The last batch of STs, circa 1993

[Junosix]

Don't know why I never really looked into this before, but I have what I believe is probably one of the last STs sold in the UK, a 1040STE bought from Silica in June 1994. I remember reading in a 1993 issue of ST Format that Atari were going to make one last batch of 10,000 STEs and I've had no reason to expect that mine isn't part of that batch - however I'd always wondered why the label on the bottom was a ropey-looking laser-printed sticker as opposed to the more professional grey one on every other ST (and other Atari products of the time). Took a look inside the machine today and if I'm reading the right numbers off the chips, it seems they were all manufactured around the middle of 1991 (all the Atari chips and the YM2149 are branded with numbers like 9135, 9142, etc.). Does anyone know whether the last batch were truly freshly-manufactured machines, or refurbished returns?

 

I've attached a photo of the sticker on the bottom of the STE for curiosity's sake, but also in the event that someone is able to decode the year from the serial number.

 

(I have, however, always been of the opinion that my first ST, a 520STFM, had been old stock lying around. Got it in March 1990, with the Power Pack bundle, but it had TOS 1.02. TOS 1.04 had been around for about a year by then. Or was it usual for Atari to have machines hanging around for a year before they sold?)

[Prosystemsearch]

Later Atari ST models should have had the AMY chip built inside them. :grin:

[Junosix]

Haha All STs should have!

[Lynxpro]

Uhm, the AMY chip would've had to have been finished first. What Atari Corp really screwed up on was their promise to provide BLitter upgrades for us 520ST/1040STf owners that they promised before the release of the Mega STs.

[Tenorman]

Well, there are a lot of things that "should have been" hardware wise.

 

Off the top of my head:

-The Blitter and sound upgrades that the STE got should have been the original spec.

-Separate mouse port.

-Two button joystick (Atari 7800 controller?) support.

 

Oh well, the past is past. Still a very fun computer.

[TXG/MNX]

Ohh I thought they had ethernet onboard ?

[Rybags]

STE is what the ST should have been in the first place.

 

The only extra ports are the enhanced joystick ports in addition to the normal ones. And the monitor port gives provision to sync to an external source in support of genlock.

 

Sound - the DMA sound in itself is OK enough, 4 voices pannable across either channel would have been better than 2 on fixed channels. Or of course, a DSP by default would be even better.

And IDE interface. And some sort of network interface.

Edited June 4, 2014 by Rybags

[Junosix]

Any ideas about my original question rather than playing a game of "what if?" Thanks

[Tenorman]

Nope, I think you will have trouble getting concrete information about this. Besides your idea about it being a refurb, they could have also just been trying to burn old parts inventory before pulling the plug completely and may have cut some corners (the label on the bottom) where they could.

[Junosix]

Thinking through, I reckon that's exactly what they were doing!

[shalroth]

...was it usual for Atari to have machines hanging around for a year before they sold?)

 

 

If memory serves, it was usual for Atari to have machines hanging around for FIVE years before they sold!

 

I got one of the 'unsold' Jaguars that Game found in a warehouse back in 2001 - from what I can tell it was manufactured in 1994, making it seven years sitting on a shelf!

[Junosix]

Blimey! You'd have thought in the STs heyday they'd have machines relatively flying off the shelves. Must have cost them a packet in storage.

Edited June 7, 2014 by Junosix

[shalroth]

Blimey! You'd have thought in the STs heyday they'd have machines relatively flying off the shelves. Must have cost them a packet in storage.

 

Atari struggled to meet demand for the STe in late 1993 / early 1994 in the UK, according to ST Format magazine... I got mine in december '93, around the time the high-street retailers were deciding not to stock them any more. For a while, you could get a 520STfm Discovery Pack from Dixons for £79... and they were being snapped up as soon as they were put out on the shelves! I remember they had a stack of them in the middle of the shop floor one day, at least twenty units... and the next day they'd all gone!