800 Newbie!

[jetset]

Well, I'm venturing into the forum I've never had need for before. I got me an 800 and 810 a few weeks back. I have a sio2pc interface and some cables on the way and will be playing games on my new baby within a few days!

 

Can you guys suggest some websites with 800 info...history, games, capabilities, etc..??? Atari Age is of course the best around for the 2600/5200/7800 , but seems that the 800 info is limited to the forums.

 

I don't plan on buying many game carts, since they're all readily available as atr files that I can load with the sio2pc interface, I'll probably grab some homebrews though and maybe some of the "must-haves".

 

In the meantime I want to learn more about this computer...I've never owned an 800 before so this is totally new to me!

[Goochman]

Do you ahve a Basic Cart also? The 800 needs that for those games that require it. The 810 prob be of much use to you - does it still work? With the SIO2PC cable you should be set

 

If you really get into the machine I would suggest keeping an eye out for an 800XL so you can play pretty much everything across the 8bit line.

 

IF you have specific questions post them here - we'll be happy to help

[jetset]

Do you ahve a Basic Cart also?  The 800 needs that for those games that require it.  The 810 prob be of much use to you - does it still work?  With the SIO2PC cable you should be set

 

If you really get into the machine I would suggest keeping an eye out for an 800XL so you can play pretty much everything across the 8bit line.

 

IF you have specific questions post them here - we'll be happy to help

 

Ohhh!!!

Ok, I know what the basic carts is, thats a start!

 

But uh...no I dont have one and didnt know it's needed.

Ebay here I come!

 

Ok, so why do some games need it, and what are they? (You're gonna be sorry you offered to answer questions!)

 

And I'm not sure if the 810 works. It powers up and the light comes on, but until I get the cable I can't tell for sure. (Nor can I complain, both the 800, 810 and 2 power supplies were free! )

 

And why is the 800xl better ? I seem to remember reading somewhere that even though it is an "updated" model, it isn't as good and wound up not selling very well back in its day ?

[oesii]

Here's your primer websites:

 

http://www.atariarchives.org/ (Lots of great resources books completely online)

 

http://www.atarimagazines.com/ (Read all the Antics there, great mag)

 

After reading all those books and magazines you can't help but be an expert

 

 

http://vjetnam.hopto.org/ (great place for individual games)

 

And finally a great database for games and ads and a bunch more:

 

http://www.atarimania.com/

[Curt Vendel]

This'll give you a good place to start:

 

 

http://www.atarimuseum.com/computers/computers.html

 

 

You can find out about the 800, its peripherals, the XL series, XE series, then into the 16/32 ST series, the PC line and some really incredible proto stuff that never made it, have fun.

 

 

 

Curt

[Nukey Shay]

Basic is required for any program that takes advantage of it's floating-point routines or written in the language. As far as commercial games go, this would be a much smaller percentage as games that are written in 100% assembly (and the labels on the disks usually state whether Basic is needed). A few commercial titles that I recall are States And Captials, Atari's language courses, The Dragon's Eye, Telengard, Artworx' Strip Poker, Mar Tesoro...the older the program, the higher the percentage.

 

Note: the original version of Basic (black label cart) has a bug in the program that causes the infamous lockup crash when program lines are deleted. In the original run of the XL series, the Rev.B Basic was built-in...and the programmers overcorrected the problem (so that garbage is added to programs as lines are ADDED!). The bug was finally sorted out in the Rev.C cartridge (silver label) and the XE series. So try to get ahold of a silver label cart if you plan on making your own stuff.

 

 

The 800XL has an extra 16k of ram tucked beneath the OS...which some newer titles may have used. It also has a slimmer design and includes a parallel port. But for the most part, your 800 tank should be able to run the majority of software released for Atari computers. 48k 800 was pretty much the standard across the board. The older 800 also has 2 additional controller ports which were used in some games (4-player Asteroids rocks!).

