What is your 8-bit Daily Driver?

[Albert]

Originally I was going to just ask, "800XL or 130XE?", but figured there would be people still using Atari 800 computers, as well as others such as the XE Game System. My main interest, though, is between the 800XL and 130XE, as these were the two machines I had "back in the day" that saw active use.

 

My first Atari 8-bit computer was an 800XL purchased at Toys 'R' Us back when they had such things behind glass display cases, you pulled a ticket to buy the items you were interested in, paid for them, and picked them up at the Security Ticket Booth. I purchased the machine with a 1030 modem and a 1050 floppy drive. This was my first computer, and I purchased it with monies saved from mowing lawns.

 

I taught myself AtariBASIC (by typing in tons of programs from magazines such as Antic! and ANALOG), and ultimately taught myself 6502 Assembly as well. A friend of mine upgraded the machine to 256K of RAM, which worked great as a RAM disk. Eventually I started a BBS for a local computer user group, and over time encompassed the following 8-bit hardware:

 

- 1MB MIO board

- XEP80 80-column adapter

- SpartaDOS X cartridge

- R-TIme 8 cartridge

- Atari BASIC Rev. C cartridge

- Various US Robotics modems

- Dot matrix printer

- Commodore 1702 Monitor

- Magnavox 80-column monitor

- Two US Doublerized 1050 Drives

- Two Indus GT Drives

- Two 20MB hard drives (one was an ST-225, the other was some Micropolis drive)

- Adaptec hard drive controller board

- Big PC AT case that held the hard drives, power supply, and Adaptec board

 

I had both monitors hooked up at once, as the Carina II BBS would support use of both at the same time (you could edit a user in real-time while watching the BBS output through the XEP80). This was a fun setup, and I ran the BBS for several years on this hardware.

 

I ended up purchasing a 130XE to use as my "main" computer since the 800XL was tied up with the BBS. I played so many great games on these computers, learned to program in several languages, and met tons of awesome people through my and other local BBSs, many of whom I still keep in touch with today.

 

Ultimately, though, I sold my huge 800XL setup when I went off to college. At that point, I ended up buying an Atari ST and started programming on it (Ahhh, memories of Mark Williams C!) I wish I had held onto all that hardware!

 

At any rate, between the 800XL and 130XE, I preferred the 800XL. It seemed less like a "toy" than the 130XE, but that was probably due to the styling. The 800XL felt better built, but not nearly as well built as an 800, of course. The keyboard was much better on the XL, and those XE keyboards were a huge pain. Some friends and I once had a "party" where we fixed a large number of 130XE keyboards in one sitting. I have a photo of that I'll dig up and post to the forum later.

 

The cartridge port on the 800XL was more conveniently placed, although I had to be very careful due to the stack of three cartridges I had sitting in it. If I accidentally touched the stack, it could crash the computer (and naturally, bring the BBS down!) So, the 130XE had Rev. C BASIC built in, which was a good thing. These days, of course, I would have just replaced the BASIC inside the 800XL, but I did not have the means to do so back then.

 

So, my heart is still with the 800XL, and that's what I use as my day-to-day 8-bit, even though I own one or more 400, 800, 800XL, 130XE, and 1200XL machines (not sure if I have a 65XE).

 

I'm curious what everyone else uses? I assume most people are using XL and XE machines. Also curious how many people have added additional RAM to their computers. The 800XL I'm using now is stock, no modifications at all.

 

..Al

[+Allan]

I use a 130XE with a couple of 1050s plus my SIO2PC (which is not working at the moment do to a driver issues.). I still haven't upgraded my 130XE. I spend most of my free 8-bit time scanning 8-bit documents so the Atari just sits there. When I'm not scanning stuff I'm trying to archive 8-bit programs to get them over to the Net. The other thing I do is type in listings from 8-bit books so that people don't have to type them in. I'm working on Adventures with the Atari by Jack Hardy. It has programs written in Atari Basic, Microsoft Atari Basic and Pilot.

 

Allan

 

[adam242]

800 with Incognito. Covers all the bases. :-)

[Sikor]

65XE, PAL, 320KB, Stereo, 4-os: standard, 800 os, Qmeg 3xx, Qmeg 4.0 (this os I use usually), connected with SIO2SD. I has SIO2IDE building inside, but unfortunatelly HD inside is defected - maybe some day I replace HD with CF card (only interface is needed for SIO2IDE).

[AtariTexas]

Originally I was going to just ask, "800XL or 130XE?", but figured there would be people still using Atari 800 computers, as well as others such as the XE Game System. My main interest, though, is between the 800XL and 130XE, as these were the two machines I had "back in the day" that saw active use.

 

My first Atari 8-bit computer was an 800XL purchased at Toys 'R' Us back when they had such things behind glass display cases, you pulled a ticket to buy the items you were interested in, paid for them, and picked them up at the Security Ticket Booth. I purchased the machine with a 1030 modem and a 1050 floppy drive. This was my first computer, and I purchased it with monies saved from mowing lawns.

