Hi there--
As I posted in Introductions earlier today (http://atariage.com/forums/topic/255867-howdy-from-kavik/), I'm a long-time Atari fan who has finally returned to the hobby.
I currently have a large collection of 8-bit systems that I've picked up over the years, the most recent being a few 1200XL's purchased five years ago. These include a couple of 400's, a 600XL (brand new in box), an 800XL, three 1200XL's (one from Kjmann with a video and power adapter fix), a 130XE and a XEGS system. One of these I was planning to mod into an upgraded 8-bit "super" machine. Life got in the way of my plans, however, and most of my Atari collectibles have been sitting in storage until very recently.
Now that I have everything back under one roof, I'm interested in picking one of these systems to upgrade and wanted to ask for opinions on which system I should select and what mods to do. Here is what I'm hoping to achieve and some initial thoughts and questions:
Upgraded video output -- I would like to have the best possible video signal from the machine (that will look good on most modern TV's and monitors). Looks like the new UAV coming from Bryan might be the best option. Any thoughts on the VBXE board?
Switchable OS -- I guess the APE Warp+ OS or Ultimate 1MB would be my best bet?
Some sort of SIO2xx connectivity to archive my old floppies -- I have an old serial SIO2PC cable I built myself almost twenty years ago. Would this still work with a USB adapter or should I consider a newer alternative (cable, SIO2PC board w/LED's), SIO2USB, SIO2BT, SIO2SD)?
A cartridge-based software solution -- What is best for ease of use and functionality: MyFlash, MyIDE-II, SIDE2? Are there other options at the current time?
Stereo sound
Perhaps a memory upgrade
At this point I'm leaning towards modding one of the 1200XL's since that was my original plan and it's the form factor and system that I'm the most fond of (not to mention I have extra parts in case I break something!)
I'd greatly appreciate any thoughts or suggestions you want to send my way.
Thanks, Kavik