Why is Falcon so expensive?

[ppera]

Probably most overpriced machine ever.

Was overpriced when arrived, especially in Europe. Now is even more overpriced.

 

Downsides:

It has only 16-bit CPU memory bus - read: it is slower than could be considering selected CPU.

It has no real expansion bus, so complicated to upgrade (which is also expensive).

Plus case is just old STE case, so there is not much space.

Memory connectors (slots) are non-standard.

Only 14MB RAM max supported because of ST based architecture.

Only internal IDE... Adding some external IDE connector would be too expensive?

 

There is not much SW written for it.

Lot of compability issues with ST SW.

 

Probably best reason to hate it that it was (marked the) end of Atari home computer manufacturing.

A sinker

 

I did not mention positive sides - let users do it. And don't take this too seriously.

Edited November 30, 2007 by ppera

[eeun]

Why are Falcons so expensive? For the same reason Bricklin cars are so expensive: they're rare, and despite a number of issues, have a small but obsessive fan base.

[+doctorclu]

Reasons... they are cool, and they have the 68060 upgrade. Make good development systems for the Jaguar I hear too.

 

Yeh I have a TT030... one of the reasons I don't play with it all that much... take a computer with about 2% of the software in the world on a good day... then give it about 25% compatibility with THAT library... yeh, I went back to Macs.

[tjlazer]

Reasons is because it is rare, and the last machine Atari made. Also arguably the best high end model too. Built in SCSI, IDE, 32-bit. Latest TOS, 65K colors!

 

Just like for the Amiga, the A4000 is the most expensive model too.

[ppera]

I probably should give different thread title: Why was so expensive ?

It is clear that now is so expensive because it is rare.

 

My logic says that it was produced in so low quantity exactly because of too big price. That is my personal experience too - when it arrived in Germany in 1992, with some half year delay, it costed some 2500 DEM (60MB HD and 4MB RAM). It was too much for me, so I dropped my plans.

Question is: was it the sinker (cause), or ship already sunk ? Or both ?

[thrax]

The first most model and hte last most model of a computer series tend to be more in demand. The first most for museum reasons and the last most because it tends to be faster and sometimes rarer.

I also have a NeXT and the first most 030 cube and the final Turbo 040 models are the most desired.

[Bripilot]

Ship was already well below sea-level when the Falcon was released. Due to a long history of Vaporware and poor customer support, noone wanted to buy into the Atari name. Also, Atari, having long been known for their game machines, were not taken seriously when they released a computer with more power than most PC's of the time.

 

If they had shipped the Falcon under a pseudo-company not quickly related to Atari, put a 32MHz chip in it, and built it in a Mega/TT style case (or PC style case), I think it would have done so much better.

[krupkaj]

Reasons is because it is rare, and the last machine Atari made. Also arguably the best high end model too. Built in SCSI, IDE, 32-bit. Latest TOS, 65K colors!

Do not forget DSP 56001!