Jump to content
IGNORED

Does ANYONE have an Atari PC1 ONLY (not other PCs)


oky2000

Recommended Posts

Thanks charliecron for the files!!

Now we need the Docs/manuals. Anyone have any they would be willing to post here? We have part of the PC-1 user's manual, but missing several pages.

 

Also, I have a dead PCH204, and could use the Doc's for this too. The actual drive is bad. It just clicks once when power is applied from the original or other known working PSU. I think the 204's adapter board is ok. With the bad HD attached the activity light kept blinking as though it was trying to access the HD. But I can't be sure without a working HD.

 

I also need a XT 83 key keyboard. The one I have that works is from my 5150, but it is a pain to move back and forth. The few I see on ebay are very expensive. AT keyboards do not work, I now have a small collection of them I tried out that I got from a local recycler.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well I dug out what I had, it's not much. But, some useful information for sure. It looks like the original photocopier cherry-picked what he/she thought would be useful. They probobly had to pay by the page back in the day to photocopy this! There is info on booting from external floppy, the keyboard, Turbo Mode, Video modes, numeric coprocessor jumpers, specs, pinouts.

 

Charlie

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well I dug out what I had, it's not much. But, some useful information for sure. It looks like the original photocopier cherry-picked what he/she thought would be useful. They probobly had to pay by the page back in the day to photocopy this! There is info on booting from external floppy, the keyboard, Turbo Mode, Video modes, numeric coprocessor jumpers, specs, pinouts.

 

Charlie

 

 

 

Very helpful!!! Many thanks again!!

 

Anyone else have any PC-1 Docs? Specifically the yellow cover, white spiral bound manuals?

Also anything for the PCH204?

 

Thanks Everyone!!

Edited by KLund1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Mine has 640k, and a the 8087-1, PCH204, PCM124, 2x-PC-x551 FDD's. Still working on getting the PCH204 up and running. Ordered a working 42MB HD. Still need an XT keyboard, and a complete set of Atari docs. I'll post a pic when I get the PCH204 working.

Yours looks very good. What kind of monitor are you using with it?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 months later...

Never had the PC1 but I had a boxed PCM124 monitor. I do know where it is - I left it in the loft of my old house when I sold it, along with CUB monitors that came with some BBC computers and all kinds of other large and bulky computer junk I didn't want to hoard any longer :lolblue:

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

I got my PC1, PCH204, PCM124 off ebay about 2+ ys ago. If I recall it was listed for parts/repair, but it was an easy fix. I think it was for about $250usd including shipping. A also got 2 PCF551's, one never opened, for $100usd at about the same time. I finally found a very close Atari matching size & color keyboard. Added a 8087, and now have a fully assembled working PC1 system.

 

Many thanks to Tjlaser and charliecron for the disk images to get it working!

 

Still looking for the matching doc though.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 years later...

Hello fellow Atarians!

 

I am an Atarian since 1988 with an 800XL and an ST!

I live in Greece and I am a retro gamer and Atari enthusiast.

 

I thought, you'd like to see a few photos of my Atari PC1:

 

pc1beauty.th.jpg

 

pc1side.th.jpg

 

pc1front.th.jpg

 

pc1books.th.jpg

 

pc1boxes.th.jpg

 

Yes I have the boxes as well!

 

However, this is NOT for sale!

I posted these photos in retromaniax.gr, a Greek retro gaming (and not only) forum, in Atari forum and here, to see the marvellous PC1, because I know there aren't many photos of this machine on the net.

Here is the link to the original retromaniax page: http://www.retromani...;αση

 

Note: You cannot see the photos in visitor mode.

 

Thanx for keeping the Atari spirit alive, guys!

Greetings from Greece!

 

Well, the hosted photos are gone from my original post, so here they are again:

 

post-35075-0-90874800-1520848486.jpg

 

post-35075-0-16734600-1520848492.jpg

 

post-35075-0-84060100-1520848494.jpg

 

post-35075-0-56662800-1520848482.jpg

 

post-35075-0-46022500-1520848489.jpg

 

:)

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just saw this thread and have to say, if modern Atari just took this design and released it as their Ataribox, I would buy it. Never did like the tower form factor, just seemed to make everything so generic.

