How many of us have real A8 Machines?

[Gunstar]

17 hours ago, kiwilove said:

I only have a 800XL - and I run it rarely these days - if only just so it still runs OK?

I do want a Atari 800 and a Atari 400 - but can only pay rock bottom prices for them.  I would only run them a few times per year.

Do not knock emulation - it has it's uses - like for developing new games for the old hardware.

 

Harvey

 

 

I don't knock emulation in general (or new boards that emulate Atari custom IC's within the real computer), I use it for other computers and consoles that I play once in a while (especially emulated systems on my Dreamcast) and I use Altirra with Rastaconverter. But being a hardware guy, I love using and working on the real Atari hardware as much as using the software, Without it half my hobby is erased, and I don't get enough joy out of just running Atari software via emulation to sustain it as a "hobby." Emulation is all right for my passing fancy with most other systems (I still want a real C64 system though). Emulation alone for Atari 8-bits sucks and blows for me, I must have my original gadgets!

 

As far a development of software, I'm still learning to program and that is a way off for me yet, but even so, my enjoyment of programming comes from programming on my ATARI, so even when that time comes, I'll be doing it the old-school way on the actual machine, using the old hardware and working on it is what gives me the joy and ambition, without it, just programming, even for an Atari, on a different machine holds no interest for me at all. It's all about using the vintage hardware for me, whether hacking the hardware, gaming, using productivity applications or programming, without the real hardware to use, my interest fades to near zero. I certainly don't knock emulation for others, if it's good enough for them, it's just not my personal cup of tea. If emulation encourages other's to program software for Atari's then I'm all for it, for them. I like new software to use on my old Atari so kudos to those that do it! Personally I'd just find another hobby if I had to rely on emulation alone.

Edited December 3, 2020 by Gunstar

[Gunstar]

7 hours ago, orpheuswaking said:

Well I can tell you in that 9 years I have accumulated MANY more machines 

Only the 800 is new for me in the last decade as far as Atari computers, but yes, I've accumulated lots of peripherals and upgrades since back then...but I don't feel like listing them here now or doing the poll. If anyone wants to know, they can find out what I have in my profiles here and on other Atari forums.

Edited December 3, 2020 by Gunstar

[Mr Robot]

1x 800XL

1x 1088XEL

1x 576NUC+

 

Yes I do count all of those as real machines. I have no intention of ever getting any more. I'll get another 800XL if the one I have dies.

 

2. I will buy any type of game

3. I will not pay for new cart games*

4. Any price if I want the game enough

 

*At this stage in my life I am not interested in accumulating more ephemera, I have AVGCART, Ultimate Cart, Sdrive-Max, Fujinet, SIO2PC, XEL-CFIII. I don't want any original media or drives. If a game is available as a CAR/XEX/ATR and I want the game, I'm happy to pay for it. If it's only available on 'real' media, I'll just have to pass. There's no way I'm buying a dying 1050 or 1010 to load magnetic media.  No offence to anyone who only sells on cart, one of my machines doesn't even have a cart slot, I have no means to get the contents off the cart and into a usable (to me) format, I have no intention of wearing out my aging cart ports any more than I have to.

 

[Preppie]

Well, seen as though everyone else is doing it

 

Atari 800

Atari 800xl

(1050 & 1010)

 

also

 

C64

zx81

 

[Dmitry]

Back in the day, my progress was Atari 400->800XL->130XE

And as the 16-bit era began, I nevertheless bought one more 8-bit machine, a Tandy Color Computer 3, because it had upgraded graphics and could go to 512k on a budget price.  However, by taht time I was already used to certain requirements, such as a disk drive, monitor and modem.  I never got the all the pieces for the Tandy Coco in place, and I simply owned the base unit, never used it. 

 

Right now I have a 1200XL and 130XE and a Coco 3 (the Coco 3, once again, don't really have the full system in place, darn it!)

 

Anyway, I was collecting for a bit, but now, I'm not, I will just keep the the 1200XL and 130XE as a backup.

And - I personally would be glad to purchase new software.  I would especially like an 80-column terminal emulator to support VBXE.