Going the other way around, some compatability issues arose when the XL series was introduced (because some older software did not use Atari's "official" vector table when performing OS calls). Fortunately, Atari released a "Translator" disk which just loaded in the older operating system to make almost all of these programs work with the XL series. Since you don't have an XL, the Translator disk is not needed.

 

 

If you haven't already caught it...I prefer the older model :wink:

[jetset]

Wow! thanks for the quick responses, I'll definetly check out some of those sites...

 

 

So try to get ahold of a silver label cart if you plan on making your own stuff.

 

 

Ahhh...no. I REALLY dont see myself MAKING anything. I'm pretty dumb when it comes to programming. Wait, pretty dumb leaves too much room....I'm totally clueless (that's a more accurate term!)

 

If you haven't already caught it...I prefer the older model :wink:

 

Yeah I thought I read somewhere that the older model was actually in many ways better...Specificially something about when the 800 was discontinued in favor of the 800xl, there was a HUGE demand for the older model and that effectively killed the xl's shelflife.

 

Like I said though...I just want to play games. The ONLY thing I might venture into is something I LOVED doing with my ti/99 back in the day. I used to buy every so often books with programs in them where you typed, line by line the actual program and then played the game. Some took 10 minutes, some took hours to type, but it was a lot of fun getting a program to run (sometimes it was as much fun trying to find what you typed wrong when the prog wouldn't run too!) even if it was a pong game, or something really lame...just knowing you "created" the game was kind cool. I had tons of those saved on cassette. I may wind up doing that on the 800 and saving them to disc. That would be the extent of my programming tho...

[kevin242]

Yeah I thought I read somewhere that the older model was actually in many ways better...Specificially something about when the 800 was discontinued in favor of the 800xl, there was a HUGE demand for the older model and that effectively killed the xl's shelflife.  

 

I think you are confusing the 800xl with the 1200xl which came out

before it. The 1200xl was not recieved well when it was released and

was only on the market for a short time. Most people preferred 800's

to the 1200xl.

[deathtrappomegranate]

Congrats on entering the world of Atari computers!

 

First off, the mandatory plug for atarimania.com

 

...and I also endorse everything else that oesii said too.

 

The decision about whether to use "real" software media (carts, disks, cassettes) or go with just the SIO2PC setup is pretty much a personal one, although many older (and some not-so-old) games will need a BASIC cart.

 

The 800xl has slightly better overall software compatibility. The 800 is better built, and has 4 joystick ports (which is great, although relatively few games take advantage of this feature).

[Nukey Shay]

Yeah I thought I read somewhere that the older model was actually in many ways better...Specificially something about when the 800 was discontinued in favor of the 800xl, there was a HUGE demand for the older model and that effectively killed the xl's shelflife.  

 

I think you are confusing the 800xl with the 1200xl which came out

before it. The 1200xl was not recieved well when it was released and

was only on the market for a short time. Most people preferred 800's

to the 1200xl.

 

I didn't write that

 

The only reason that I prefer the original model is because it's original.

 

Well, that and the belief that the older model could probably withstand the apocalypse compared to the XL's and XE's

 

The 800 is the the 800XL as the woody is to the Jr.

[deathtrappomegranate]

The only reason that I prefer the original model is because it's original.

 

Well, that and the belief that the older model could probably withstand the apocalypse compared to the XL's and XE's

 

The 800 is the the 800XL as the woody is to the Jr.

 

I also prefer the 400/800 design from an aesthetic point of view.

 

I like the Commodore PET design too - a huge beast, containing lots of empty space - but it looked like a computer!

[ATARIeric]

@ jetset: I might have an extra BASIC cart for you, i will look in the morning. Take care bro!

[ATARIeric]

 

And I'm not sure if the 810 works.  It powers up and the light comes on, but until I get the cable I can't tell for sure.  (Nor can I complain,  both the 800, 810 and 2 power supplies were free!    )

 

 

Everything i gave you free works! before i gave you the 810 i was playing wargames on disk with the 810

[Brad2600]

Welcome to the world of 8 bit Atari, jetset!

