MrFish

Correct, no ECI there. Why are you confident that it's never been opened/tinkered with before? I found the conversation that I thought the subject might have been discussed in before. I quote there the Atari FAQ which says that early PAL 65XE's did not have an ECI. In our discussion in that thread, we had no positive ID of the machine being discussed (which is why the subject came up) as definitively 100% original PAL in origin. Since the subject of the thread was actually 800XE's, I didn't pursue verification of the information in the FAQ about the PAL 65XE's without ECI further (probably just slipped my mind after that). Here's the place in that thread where we were discussing it: Atari 800XE - System Stability/Integrity (post about PAL 65XE's without ECI) I did a quick search and came up with this machine listed on Ebay as a PAL 65XE, which has no ECI. So, it's probably safe to assume the FAQ to be correct here. I'll add that information into the table, along with the information about NTSC 65XE's that have ECI ports. Basically it stands that: 1. Majority of PAL 65XE's have ECI; a small number of early ones have no ECI. 2. Majority of NTSC 65XE's have no ECI; a small number of later ones have ECI.

Most NTSC 65XE's do not have an ECI; but for sure later-production NTSC 65XE's did have an ECI. I neglected to add that to the notes here, which I should have done. I'll add it and post a revised version. I don't recall right now if I've heard about any PAL 65XE's without ECI's or not. I'll have to search around the forums and see if there have been any discussions about it. There may be something in the recent thread about 65XE's and 800XE's, which I think I started to clarify some information for my website; but I'm assuming any discussions there didn't yield any PAL 65XE's without ECI, since I don't include such information on my website (NTSC 65XE's with ECI information is on my website, though). Regardless, if we can verify your 65XE is a genuine PAL production model, I'll need to add that into the notes here too (and on my website).

There are quite a few videos on YouTube that give overviews about Atari 8-bit computers, and also provide some demonstration of their games and capabilities. If you want to have some comparison of points that matter when purchasing an Atari 8-bit computer, this table might be helpful for you. Atari 8-Bit - Comparisons (Rev. 2c).xls

Looks like the wrong portal.

I posted the table with all the cart types in the post linked below (in case you haven't seen it already). CAR File Type

I don't own The400 Mini; so, someone who does will have to comment on their experience running them. The ROM files are all just standard Atari 8-bit computer 8KB ROM's; so they should be dead easy to run with any decent emulator. The cart-type extension should .c01, though; .c02 would be for 16KB ROM's.

Yeah, you might have to add some beads, beans, pebbles, or other suitable bits and pieces to get a greater effect out of a single cartridge; but once that first piece of adhesive breaks free, you might as well take advantage of the Atari XE cart's extra capabilities. Might be a good idea to start a thread on additional functions of Atari XEGS carts. They're probably a lot more versatile than people actually realise.

I'll go by RAM, 16KB (5200) / 128KB (130XE) = 0.125 16KB (5200) / 64KB (XEGS) = 0.250

Yeah, well, take two XEGS carts that rattle and you've got a pair of maracas for rockin' out on the dance floor.

Thanks. You're right. That one slipped through the cracks. I have a copy of it; but it hadn't been added to my main games collection yet. I'll see if I can edit my post to include it in the zip archive I posted. [Edit] StarMaster has been added to the zip archive posted above.

Ah, ok, it's tasks that are the limiting factor not apps. I probably knew that 10 years ago. I did remember the limit you set was arbitrary, though, and not because it wasn't possible to go higher. Well, I'm still amazed when I start examining what's going on again. It's quite a feat for the humble 6502.