I would pay for an AtariAge client that uses FujiNet.   And games are always fun, of course

[mimo]

are we doing this again? Whilst this thread was sleeping I sold most of my stuff, then re-purchased

400 PAL (on loan to Candle)

400 NTSC

800 PAL

800 NTSC (smashed case)

600 XL PAL

800 XL PAL (x3)

1200 XL NTSC

65 XE PAL (dead)

XEGS PAL (2)

1050, 1010 (x2), 410 (x2), xc12 (x3)

520 STfm PAL

1040 STE PAL

7800 NTSC

7800 PAL (x3)

Thinking I should cash some of this in ?‍♂️

 

I would probably pay for a download of a new game, but no interest in buying any more carts / discs/tapes. I don't have enough space for everything as it is 

Edited December 4, 2020 by mimo

[Voxel]

This is like an AA meeting for me...

 

I used to have over 40 Atari 8-bit machines, now I have less.

[Dinadan67]

21 hours ago, Mr Robot said:

I have no intention of ever getting any more.

Really? When Mytek creates the next cool project you will pass? ?

[Peruchi]

Atari XEGS (NTSC)

Atari 600XL (PAL)

[adam242]

I have begun to make a semi-serious attempt at downsizing.. in the past year or so I have sold an XEGS, a 1200XL and one of my 800s, as well as a sizable portion of my cart collection. Still have way too many A8 machines (twenty).. see my signature for the current roster.

[Colonel Llama]

I own XEGS and 600XL, both NTSC. The 600XL doesn’t work unfortunately.

[Mrarkus]

My little list:

 

3 x 800 - One with Incognito and soon SCCC

2 x 1200XL - 32-in-1 OS switcher, SV 2.1, and new mylars in both.

2 x 800XL - both with U1Mb and SIDE2, one with Sophia DVI, other with UAV

1 x 65XE - U1Mb and UAV

2 x 600XL - waiting for parts, my next projects

 

I'd pay for a cart if the game was good, but mostly to support good effort, as I'm not a big gamer anymore, enjoying hardware building and assembly development in what little time I have...

[Gunstar]

54 minutes ago, adam242 said:

I have begun to make a semi-serious attempt at downsizing.. in the past year or so I have sold an XEGS, a 1200XL and one of my 800s, as well as a sizable portion of my cart collection. Still have way too many A8 machines (twenty).. see my signature for the current roster.

This is what I did over a decade ago. I'm happy with my 2 1200XL's  and 800, and upgrading them. I'm still collecting peripherals for them though, I have a nearly complete XL system and I'm still working on the 800 system with all available Atari-brand peripherals besides printers, except for my 1020 plotter and I want one of the 800's 40-column printers too, preferably the 820, but I'll settle for the 822. I have a Panasonic 24-pin dot-matrix printer and other Atari brand printers would be a downgrade. The second 1200XL I still haven't decided to keep it for a back-up, or totally upgrade and mod it too. I actually have a third 1200XL and an 800XL in my possession too, but those I'm restoring and upgrading as gifts for others. I'll get a C64 set-up eventually, but nothing else. I'm happy with what I have.

Edited December 5, 2020 by Gunstar

[chevymad]

My original 400, upgraded to 48k and UAV.

2 800xl, one with U1MB and UAV, the other stock but without the atari chips...

1088XEL

1088XLD (where those Atari chips went..) with VBXE , GBS board, MIDI with synthesizer.

Sdrive NUXX

 

Not very interested in vintage drives or printers, but I wouldn't refuse an Indus GT like I used to have.

[VW]

800 and 800XL, had to replace keyboards in both of them but they now work great.

[+mytek]

On 12/4/2020 at 9:18 PM, chevymad said:

Not very interested in vintage drives or printers, but I wouldn't refuse an Indus GT like I used to have.

To show you how much I use my Indus, I have yet to install @tf_hh's Ram Charger upgrade which I've had for probably well over a year now. It'll happen, but other things just keep getting in my way (all of my own doing).

 

[Gunstar]

I still love using vintage floppy drives, and use them 90% of the time, even though I have MyIDE II on the 1200XL and Incognito on the 800, and 2 SDrive Max's; one I assembled, but never use and another I still have yet to assemble. The SDrive Max's I've decided I'll gift with the 1200XL and 800XL I'm gifting. I also have The!Cart and of course SIO2PC&APE.

