duckisking

Thanks everybody, hopefully I can make a decision quickly.

I'm curious, if the 130XE comes with twice the RAM as an XL, as Wikipedia says, why do you prefer the XL? Case/keyboard better? By fixing, do you mean hardware mod?

Hi everyone, I've been lurking around the 2600 forums for a month or so, mostly toying with the idea to start homebrewing. I don't know if that's going to get off the ground, but I've gone through most of my 2600 games, and now I'm looking to buy an 8-bit computer to keep up with my Atari addiction. However, I know next to nothing about them, and I was hoping you all could be nice to a n00b, and fill me in. Also, please remember that I was born in the 90s, and my world of computing started with Windows 95. I'm definitely not in the know on how these old non-Windows computers function, although a manual would probably be the best way for me to catch up on that. Anyways, onto my questions: 1. What must be included for it to be functional? On the ebay listings I've seen, there seems to be an awful lot of peripherals, there are cartridges, cassettes, and floppies, along with printers, controllers, BASIC programming carts, etc. I'm just looking for what it takes for me to play some Ballblazer, I don't need to be able to program on it (although as a CS university student, I could potentially enjoy that as a secondary hobby). 2. What's your recommended model? 400/800/600XL/800XL/1200XL/65XE/130XE etc. The one person I know with any idea says the 800 is the best, and the XL/XE models were newer budget models. Any truth to that? 3. Backwards/frontwards compatability? If I put a game from 1980 into an XE model, will it work? If I put a game from 1988 into an original model, will it work? 4. Anything else I should be aware of before picking one up from eBay? Sorry for asking questions probably found in some other topic somewhere, just thought I'd like the answers all in one place instead of trawling through 10 pages here. -duckisking

Problem solved. Found this thread http://www.atariage.com/forums/topic/190596-screen-gets-fuzzy-during-gameplay/ I've never soldered anything before so it didn't look as pretty as the youtube tutorial and I was worried because I was pretty clumsy with it, but my games have been going for 45 minutes without interruption. Now, off to the programming forums...

Wow, thanks for all the quick responses. I'll try some of these ideas, and hopefully the situation improves. Otherwise, I'll be back.

Hi, I picked up my first Atari 2600 (light 4-switch) over Christmas from a rummage sale. I'm a CS university student, and I was interested in learning about Atari homebrew, so my friend pointed me to this site, and from what I've seen it looks like a wonderful resource. However, before I can really get started on that, I'd like to get my Atari working. Basically, this is what I've done so far. Bought this (http://imgur.com/yaWym) at Radioshack and hooked it up like this (http://imgur.com/PeUd1) to my HDTV. The games will start up and work fine, (example: http://imgur.com/N3cxY). Then, after 5 to 15 minutes, the picture will switch to this (http://imgur.com/KygQf / http://imgur.com/6hG4n) and it will not switch back. It's interesting to note that certain games very often last longer than others. For example, my Donkey Kong game consistently took 15 minutes for me to take that picture, whereas my Super Breakout rarely lasts over 5 minutes. Anyways, my first thought was that it was the cable, so I bought this (http://imgur.com/wPA8c) in the hopes of using it like in this video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_CoVw-P0xc). (fast forward to 1:25 to see how he puts it inside the 6-switcher). Unfortunately, the 4-switcher does not have enough room in the case to allow a coax TV cable to be plugged in inside the box, so that idea never got off the ground. I'm sure some of you guys have seen this, and hopefully you can pinpoint the problem for me. I'm hesitant to buy a new video cable unless I know the old one is the problem. I am not really interested in buying one of the mods that use the red, white, and yellow video cables, nor am I capable of making it myself. Perhaps I should try and find an Atari 2600 Jr? I love the wood finish of the earlier models, but from the youtube video above, it seems easier to use the adapter to get rid of the RF cable altogether. Any help would be very much appreciated. -duckisking