Atari 8bit is superior to the ST

[Marius]

Hi people,

 

Look and discuss here:

 

http://www.atariage.com/forums/topic/153845-atari-8bit-is-superior-to-the-st/

 

thanks!

Marius

[+DarkLord]

Hi people,

 

Look and discuss here:

 

http://www.atariage.com/forums/topic/153845-atari-8bit-is-superior-to-the-st/

 

thanks!

Marius

 

Yep, been following that thread. Entertaining...

[+DarkLord]

Still very entertaining, but its gotten way out of hand.

 

It turned into another ST vs Amiga thread.

 

Unfortunately, I let myself be dragged into it as well.

 

I should know better. So I'm going to continue reading

it, but I'm not going to respond to the "bait". Sorry

for taking things off the main topic gang.

[+Stephen]

Still very entertaining, but its gotten way out of hand.

 

It turned into another ST vs Amiga thread.

 

Unfortunately, I let myself be dragged into it as well.

 

I should know better. So I'm going to continue reading

it, but I'm not going to respond to the "bait". Sorry

for taking things off the main topic gang.

To be fair, I would have jumped in too. Having your modded Falcon called a "junkyard piece of shit" was completely uncalled for.

 

Stephen Anderson

[+DarkLord]

To be fair, I would have jumped in too. Having your modded Falcon called a "junkyard piece of shit" was completely uncalled for.

 

Stephen Anderson

 

Thanks Stephen. I couldn't believe he said he started to take a Falcon and hammer it to pieces

for a Youtube video.

 

Even if you didn't like the Falcon and had one, used ones these days go for $350-500 easy on Ebay.

 

[Marius]

Hi folks,

 

The way I see it, those flamers are really 'idiots' ...

 

I'm the starter of that topic, and I really wanted to compare Atari 8bit with Atari ST.

 

I'm feeling sorry for those j*rks who can't stay ontopic, and I hope we can turn back to Atari 8bit vs Atari ST.

 

Greetz

Marius

[frogstar_robot]

Hi folks,

 

The way I see it, those flamers are really 'idiots' ...

 

I'm the starter of that topic, and I really wanted to compare Atari 8bit with Atari ST.

 

I'm feeling sorry for those j*rks who can't stay ontopic, and I hope we can turn back to Atari 8bit vs Atari ST.

 

Greetz

Marius

 

Agreed but I have to wonder what the basis of comparison is. Innovation? Power? Price? Utility? It is pretty much apples and oranges to compare the two and the only thing they have in common is an Atari nameplate. One is an 8-bit tour-de-force of innovation from the late seventies and the other is a rather utilitarian 16-bit designed for affordability in the mid-eighties.

 

Though I did appreciate how the ST managed to cost 25% of what comparable Macs cost at introduction and had speed and color options that were well beyond anything Macs of the time could do. For fairly minimal additional costs it could run Mac software. The price gap with the Miggys wasn't as pronounced but even if I didn't have "Atari Blinders" on in the mid-eighties the $100-$400 additional price did put Amiga out of my reach as I was saving and scraping to upgrade from my 800XL and had only some assistance from parents and relatives. Still, considered in it's proper time-frame most of the superlatives I can heap on the ST concern relative affordability. The A8 was the Amiga of it's day. It could do jaw dropping things compared to Apple II's, PETs, and TRS-80s but you paid a premium for it.

 

If we compare the ST and A8 to each other in absolute terms of capability rather than relative historicity then the A8 wins only with the most committed fanbois. The ST had gobs of memory, processing power, and color options once Shifter was unlocked ala Spectrum 512 compared to the 8-bit. Where the 8-bit has hardware help in the forms of PMG and a rather more insightful version of DMA, the ST can still outperform with sheer brute CPU force. As I mentioned in my on-topic post in the other thread this is all true with a lowly 1985 520ST with 512KB. If we allow more advanced examples of the ST line then I see little where the A8 can compete.

[+DarkLord]

Hi folks,

 

The way I see it, those flamers are really 'idiots' ...

 

I'm the starter of that topic, and I really wanted to compare Atari 8bit with Atari ST.

 

I'm feeling sorry for those j*rks who can't stay ontopic, and I hope we can turn back to Atari 8bit vs Atari ST.

 

Greetz

Marius

 

Agreed!

 

PS Wait, I got an idea - just for the entertainment value, lets go to an Amiga site and start a "C64 vs Amiga" thread, and

then a bunch of us ST people will go in, and hijack it to how the C64 was really an 8bit ST! <roflol>

 

Just kidding of course...