 

I have two Indus GT's and and 810 for my 800 and two Happy 1050's and a CA-2001 (which has CP/M ability already and so have felt no need to upgrade my Indus GT's) for my 1200XL. I still love playing multi-disk games and apps that use more than one drive for less or no disk swapping. Probably because it was a dream to have multiple floppy drives back in the day for software that used more than one, and now that I have them, my dream is full-filled (and I love using vintage hardware). So I'm the opposite of most people these days who use multiple virtual floppy drives. I also still use my 1010 and 410 on occasion just for kicks, but my 1010 I upgraded with Rambit, so software loads just about as fast on it as my standard 810. It's all about using lots of different hardware to me though, not about the most convenient or fastest way to load stuff. I'm a patient man.

 

I'm the same way with my audio/video equipment. I have a CED, Laserdisc, VHS/S-VHS, DVD, Video CD, and Blue-ray players. On the audio side, I have reel-to-reel, 8-track, cassette, CD, MP3 and LP turntable. And I use them all. But I like this because I can use just about every media format I find in the wild at thrift stores, flea markets, vintage shops, etc. I have extensive libraries for all.

 

I just love using and working with electronic hardware, vintage and modern.

Edited December 7, 2020 by Gunstar

[AHA]

i have an 800 + 810 with archiver + 410

130xe with quad pokey half installed!

xegs + 125 carts... and yes i buy carts most recent bomb jake, turbo freezer, rescue expedition....

soi2sd + sdrive max + ultimate cart

 

 

[+gnusto]

I feel kind of inadequate compared to some of the people in this post.

 

* One 800 NTSC

* One 800 PAL

* 800XL NTSC

* 1 65XE NTSC

* 2 130XE NTSC

* 1088XEL (which is what I spend most of my time on)

* various drives and such (some 810, 1050, an Indus)

 

There's an equivalent set of CBM stuff, and an Apple IIe in there as well, because 6502 forever.

[shoestring]

Atari 800 with Incognito and SCCC - NTSC 

Stock 800XL - PAL

600Xl with Antonia - PAL

Stock 65XE - PAL

 

[gilsaluki]

On 12/6/2020 at 9:05 PM, mytek said:

To show you how much I use my Indus, I have yet to install @tf_hh's Ram Charger upgrade which I've had for probably well over a year now. It'll happen, but other things just keep getting in my way (all of my own doing).

 

What exactly is this upgrade, SRAM Charger for Indus GT?  I have two I. GTs in my setup.  Never heard of this upgrade.  

[Gunstar]

3 minutes ago, gilsaluki said:

What exactly is this upgrade, SRAM Charger for Indus GT?  I have two I. GTs in my setup.  Never heard of this upgrade.  

It's for CP/M compatibility. Here is the thread about it: https://atariage.com/forums/topic/281467-sram-charger-for-indus-gt-interest-poll/#comments

Edited December 9, 2020 by Gunstar

[Guest]

Just (last year, and! Not even had a play yet) got a refurbished clean presentable 800XL.

I want an XEGS but can't get one.

 

If anyone has a reasonably priced one for sale in the UK please do message me

[SS]

I just picked up a new (to me) Hong Kong made 800XL with an AWC keyboard for a not too terrible price.  Mostly because I needed the keyboard if I can get my rogue 600XL motherboard finally working and I can use the other chips as needed (like the MMU, of which I don't have any more spares left).  However, although it's listed as "untested", this new machine looks to be in fairly decent shape.  Maybe if it is I might decide to do some upgrades on it and then resell it instead.  We'll see.

[+Spancho]

1x 800 pal

1x 800 ntsc

2x 400 48k ntsc 1 b-keyboard

1x 600xl pal + 1064

7x 800xl pal

1x 1200xl ntsc

1x 65xe pal

1x 130xe pal

1x xegs pal

1x 1088xel pal

 

2x 7800 pal

1x 5200 ntsc

 

2x Lynx II

 

4x 810

3x 1050

2x xf551

1x Indus GT

1x Rana