New owner of 65XE , need a little advice

[Aiboman]

Hi ,

 

Im a very proud new owner of my very first Atari computer , a 65XE and Star Raiders on cartridge

 

I got the computer so I could play Star Raiders a game I first played on a 2600 in the very early 80s and really had the urge to play again

 

So I have the computer and yes its fantastic but I would like to make it better, what options do I have to improve picture quality ? I did have it originally running via RF so as you can imagine wasnt the best , so I have since purchased a composite cable and while its imroved the quality somewhat its still not brilliant, so would love to hear what option I have ? Maybe some kind of AV mod ?

 

And I would really like to add some kind of SD card reader , so would love to hear what options I have there

 

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated

[+xucaen]

Hi ,

 

Im a very proud new owner of my very first Atari computer , a 65XE and Star Raiders on cartridge

 

I got the computer so I could play Star Raiders a game I first played on a 2600 in the very early 80s and really had the urge to play again

 

So I have the computer and yes its fantastic but I would like to make it better, what options do I have to improve picture quality ? I did have it originally running via RF so as you can imagine wasnt the best , so I have since purchased a composite cable and while its imroved the quality somewhat its still not brilliant, so would love to hear what option I have ? Maybe some kind of AV mod ?

 

And I would really like to add some kind of SD card reader , so would love to hear what options I have there

 

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated

 

 

I recently got an 800xl. IMO the Ultimate Cart is a must-have. If you are in the US contact user MacRorie, and in the UK contact user electrotrains.

[Aiboman]

Thanks for that , much appreciated

[manterola]

I've got the younger brother UnoCart and it is great. It has some limitations, but you can run 95 or 99% or the available software with it: binaries xex, ATRs and car/rom (cartridge images).

If you tight on budget I really recommend this cart. Once I got it I almost never used the sio2sd, sio2pc, or original carts anymore (for playing games).

[+slx]

There are a couple of video mods.

• UAV improves on the stock video and will provide you with a composite and S-video output and allows some adjustments. You'll need a monitor/TV with matching input (search for UAV thread here on the forum, available through a web shop now.)
• Sophia is available with RGB (VGA) or DVI output, probably the best option if you want to connect to a modern flatscreen(available from Simius here on atariage)
• VBXE adds graphics modes and has RGB output as well (available from Lotharek)
• there are a couple of do-it-yourself video mods around that will be better than stock but probably not as good as the above but cheaper

Which one you chose depends on budget and what kind of display you're aiming for.

 

There is a huge number of storage solutions, I am not an expert in that field but there are some threads on the forum to look for advice.

 

The main division is between SIO-based devices that emulate some kind of mass storage (usually a floppy drive).

• SIO2SD is the older, most common option. It is available bare or cased from Lotharek. You can use buttons on the devic as well as an application running on the Atari. AFAIK there is a way to work with single files as well without having to copy them to a disc image.
• SDrive is a simpler solution without display that also has some buttons but mainly relies on an Application running on the Atari to organize the discs
• SDriveMax is a new evolution of this built from an Arduino and a touchscreen. It can be built DIY mostly without soldering and uses the touchscreen (with a stylus) to organize floppies. The touchscreen is a bit larger than the display of the SIO2SD and AFAIK there's also an application for file management.

There are quite a number of flash and CF or SD cartridges, some of which allow to run a DOS and file system while others are more geared towards cart images.

 

It really depends what you're after (or if you don't know you can follow my example and get one of (almost) each just in case.....

[Aiboman]

I've got the younger brother UnoCart and it is great. It has some limitations, but you can run 95 or 99% or the available software with it: binaries xex, ATRs and car/rom (cartridge images).

If you tight on budget I really recommend this cart. Once I got it I almost never used the sio2sd, sio2pc, or original carts anymore (for playing games).

[Aiboman]

So what are the differences then between the cart type and sio2sd type then , dont they basically just do the same thing ?

[Aiboman]

Thanks six , very helpful

[+xucaen]

So what are the differences then between the cart type and sio2sd type then , dont they basically just do the same thing ?

 

 

The SIO2SD emulates a floppy drive and lets you load floppy disk images. The SD carts emulate a cartridge and allow you to play cartridge roms. Sounds like the UnoCart can also emulate floppy drive through the cartridge slot? I'm not familiar with it but I found this discussion that talks about it more. http://atariage.com/forums/topic/275875-atari-800xl;-sio2sd-or-uno-cart/

[256 colors]

I dunno what sort of power supply unit you have might be worth while investing in a new one

Some older PSU can fucked up the system and kill chips inside the machine depending on what you have

 

These are good units https://lotharek.pl/productdetail.php?id=176