Apparently you haven't paid very close attention to what's going on in this ancient video that @flashjazzcat posted on Youtube (and links to on his website's section about the GUI), from back when the last demo was released. If you watch the "RAM (KB) - Used" (down in the lower-right of any "Profiler" he's opened), you'll see that number go far beyond 64KB: he reaches 118KB, and then 121KB after opening the "Jotter" (text) window towards the end. If you look at the number of "Total - Apps" currently open (on the lower-left of any Profiler window), you'll see it reach 9, and then 10 when he opens the Jotter; 7 of those 10 apps are Profilers, totalling about 42KB (~6KB each), all running simultaneous, and having their window contents updated in real time. In fact, he could have as many as 12 apps total open (I think it's the current hard limit for the demo; 2 apps of which are always the Keeper -- desktop/file manager -- and clock); with 10 of those apps being Profilers, it would be 126KB total RAM used, of which active, multitasking Profiler apps would occupy 60KB.

Another benefit of an SIO2PC device is the cost. It provides immediate access to the bulk of the Atari 8-bit library for a small investment. If you build one yourself -- which is pretty easy -- you can save even more. I'd like to see the SIO2PC concept extended to include the cart port some day; then cartridges could be added to complete the list of media available. I'd also like to see a PBI/ECI port to PC device; then something like a virtual 1090 application could be run from the PC, giving the capability to provide all devices/cards in software (possibly leveraging some source code from Altirra?) instead of needing to create all this expensive hardware.

It's a common mistake. The original device was just called SIO2PC and provided a standard serial port DE-9 interface for connecting to your PC. So, the device you're referring to is just that with a USB interface instead of a standard serial interface (well, USB is serial too... but...). Here's the device that's properly referred to as an SIO2USB.

It's not a problem for me, since I have my PC and Atari set up near enough each other. For a wireless solution, there is SIO2BT. I haven't used it myself, but there is a thread about it here on the forums.

Yeah, Windows 7 64-bit, and I'm running RasterConverter 64-bit version.

I've been using it with the GUI. I haven't experienced any problems or differences yet.

Oyyy... I completely missed the inclusion of that feature; in fact, I still don't see it on the list of features you've provided (although it's late here, so maybe I'm not squinting enough). Anyway, the window resizing works great. The only problem I see (aside from the problem I posted about where the source and destination images disappeared) is that when I scale the window, the source image gets flipped upside down; the other two images stay properly oriented.

On Windows 7 64-bit, using the 64-bit version of RastaConverter, the original and destination images have disappeared and won't reappear when I hit "s" (save). Only the output image is displayed (and all process-status text is still there). I don't recall if the window was just covered by another window or if it was covered sometimes and minimized sometimes. I just know I was shifting around various windows on my desktop; and I am running two monitor; and the RastaConverter window was moved from one screen to the other one or more times.

If there's any interest and it's not too much trouble, I have a request for making the preview screen a little larger. Something like this could be done: - All the images would be 2x magnified - Window area needed for the images and text would be 1280 x 960 (most moderns screens can easily accommodate this) - Space for an even larger font and/or more information/data (for instance the current input-parameters list) would be available.

- Appreciate the larger process-status font - Missing the parameters list in the title bar

Yeah, wow!... and thanks! (to you and all the contributors)

Actually, there are basically threads for each game as it was released; but, most of the games were done either by @phaeron (the author of the emulator Altirra) or @glurk (hence the name "GlurkVision" in his 2600 games, where you'd normally see ActiVision). Miniature Golf was done by @playsoft (coder for AtariBlast, Scramble, and some other notable 8-bit games). Enduro was ported by @Vin_the_2600_Man. The original 2600 games were either disassembled, or the 2600 source code was available, and they were used as the basis for the 8-bit versions -- which is why they play so much like the originals. You can search for any of the specific games on the main 8-bit computer forum to find out more details about how they went about porting the 2600 code over. In the case of @phaeron's ports, he's provided his commented source code for the finished ports in each thread. Source code may have been posted for some of the other ports too (I don't recall for sure right now). Ports done by @phaeron are: Adventure Combat Cosmic Ark Midnight Magic Raiders of the Lost Ark Seaquest Stampede Ports done by @glurk are: Barnstorming Fast Food Fishing Derby Freeway Frostbite StarMaster Tennis

Yeah, no problem. Check them out. They're made to play just like the original 2600 games, with no enhancements to the graphics or sounds (except a few minor graphics tweaks on a few of them).