Gunstar Posted January 26, 2021 Share Posted January 26, 2021 I have wanted one since I found out about the sandbox mode, and knew I would still be able to use it for many things even if Atari and the VCS failed and support was lost. But, I was going to wait until it either failed and I could get it at a bargain bin discount, or for a year or two when the price dropped to under $200 if it succeeded. But a good and wealthy friend of mine just texted me with the surprise that as soon as they are available at Walmart, he would buy us both one! Though I probably won't be hanging out in this forum much until it's in my hands. But I had to tell somebody as I can't contain my excitement and enthusiasm! 7 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andymanone Posted January 26, 2021 Share Posted January 26, 2021 Well done ???! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawn Posted January 26, 2021 Share Posted January 26, 2021 2 hours ago, Gunstar said: I have wanted one since I found out about the sandbox mode, and knew I would still be able to use it for many things even if Atari and the VCS failed and support was lost. But, I was going to wait until it either failed and I could get it at a bargain bin discount, or for a year or two when the price dropped to under $200 if it succeeded. But a good and wealthy friend of mine just texted me with the surprise that as soon as they are available at Walmart, he would buy us both one! Though I probably won't be hanging out in this forum much until it's in my hands. But I had to tell somebody as I can't contain my excitement and enthusiasm! Chances are very slim they will ever see the shelves of Walmart. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leech Posted January 27, 2021 Share Posted January 27, 2021 1 hour ago, Shawn said: Chances are very slim they will ever see the shelves of Walmart. Nah, I'm betting they do. Mainly as they've already shipped to backers, so they actually exist. I'm pretty sure they've changed the option of 4GB though. I kind of think they should just sell 8GB, 16GB and 32GB with options of included m.2 drive for those that don't want / can't open it up and install it themselves. 4GB seems too low for the machine, and really would be only good for someone who wants to put in their own memory. Now that it's been found you can overclock the ram and set higher VRAM though, most people that want the PC mode can get faster memory as a choice and set it to that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunstar Posted January 27, 2021 Author Share Posted January 27, 2021 2 hours ago, Shawn said: Chances are very slim they will ever see the shelves of Walmart. Well if they don't they don't. I wasn't going to get one anyway at any price if they never make it to store shelves, because then the ones sent to backers would just become hugely over-priced collectors items that wouldn't interest me because while I collect stuff, I'm not a "museum" collector or for investment, I USE my stuff, I keep it all in as close to Mint condition as I can, but I use it and I don't over pay for anything (which is why I wouldn't buy one myself at current retail pricing, but if it's a gift, I'm not going to look a gift horse in the mouth!). 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Sauron Posted January 27, 2021 Share Posted January 27, 2021 Your wealthy friend should get one for me as well. 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CPUWIZ Posted January 27, 2021 Share Posted January 27, 2021 3 hours ago, leech said: 8GB, 16GB and 32GB with options of included m.2 drive $399, $499 and $599 with options of 1TB or 2TB (add $200/$400, they have Atari stickers on them). 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leech Posted January 27, 2021 Share Posted January 27, 2021 (edited) 12 minutes ago, CPUWIZ said: $399, $499 and $599 with options of 1TB or 2TB (add $200/$400, they have Atari stickers on them). Ha, would that be going back to when they reverse merged into JTS. Never did sell an Atari branded hard drive!! Then again I think JTS died like 6 months after that. Edit: https://www.sfgate.com/business/article/Atari-s-profile-lowered-in-JTS-merger-3151401.php Found this article about the ol' merger. If I'm reading the numbers right, isn't Atari SA reportedly the same size as Tramiel Atari at the end? with ~30 employees and 50 million in the bank? Edited January 27, 2021 by leech Added link and talk about JTS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlecRob Posted January 27, 2021 Share Posted January 27, 2021 (edited) Nice. I actually have really been enjoying my VCS. 32GB ram, city of heroes homecoming... reliving the revived PC game of my childhood is priceless and has earned the VCS a place in my gaming life. I love being able to play it on a machine that actually looks like a console.. OG and Warner and tramiel ataris of old were before my time, so the brand doesnt really have much nostalgia or emotions for me... so i’m coming to the VCS from a fresher POV than a lot of older folks afaik and like i said so far i’ve found really enjoyable aside from being too dumb to install an OS on the internal M2 drive. But hey i’m a newcomer to windows 10 too. And also not particularly