 

I taught myself AtariBASIC (by typing in tons of programs from magazines such as Antic! and ANALOG), and ultimately taught myself 6502 Assembly as well. A friend of mine upgraded the machine to 256K of RAM, which worked great as a RAM disk. Eventually I started a BBS for a local computer user group, and over time encompassed the following 8-bit hardware:

 

- 1MB MIO board

- XEP80 80-column adapter

- SpartaDOS X cartridge

- R-TIme 8 cartridge

- Atari BASIC Rev. C cartridge

- Various US Robotics modems

- Dot matrix printer

- Commodore 1702 Monitor

- Magnavox 80-column monitor

- Two US Doublerized 1050 Drives

- Two Indus GT Drives

- Two 20MB hard drives (one was an ST-225, the other was some Micropolis drive)

- Adaptec hard drive controller board

- Big PC AT case that held the hard drives, power supply, and Adaptec board

 

I had both monitors hooked up at once, as the Carina II BBS would support use of both at the same time (you could edit a user in real-time while watching the BBS output through the XEP80). This was a fun setup, and I ran the BBS for several years on this hardware.

 

I ended up purchasing a 130XE to use as my "main" computer since the 800XL was tied up with the BBS. I played so many great games on these computers, learned to program in several languages, and met tons of awesome people through my and other local BBSs, many of whom I still keep in touch with today.

 

Ultimately, though, I sold my huge 800XL setup when I went off to college. At that point, I ended up buying an Atari ST and started programming on it (Ahhh, memories of Mark Williams C!) I wish I had held onto all that hardware!

 

At any rate, between the 800XL and 130XE, I preferred the 800XL. It seemed less like a "toy" than the 130XE, but that was probably due to the styling. The 800XL felt better built, but not nearly as well built as an 800, of course. The keyboard was much better on the XL, and those XE keyboards were a huge pain. Some friends and I once had a "party" where we fixed a large number of 130XE keyboards in one sitting. I have a photo of that I'll dig up and post to the forum later.

 

The cartridge port on the 800XL was more conveniently placed, although I had to be very careful due to the stack of three cartridges I had sitting in it. If I accidentally touched the stack, it could crash the computer (and naturally, bring the BBS down!) So, the 130XE had Rev. C BASIC built in, which was a good thing. These days, of course, I would have just replaced the BASIC inside the 800XL, but I did not have the means to do so back then.

 

So, my heart is still with the 800XL, and that's what I use as my day-to-day 8-bit, even though I own one or more 400, 800, 800XL, 130XE, and 1200XL machines (not sure if I have a 65XE).

 

I'm curious what everyone else uses? I assume most people are using XL and XE machines. Also curious how many people have added additional RAM to their computers. The 800XL I'm using now is stock, no modifications at all.

 

..Al

 

 

 

I remember those days.....lol.....good times!

[AtariTexas]

lol....I remember those days...good times!

 

Still pounding on an 800 myself

[roland p]

I haven't set up my Atari 800XL in years...

 

We first had a 600XL + 1064 memory upgrade, because this set was the cheapest. Later, when the 800XL was down in price, my dad bought that one.

 

We also got the casette (1010), plotter (1020), and the diskdrive (1050). The diskdrive was a broken one, since my father liked to buy cheap stuff, years later my father managed to fix it

 

Later when it was on sale, we bought an 800XE. Mainly for the games, since it came with a lot of cartridges.

I also had the XEGS, but unfortunately, it broke.

 

The final Atari I would like to have is the 800. Its style is great (I like the covered cartridges and the facets) and it looks like it's built like a tank .

Edited July 15, 2014 by roland p

[Rybags]

Emulation for most things actually. 130XE is sitting on the desk now but it's not my main machine.

 

Main box is my 800XL that I've had since new in 1984. Ultimate 1 Meg and VBXE built in. Main peripheral additions are IDE Plus 2, SIDE, SIO2SD.

 

I don't use the real hardware near as much as I used to... of the 11 or so machines I've got, most haven't even been powered on for over 2 years.

[flashjazzcat]

Emulation for development, in practice, but main machine is a VBXE/Ultimate equipped PAL-modded 1200XL which is functionally identical to an upgraded 800XL. I've got a two XLs and an XE with similar specs, but the 1200XL is just such a joy to behold and to use.

[Albert]

I'm not familiar with some of these modifications. I need to do some searching.

 

I also love the 1200XL, and I believe I have two of them. Not sure how much work it is to make it "functionally identical" to an upgraded 800XL.

 

..Al

[Algus]

Technically Atari800MacX since I don't keep the 800XL hooked up. I'm fascinated by the setups people have (or had) to get practical work done on the Atari 8-bit but my primary interest in the system is for games.

 

I've been tempted to pick up a 130XE. Late 80s is more my thing since I was actually old enough to remember things that happened in the late 80s!

[flashjazzcat]

I also love the 1200XL, and I believe I have two of them. Not sure how much work it is to make it "functionally identical" to an upgraded 800XL.

A fair bit, Albert. The whole process is described here: http://atariage.com/forums/blog/281-flashjazzcats-blog/

 

Still looking for a second 1200XL to keep stock, but I guess I'm lucky to have one at all.

