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Arnuphis

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About Arnuphis

  • Birthday 11/22/1966

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    Sacramento, California
  • Interests
    Movies, Music, Gaming and Retro Computing

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  1. Not that I am aware of. I don't think it would be cost effective to make that passthrough connector.
  2. Ah the Plus/4. I loved mine back in the day. As far as I remember you hit f1 to get into the applications. Then hit the C= key and C to get to the command line and type TF and enter. You may want to look online for the manual for the built in apps. As for replacing the built in software I defer to greater minds on that. When I had my Plus/4 my fav games were ACE, Mercenary, Trailblazer and Icicle Works. But I mainly used it for Word Processing. Not with the built in one but a cartridge. As for addons, the 1551 was the disk drive to get but obviously the modern SD card devices are so much more useful.
  3. Not going to be drawn into a conversation about those who dodge taxes and those who do not. But suffice to say I ordered one from the Brewing Academy and it arrived quickly and is now happily installed in my 800XL.
  4. Thanks! But yeah I am not touching that one and there will be no power of any kind until I open up the machine and check everything.
  5. Funnily enough I have a NIB 800xl arriving soon. It's allegedly never been opened. So if that is true I can take pictures of what I find inside if that helps? Hopefully its not a brick and a note saying 'Haha sucker!'.
  6. I was 12. Not sure if you are trying to be insulting there or not. Regardless of who's money it was your average person would look at the two machines side by side and the VIC would look better quality because it did not have a toy keyboard. the price would then seal the deal. I agree that under the hood the Atari was better but your average consumer was not that computer savvy. Thanks to Commodore, Sinclair etc. More people were able to experience a computer for the first time during the 1980s. I thought Sinclair machines were just awful but I respect them for broadening the appeal of home computers in the UK. And yes I have very fond memories of my VIC. It was a great computer. But even I outgrew it and ended up getting a TI-99/4a. Atari was still too expensive at the time. I remember a friend at school insulting the Atari 400/800 by saying 'You have to tell it that it's a computer' referring to you having to plug in a BASIC cartridge to make it do anything. He had a Dragon 32 so he looked down on everyone 😄
  7. Vic-20 Price at launch $299 Atari 400 price $549. So at almost half the price you got a computer with a real keyboard. a bit less memory and a smaller display. But still a great machine with sound and color and loads of software and peripherals. So even though the 400 was a better machine in some areas the VIC killed it on price which was important to consumers. That is why I ended up with one and not an Atari when my parents went to the computer store. I feel the VIC deserves praise for making the market competitive and bringing down the prices for all future machines. It's the machine that changed my life and got me into a computing career. I would still take one over a 400 anyday. Membrane keyboards just suck. But I would never take a VIC over an 800. No sir no. The 800 was the best 8 bit home computer until probably the BBC or C128 or 800XL. If only the 800 had been the price of the 400 at that time. I may have been able to get that instead as it was clearly vastly superior. Then I would be posting with maybe a different bias.
  8. Great haul! This was clearly a beloved machine for it's original owner.
  9. I remember seeing the Atari 400 and 800 at my local department store, alongside the TI-99/4a and Vic-20. They were iconic machines and also very expensive. So it's nice to finally pay homage by buying the mini version. Not sure how much use I will get out of it but I want it to be successful so a full size Atari 8-bit (800 please!) comes out.
  10. I always felt the 800 was the best looking Atari 8 bit. Just looked solid, sturdy and high quality. The 'wonky' function keys on the XL always looked cheap to me. But when it comes to a possible full size 'mini' product the XL would be the better choice because unless you are keeping the 800 hatch functional its a lot of wasted plastic.
  11. Put me down for a Sophia for the 800XL. Thanks!
  12. I think the VIC-20's strength is that you can get a decent machine code game on cassette to run on a base model. Like Cosmiads for example that you would need to put on a cartridge for an unexpanded TI-99/4a. It's a real shame TI pulled out of the market when the games really began to hit their stride with Parsec, Alpiner etc. Because those were show stoppers in the day.
  13. So happy that Atari is getting some 'mini' love. Looks like a fun device to get a 4 player M.U.L.E. game going quick and easy for those who played it back in the day. I may get one because I always loved the 400/800 style. And if it's success means a full size version (I'd prefer an 800 though) then more power to it.
  14. I agree with this. My first computer was a Vic-20 and although I typed in magazine listings and did some of the introduction to basic course it was all about the games. It was not until I sold my Vic-20 and got a TI-99/4a that I actually sat down and began to program my own stuff. I don't know if its was the lack of options as a cassette based user, or the scarcity of 3rd party software or even just the BASIC being more friendly but it motivated me to make my own software. For that reason alone the TI-99/4a will always have a special place in my heart.
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