savvy with PC’s lol i want to see the VCS community grow, it’s actually a very cool entry into the atari hardware lineage.. the successor to the long forgotten Atari PC5 perhaps????!? Edited January 27, 2021 by AlecRob 5 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zzip Posted January 27, 2021 Share Posted January 27, 2021 14 hours ago, leech said: 4GB seems too low for the machine, and really would be only good for someone who wants to put in their own memory. Now that it's been found you can overclock the ram and set higher VRAM though, most people that want the PC mode can get faster memory as a choice and set it to that Depends on the intended usage I suppose. For all those people saying "why get this when you can get a Raspberry Pi?" The Best Pi's only have 4Gb, and many models have 1Gb or less. So if you only want to build a retrobox, this should be enough. 11 hours ago, leech said: Ha, would that be going back to when they reverse merged into JTS. Never did sell an Atari branded hard drive!! Then again I think JTS died like 6 months after that. I did work for a company around that time that bought some JTS drives. I remember they were kind of cool in that they were slim-- half the height of a typical 3.5" drive even to this day. But they did not last long. 9 hours ago, AlecRob said: i want to see the VCS community grow, it’s actually a very cool entry into the atari hardware lineage.. the successor to the long forgotten Atari PC5 perhaps????!? it's almost like a successor to multiple products.. Styled like the 2600 VCS, models named after the 400/800. A hybrid console/computer like the XEGS, and a true PC like the AtariPC line 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leech Posted January 27, 2021 Share Posted January 27, 2021 10 minutes ago, zzip said: Depends on the intended usage I suppose. For all those people saying "why get this when you can get a Raspberry Pi?" The Best Pi's only have 4Gb, and many models have 1Gb or less. So if you only want to build a retrobox, this should be enough. Well, with the VCS out of the box 2gb is dedicated to the video. But you're right, that actually should be fine and would still make a beefier computer replacement over the Pi4. They do have an 8gb Pi4 though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
youxia Posted January 27, 2021 Share Posted January 27, 2021 4GB is more than enough for most emulators if you run Linux. Even something as advanced as PCSX2 has only 1GB as recommended requirement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunstar Posted January 27, 2021 Author Share Posted January 27, 2021 (edited) I'm pretty sure my friend will get the top of the line versions of the VCS for us if they do make it to stores. He spent about 10 grand on a custom Mac computer system, so... He gave me an Atari Falcon he didn't use anymore and they are worth, what, several thousand now? He's still a big Atari Jaguar fan too, and when we were texting I asked him if he new about the Jaguar GD yet, and gave him the link to AA store. His text back to me was "that Jaguar GD is the F*cking SHIT!" So it wouldn't surprise me either if one shows up in the mail for me if and when they are finally released. He's a very private guy though, and doesn't do stuff like hang out on Facebook or join forums like AA, I've tried to convince him to join AA and keep up with the latest on Atari's many times, but he just refuses. So I am his only conduit to what's new with classic systems, I was the one that pointed him to AtariVCS.com a year ago, that's how he found out about it. Edited January 27, 2021 by Gunstar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leech Posted January 27, 2021 Share Posted January 27, 2021 20 minutes ago, Gunstar said: I'm pretty sure my friend will get the top of the line versions of the VCS for us if they do make it to stores. He spent about 10 grand on a custom Mac computer system, so... He gave me an Atari Falcon he didn't use anymore and they are worth, what, several thousand now? He's still a big Atari Jaguar fan too, and when we were texting I asked him if he new about the Jaguar GD yet, and gave him the link to AA store. His text back to me was "that Jaguar GD is the F*cking SHIT!" So it wouldn't surprise me either if one shows up in the mail for me if and when they are finally released. I need more friends like yours! Pretty sure I saw someone mention that they planned for a March release for store shelves for the VCS, but most other people are saying 'Spring' so not sure where I saw March vs Spring, if it was official or some other random person on the Founders discord. They do now have a normal Atari VCS Discord as well as the Founders one. It is a fun little machine. 