[lp060]

I think such threads are pointless. Even more pointless is a post pointing to another pointless thread. It inevitably will go bad, its a given, as such comparisons are stupid to begin with. I won't even read the other thread, waste of my time. Personally I think this sort of thing is started on purpose, as in... instigated.

[desiv]

I think such threads are pointless. Even more pointless is a post pointing to another pointless thread. It inevitably will go bad, its a given, as such comparisons are stupid to begin with. I won't even read the other thread, waste of my time. Personally I think this sort of thing is started on purpose, as in... instigated.

 

Actually, I was just thinking that the most pointless post would be a post pointing out that a previous post stating a post was pointless was itself pointless...

 

er.. I think..

 

desiv

[lp060]

I think such threads are pointless. Even more pointless is a post pointing to another pointless thread. It inevitably will go bad, its a given, as such comparisons are stupid to begin with. I won't even read the other thread, waste of my time. Personally I think this sort of thing is started on purpose, as in... instigated.

 

Actually, I was just thinking that the most pointless post would be a post pointing out that a previous post stating a post was pointless was itself pointless...

 

er.. I think..

 

desiv

 

As pointless as my post then, well done for pointing that out. lol

 

But seriously, when have you ever seen a thread with the word "superior" in the topic ever go well? They always degrade eventually. The topic screams ultra oober fanboy if anything, which is fine, but still rather unrealistic comparison. I owned both so I know.

[Marius]

If you did read the startpost of the thread, everyone would understand what the goal of the thread was and is.

 

A guy called "Metalguy66" wrote in a thread that the Atari ST was a piece of crap, and the Atari 8bit was superior to ST.

 

I thought: how many people would agree and how many would disagree with him.

 

That was all, and so my thread was born. No more, no less. That's it.

 

His opinion is not mine, and I do agree it is hard and useless to make this comparison.

 

But again: I was just interested in how many people would (dis)agree with it.

 

Greetz.

Marius

[+DarkLord]

If you did read the startpost of the thread, everyone would understand what the goal of the thread was and is.

 

A guy called "Metalguy66" wrote in a thread that the Atari ST was a piece of crap, and the Atari 8bit was superior to ST.

 

I thought: how many people would agree and how many would disagree with him.

 

That was all, and so my thread was born. No more, no less. That's it.

 

His opinion is not mine, and I do agree it is hard and useless to make this comparison.

 

But again: I was just interested in how many people would (dis)agree with it.

 

Greetz.

Marius

 

I think most of the rational/saner people here understand Maurius.

 

I own both, and love both machines. For me they fill very different niches.

 

I could never dump one for the other. Honestly, I do use my ST's *much* more

than my 8bit - but I still think they are both very cool, and that's why I

voted that way.

[desiv]

As pointless as my post then, well done for pointing that out. lol

 

But seriously, when have you ever seen a thread with the word "superior" in the topic ever go well? They always degrade eventually. The topic screams ultra oober fanboy if anything, which is fine, but still rather unrealistic comparison. I owned both so I know.

 

Yeah, just bugging you... :-)

 

Seriously tho.. I go back and forth on it...

 

Sometimes those threads can have some interesting information, and often spin off some other interesting ideas.

I know there's some good stuff dev wise that came out of one of the other X is better than Y threads...

 

But they do seem to eventually get really bad. To the point when someone new pops in, they get slammed by one side or the other, usually in a very insulting way..

 

It would be nice if it were possible to have those types of disagreements without it derailing and dragging the whole board down, but it seems destined to happen... Oh well..

 

desiv

 

And I'm not just saying that because the Mattel Aquarius is 1 millions times better than the Atari TT... KIDDING! Never used/seen the Aquarius.. KIDDING!!

[frogstar_robot]

 

And I'm not just saying that because the Mattel Aquarius is 1 millions times better than the Atari TT... KIDDING! Never used/seen the Aquarius.. KIDDING!!

 

Ways in which the Aquarius could be superior to ANY micro is an interesting thought in and of itself.

[Thorsten Günther]

 

And I'm not just saying that because the Mattel Aquarius is 1 millions times better than the Atari TT... KIDDING! Never used/seen the Aquarius.. KIDDING!!

 

Ways in which the Aquarius could be superior to ANY micro is an interesting thought in and of itself.

 

Erm, methinks the ZX80, ZX81 (and its clones like the Lambda 8300) and Jupiter Ace are inferior to the Aquarius, but then they were out years earlier. And against the V-Tech/Sanyo Laser 110 it doesn't look to bad either (shame that V-Tech/Sanyo quickly replaced it with the 210 an VZ200, both with twice as much RAM and colour capabilities). OTOH, one could easily purchase a 600XL(or 400), ZX Spectrum 16K, or Vic-20 in those years, each of these vastly superior.

 

Thorsten