Atari 130XE few questions ...

[mikesk8]

Hello,

I have just bought my second Atari; 130xe Pal version to cover games my Atari 800 does not play;)

 

There are 2 topics I would like to get your feedback:

 

1. Does anybody know what is the production week/year of this model (serial pic attached)? I have searched the forum, but it seems it’s not fully clear.

2. My model got small cracks on both front sides of the top cover (pics attached). Looks like plastic just got old. Is it something you experienced as well? Worth glueing? 

 

Thanks! M.
 

[TGB1718]

Not normal for them to crack unless it's been bumped, one I bought maybe 15 years ago had a small

piece out of one corner but it's not got any worse, so I assume it had been bumped.

 

My other 130XE that I've had since new, apart from some yellowing is in pristine condition.

 

[mimo]

Agreed, that has been dropped at some point in it's life. If the pieces are really loose than probably best to glue them back, if not then just live with it 
The only broken XE I ever had was salvaged from the local tip and narrowly avoided being run over by the big dozer they had for compacting all the junk (I got an STE at the same time!)

[mikesk8]

Thanks for fast answers; appreciated. Have you managed to decipher the serial number of XE series to get year and week?

[mimo]

I've never been interested in the xe to that extent, sorry 

[Voxel]

From memory the third digit (8), is the year A1"8"....., I translate to 1988.

 

As for the cracks they are from mis-handling, and I would certainly glue them before they suffer another impact and crack off, which would be unsightly.  Superglue will do a good job.

[mikesk8]

On 10/16/2020 at 10:36 PM, Voxel said:

From memory the third digit (8), is the year A1"8"....., I translate to 1988.

 

As for the cracks they are from mis-handling, and I would certainly glue them before they suffer another impact and crack off, which would be unsightly.  Superglue will do a good job.

Thanks for tips ? I have just opened the case and confirmed it has a first gen. Mitsumi keyboard with springs and green film  its ok to type on it. Then, it has 16 RAM Mostek chips and not 4. I have read that Atari switched from 16 to 4 around 1986. Therefore, it seems its probably earlier model than 1998. Let us investigate more:) 

[TGB1718]

1 hour ago, mikesk8 said:

Therefore, it seems its probably earlier model than 1998

Definitely earlier than 1998

 

[mikesk8]

36 minutes ago, TGB1718 said:

Definitely earlier than 1998

 

indeed :) 1988 should be :)

[Voxel]

22 hours ago, mikesk8 said:

Then, it has 16 RAM Mostek chips and not 4. I have read that Atari switched from 16 to 4 around 1986.

Interesting, after owning about half a dozen 130XE's BITD and a few from new after 1986, I've not seen any in the UK with 4 RAM chips.

[mikesk8]

21 hours ago, Voxel said:

Interesting, after owning about half a dozen 130XE's BITD and a few from new after 1986, I've not seen any in the UK with 4 RAM chips.

I have not seen either, but read they changed somewhere in 1986 from 16 to 4 chips, which is a better/more reliable solution. Maybe its not relevant to PAL versions.