15 hours ago, AlecRob said: Nice. I actually have really been enjoying my VCS. 32GB ram, city of heroes homecoming... reliving the revived PC game of my childhood is priceless and has earned the VCS a place in my gaming life. I love being able to play it on a machine that actually looks like a console.. OG and Warner and tramiel ataris of old were before my time, so the brand doesnt really have much nostalgia or emotions for me... so i’m coming to the VCS from a fresher POV than a lot of older folks afaik and like i said so far i’ve found really enjoyable aside from being too dumb to install an OS on the internal M2 drive. But hey i’m a newcomer to windows 10 too. And also not particularly savvy with PC’s lol i want to see the VCS community grow, it’s actually a very cool entry into the atari hardware lineage.. the successor to the long forgotten Atari PC5 perhaps????!? So if you're not particularly savvy with PCs, yet you were able to install the memory, would you classify that as a 'too hard to do for normal people' job? Or 'it was easy enough and people don't really need to whine about it being too hard' level? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aramis Posted January 28, 2021 Share Posted January 28, 2021 9 hours ago, zzip said: Depends on the intended usage I suppose. For all those people saying "why get this when you can get a Raspberry Pi?" The Best Pi's only have 4Gb, and many models have 1Gb or less. So if you only want to build a retrobox, this should be enough. 8GB of DDR4, actually. Raspberry Pi 4 Model B: choice of 2, 4, or 8GB. The 8GB is $69. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leech Posted January 28, 2021 Share Posted January 28, 2021 56 minutes ago, aramis said: 8GB of DDR4, actually. Raspberry Pi 4 Model B: choice of 2, 4, or 8GB. The 8GB is $69. Shame it is tied to a fairly weak ARM processor. But then for a sub-100 computer, tgey are pretty sweet. Still will out perform my PPC classic Amiga that I spent an EMBARRASSING amount on! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlecRob Posted January 28, 2021 Share Posted January 28, 2021 (edited) 9 hours ago, leech said: I need more friends like yours! Pretty sure I saw someone mention that they planned for a March release for store shelves for the VCS, but most other people are saying 'Spring' so not sure where I saw March vs Spring, if it was official or some other random person on the Founders discord. They do now have a normal Atari VCS Discord as well as the Founders one. It is a fun little machine. So if you're not particularly savvy with PCs, yet you were able to install the memory, would you classify that as a 'too hard to do for normal people' job? Or 'it was easy enough and people don't really need to whine about it being too hard' level? I can deal with hardware just fine. In fact i can even solder if i have to. When i say not PC savvy, i guess i mainly mean the software side of things. i’m pretty clueless a lot of times when it comes to that. Installing RAM in a VCS is very simple. Edited January 28, 2021 by AlecRob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CPUWIZ Posted January 28, 2021 Share Posted January 28, 2021 45 minutes ago, AlecRob said: Installing RAM in a VCS is very simple. Go! 2 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zzip Posted January 28, 2021 Share Posted January 28, 2021 18 hours ago, leech said: So if you're not particularly savvy with PCs, yet you were able to install the memory, would you classify that as a 'too hard to do for normal people' job? Or 'it was easy enough and people don't really need to whine about it being too hard' level? I've upgraded plenty of PCs, what bothers me about upgrading the VCS is the delicate antenna wires and ribbon cables that could easily break. That plus the videos I watched on accessing the RAM seem to do a lot of disassembly, including removing the heatsink (not sure if that's necessary). I think you or someone else here said the RAM is easier to access from the other side? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zzip Posted January 28, 2021 Share Posted January 28, 2021 14 hours ago, aramis said: 8GB of DDR4, actually. Raspberry Pi 4 Model B: choice of 2, 4, or 8GB. The 8GB is $69. I wasn't aware of the 8gb models, but my point still holds. People have been using the 1Gb models as emulation boxes for years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leech Posted January 28, 2021 Share Posted January 28, 2021 31 minutes ago, zzip said: I wasn't aware of the 8gb models, but my point still holds. People have been using the 1Gb models as emulation boxes for years. For sure. It isn't like the systems being emulated need tons of ram. 8gb models are more for people who want / need tiny computers for their desktop use. The fact an 'embedded' system can be upgraded to 32gb of ram is insane. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leech Posted January 28, 2021 Share Posted January 28, 2021 9 hours ago, CPUWIZ said: Go! The Heavy Sixer is just sexy. Like a sexy grandma. Like Goldie Hawn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joeatari1 Posted January 28, 2021 Share Posted January 28, 2021 9 hours ago, CPUWIZ said: Go! 128 bytes in all its glory! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zzip Posted January 28, 2021 Share Posted January 28, 2021 2 minutes ago, joeatari1 said: 128 bytes in all its glory! Mine has 129 bytes. I downloaded more RAM! ? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlecRob Posted January 28, 2021 Share Posted January 28, 2021 Just unscrew the wifi module and disconnect it. I dont see why everyone thinks its a big deal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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