XL or XE Inside a 1200XL Case?

[MEtalGuy66]

You know.. 

After collecting my thoughts on this subject.. 

Here's what I will say, as I'm sure Flashjazzcat will agree, it's probably the most relevant point concerning this topic:

 

Alot of people have great love for the look, ergonomics, and keyboard of the 1200XL.. 

Years ago, you couldn't do things like "separate antic & CPU access to extended banks" in DIY mods without extensively additional wiring & assembly of discrete logic..

You certainly couldn't even dream of things like a meg of ram in 2 chips on a single small upgrade board that goes in any Atari with only a few wires to hook up. So back then it made a lot of sense to start with the motherboard that was closest to the "end product". 

 

Thanks to the huge increase in availability, economy, and scale of programmable logic devices, and the hard work of people like Candle, Lotharek, Mega-Hz, Simius, Flashjazzcat (and many others that I apologize for not mentioning,) the situation has changed tremendously in the last 2 decades.  There are quite a few easy options for these, and many other previously "formidable" upgrades these days. 

It matters much less which XL/XE motherboard you start with these days, from a mod installation complexity standpoint..

For me, the PBI is still the deal-breaker for the 1200XL board, but others may be happy with the alternatives that Flashjazzcat mentioned.   

 

And if you are willing to do a "motherboard transplant" then why not go with something truly bad-ass like the Eclaire XL? 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 9, 2020 by MEtalGuy66