Atari XEGS or Atari 65XE computer???

[Sugarland]

11 hours ago, BIGHMW said:

In that case, will the fire button act as a start or reset button so I don't ever have to pull out the console except for powering it on/off or for rebooting the Ultimate Cart with its built-in button when switching games/files???

 

That would perhaps sway me over to the XEGS despite the hefty price tags for them on eBay. The separate keyboard can then simply rest stored inside of a drawer and I'll never need to break it out and connect it except for games that utilize it, i.e. like Star Raiders

 

Well the XEGS can use a PS2 keyboard adapter and I would guess that a wireless PS2 keyboard setup would work for you this way?

 

edit: except of course the function keys which are on the console itself...

 

Edited October 16, 2020 by Sugarland

[+MrFish]

Regardless of whether you can select games using a joystick, there are a lot of games for the 8-bit computers that require use of the keyboard during gameplay; and even for games that don't require keyboard use for gameplay, often keys such as the <SPACEBAR> are used for pausing the game; and with many games requiring the console keys for selecting options and starting, you can hardly count on not needing the keyboard close by during a gaming session.

 

Edited October 17, 2020 by MrFish

[mdivancic]

On 10/13/2020 at 4:01 PM, MrFish said:

Ah, you mean the ones that curse, scream, and throw their controller across the room, because they lost their game on the last level at the last enemy and have to start all over from the beginning?

Exactly the way they were meant to be played...

[BillC]

On 10/16/2020 at 12:00 AM, Sugarland said:

edit: except of course the function keys which are on the console itself...

I believe with the TK-II the PC keyboard function keys are/can be mapped as the Atari console & function keys.

[+mytek]

42 minutes ago, BillC said:

I believe with the TK-II the PC keyboard function keys are/can be mapped as the Atari console & function keys.

But it's very tricky to use them on an XEGS, requiring extensive modifications to allow the signals to pass through the Dsub-15 jack. There is a description of how to do this with pictures on my website HERE. Unless you really need this, the use of the TK-II-GS is simple plug 'n' play - no soldering required.

[Marius]

The XEGS is awesome, but for me more as a cute and slightly more rare a8 computer, than as a successor / replacement for a more common a8 computer. I have quite some XEGS's, and I love them. Good standard video quality output, and the case is nice too. But my heart is more with the other a8's.  But that is completely personal I guess.