Edited July 15, 2014 by flashjazzcat

[potatohead]

I've got a 400 and 800XL. Once in a while I get the 400 out for some games. It just looks so damn cool. But the workhorse is 800XL.

[+bob1200xl]

1200XL + USD 1050 - XF551 - SIO2USB

 

Usually just a naked 1200XL motherboard with some kind of WIP on it.

 

Bob

[+FujiSkunk]

A 130XE is my primary Atari 8-bit. I think the 800XL is better looking and better designed. To put it subjectively, the 800XL seems proud to be an 8-bit, where the 130XE has an inferiority complex after sitting next to its bigger ST cousins. But since I mostly use these systems to make screencaps nowadays, I prefer the native S-video capability of the 130XE. I know the 800XL can be modded to provide true chroma and luma signals as well, but I haven't gotten that far yet.

[Albert]

A 130XE is my primary Atari 8-bit. I think the 800XL is better looking and better designed. To put it subjectively, the 800XL seems proud to be an 8-bit, where the 130XE has an inferiority complex after sitting next to its bigger ST cousins. But since I mostly use these systems to make screencaps nowadays, I prefer the native S-video capability of the 130XE. I know the 800XL can be modded to provide true chroma and luma signals as well, but I haven't gotten that far yet.

I forgot about the native S-Video capabilities of the 130XE, so that's definitely a nod to that machine. I was using one with a Commodore 1702 and the picture was just stunning. Especially compared to television sets many people were using, or even a monitor with just composite input.

 

..Al

[MEtalGuy66]

[20ohm20]

Atari 800 w/48KB RAM

Two Atari 810 drives (one w/Happy Upgrade)

Atari 410

Atari 850

Atari 830 modem

Panasonic P-1090 dot matrix printer

Commodore 1702 monitor

SIO2PC (serial)

 

I have other Atari 8-bit computers, but most of them are ugly (very yellow) and/or have issues. My 800 and the unmodified 810 was purchased from Best Electronics a few years ago and are immaculate inside and out.

[Paul Westphal]

My systems change on a regular basis because I sell them, and I love them all. My XEGS was cool and quirky, but too big. The 48k 400 was cool. The 130xe was used to show larger/better demos at shows, but felt cheap I'm currently running a 800xl with svideo, myide2, and an IndusGT, with stereo in the plans. Ideally I want a 64k 600xl with svideo and stereo...the smallest footprint of them all.

[gozar]

800XL (Christmas 1984) with RAMBO 258K upgrade, Ape Warp+ 32-in-1 OS upgrade, video modded

Ape SIO2PC-USB and Lenovo laptop

XF551

XF551 with 3.5" drive

Atari 850 (connected to a Livingston Portmaster terminal server)

Commodore 1702 monitor

IDE+ with 2GB CF

 

Currently using it to learn Action! and for IRC. For games I have a XEGS on the living room TV and a 64K 600XL on the basement TV. For portable games I have Colleen running on a JXD-S5110b.

[low.blow]

Atari 400! My parents bought me one when they first came out. Eventually got an 850 and 830. Also eventually got it upgraded to 48k and my parents bought me a rana 1000. So that is the system I use now. This is all nostalgia for me, so I'm not real interested in owning hardware I didn't own back in the day(except sio2pc of course - I love that thing). I don't mind playing with games/software on altirra that won't run on my system. I stopped using computers for a bit shortly after the xl's came out. I wanted a 1450xld soooo bad back then, but I never really got a chance to use any of the xl's. Until Amiga, my computer time was spent on a friend's c64.

 

Edit: forgot to mention the 410 before owning a disk drive.

Edited July 15, 2014 by low.blow

[TMR]

Just a stock 800XL with an SIO2SD here... in fact all of my A8s are 800XLs apart from one 600XL which seems to have become one with the Moon Patrol cartridge! =-)

[Albert]

It's cool to see the results so far--the 800XL has the lead with 41% of the vote, with the 130XE in second with 24% of the vote. But all the machines have at least one vote, and it's interesting that the 1200XL has three votes. Does anyone know how many 1200XLs Atari produced? They seem to be more common than I envisioned. I never saw them at all "back in the day". And I have two of them at present.

 

..Al

[Sub(Function(:))]

I have a stock 800 (48K)

Picture quality is great and the keyboard is really nice.

For storage, most of the SD flash systems, SIO2USB, APE (USB) and 3 1050s

 

Also have a 130XE but the RAM has been removed, and is WiP.

 

For the 800 I want to add extra memory, a MyIDE interface and stereo, life is just getting in the way what really matters

[pixelmischief]

I use an Atari 130XE. Thanks to Candle and MetalGuy, it is equipped with an Ultimate 1MB and a VBXE 2.0. For storage I use a MyIDE II, XF-551 5 1/4", an XF-551 3 1/2", and an SIO2SD; but not all at the same time. The VBXE 2.0 is pushing RGB and I have that feeding into and back out of an SCART to HDMI converter. Next on my list of upgrades is a Stereo Pokey. Yoomp just sounds too good in stereo not to.