This. I would love a modern PC in this style of case, maybe updated with varying color options but still.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...

I was always surprised, based on Jack Tramiel's ability to cut costs, that Atari wasn't more of a force in the PC clone world. Did they not put enough of an effort into it because of the ST? Why did they not put more effort behind it, I wonder?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was always surprised, based on Jack Tramiel's ability to cut costs, that Atari wasn't more of a force in the PC clone world. Did they not put enough of an effort into it because of the ST? Why did they not put more effort behind it, I wonder?

 

Because somehow "Packard Bell" sounded like the name of a serious PC company as opposed to "Atari" for the average American consumer. That and they got flamed by the PC community over the lack of PC expansion slots because they thought it crazy to have ports and stuff attached to the motherboard. This was long before Intel's ATX design became standard and an expectation.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was always surprised, based on Jack Tramiel's ability to cut costs, that Atari wasn't more of a force in the PC clone world. Did they not put enough of an effort into it because of the ST? Why did they not put more effort behind it, I wonder?

 

I had a computer shop in the late 80's, and when the Atari rep came in to visit in in '88, he said for us to expect 90% of Atari sales to become their PC sales.

 

That never happened, and there was no word spoken otherwise about it.

 

We had one PC1 in and it took a long time to sell. We sold a lot more of the traditional looking XT based Atari and Commodore PC's.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was always surprised, based on Jack Tramiel's ability to cut costs, that Atari wasn't more of a force in the PC clone world. Did they not put enough of an effort into it because of the ST? Why did they not put more effort behind it, I wonder?

 

Why would anyone buy an Atari branded PC clone in 1987?

 

In the U.S. Tandy had a full store presence in almost every town, and the Tandy 1000 series were widely available, extremely successful, and expandable.

 

In the U.K. and Europe, Amstrad/Schneider had their PC1512s and PC1640s which were widely available, extremely successful, and expandable.

 

Tramiel had burned bridges left and right with both suppliers and retailers. He had a very limited distribution network, and fading brand recognition which, such that is was, potential customers associated it with games, not computers. And with the PC standard essentially being open, aiming to be the low-cost leader is a race to the bottom, as Gateway found out.

 

I love the Atari PC1. I wish I had one. Its so damn cute. And it uses the same floppy disk and mouse interface as the ST. But I also remember looking at the PC1 back in 1988, and being told by an Atari representative that it was not expandable at all. I was surprised to find out later it does in fact have an internal expansion bus and a single 8bit ISA card could have been installed. Atari's marketing and customer support under Trameil was incompetent.

 

Apple, Amstrad, Dell, Compaq, HP, Tandy and even IBM made money in the consumer market offering machines that were capable, but also available, and most importantly marketed and supported.

 

Trameil never seemed to figure that last part out.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

He was able to convince big discount stores, like K-Mart, to carry Commodore computers. This increased his sales, but ruined his rep with dealers, since the discounters cut the computers' prices drastically.

 

After the mid-80's most large discounters stopped selling computers, and no dealer wanted to touch anything Tramiel made.

 

Not sure why Kmart dropped computers; perhaps they realized the cheap 8-bit market was dying, & the ST was too expensive. Or perhaps they realized selling computers required an amount of expertise they lacked. Or both.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

...

Not sure why Kmart dropped computers; perhaps they realized the cheap 8-bit market was dying, & the ST was too expensive. Or perhaps they realized selling computers required an amount of expertise they lacked. Or both.

I would vote for latest. This is here and now exactly same case: Media Markt and Tesco (2 biggest here) just removed PC selling divisions in last couple years. People just did not like to buy at them because salesmen were really poor with elementary knowledge, + what was in offer was not best choice. They missed experts for what to order from manufacturers, resellers ,,,

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...