 

You will find that a lot of the 8 bit games are better than their 2600 counterparts. Not all of them though, but I've seen a few that impressed me for 8 bit versions.

[jetset]

@ jetset:   I might have an extra BASIC cart for you,   i will look in the morning.   Take care bro!  

 

Hey man! Where have you been?!?!!?

Actually deathtrappomegranate is sending me a basic cart. :wink:

 

 

And I'm not sure if the 810 works.  It powers up and the light comes on, but until I get the cable I can't tell for sure.  (Nor can I complain,  both the 800, 810 and 2 power supplies were free!    )

 

Everything i gave you free works! before i gave you the 810 i was playing wargames on disk with the 810

 

Kewl, I'll try it tonight. I sat for like 4 hours last night just loading and playing games!!!

And btw...the War Games disc is still in there! I didnt try it partly because it says it is for the C64...are they compatible????

[ATARIeric]

i think some disks are for A8 & C64 , all you do is flip disk over and isert in proper machine

[jetset]

Can the 5200's power supply be used for the 800 and vice versa ?

[Bryan]

Can the 5200's power supply be used for the 800 and vice versa ?  

 

Nope. The 5200 uses a DC supply, and the 400/800/810/1050 & others use an AC supply. Sometimes you can use a DC supply on a system that specifies an AC supply, but not vice-versa.

 

-Bry

[deathtrappomegranate]

http://www.faqs.org/faqs/atari-8-bit/faq/s...section-35.html

 

[dinosaur]

Just to mention two things:

 

The 800XL has a PBI (parallel BUS interface) ,not a parallel PORT.

 

Supplying DC voltage to Atari AC equipment via the AC connectors

is NOT a good idea.

If nothing else,it will produce a lot of extraneous heat,which could lead to

unit failure.

There are points on the circuit board where you can solder on a connector and feed the unit with AC,but this is NOT for the uninformed or faint-hearted!

[dinosaur]

correction:

 

"feed the unit with AC"

 

Of course that should read "feed the unit with DC"

 

My humble apology-Long hours and late nights!

[Nukey Shay]

And btw...the War Games disc is still in there!  I didnt try it partly because it says it is for the C64...are they compatible????

Nope...totally different formats. Tho the disk itself might have been made with both formats on it. That cuts down on the cost of packaging...the company could just put both versions on the same disk. Many games that were ported to both systems were made this way...commonly referred to as "flippies" (different versions on each side of the disk).

Usually a disk label will state if it works with both computers...but said label might have fallen off over time

[Jeff Lodoen]

Nope...totally different formats. Tho the disk itself might have been made with both formats on it. That cuts down on the cost of packaging...the company could just put both versions on the same disk. Many games that were ported to both systems were made this way...commonly referred to as "flippies" (different versions on each side of the disk).

 

I had one Mastertronic disk with Atari and C64 versions on the same side!

 

(C64 disks don't "boot"... There are +s and -s to all platforms)

[Nukey Shay]

Ninja...I've got that one too Can't recall any others that crammed both formats on a single side.

[jetset]

Welcome to the world of 8 bit Atari' date=' jetset!

 

You will find that a lot of the 8 bit games are better than their 2600 counterparts. Not all of them though, but I've seen a few that impressed me for 8 bit versions.[/quote']

 

Key, do you mean to say thier *5200* counterparts ?

If so...I hate to say it being a big 5200 fan, but you're right.

Gorf...same game, but the control is 100% better. What a good game this is when the controls are tolerable!

Frogger...again, same game but much better music

Zaxxon...The scene in space against the other jets is totally better. Instead of everyone all on the same plane both you and the opposing ships can move up and down, and the bad guys also attack you in patterns.

Then again....

Centipede....WTF happened there????