Apple II). If you wanna do more with your disk drive, you'll need to get a DOS disk (preferrably DOS 2.5). If you have any more questions, you can PM me. We shouldn't forget the 815, Atari's rare dual drive FDD that was released in very limited quantities in the early '80s. They were, apparently, hand-assembled and prone to mechanical breakdown. I'm not sure if the XF551 is all that rare. It's certainly not as common as the 1050, and I think that many owners continue to use them due to the fact that they were the last to be built and are "true" DS/DD drives. You can usually buy a boxed one on eBay for around $40 if you look. There certainly seem to have been a lot more XF551 auctions in the past few months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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