+hloberg Posted October 17, 2021 Share Posted October 17, 2021 (edited) Long time ago, before I moved and had to sell my 800xl & stuff, I had a MYIDE . I liked it but now I see there are other multicarts available & not sure how they stack up. My requirements are now simpler with my new 600xl+64k since I have an s-drive and an sio2pc so all I want the multicart to do is: Altirra BASIC Microsoft BASIC II BASIC XL Assembler/Editor and maybe a few favorite games carts. Any thoughts or recommendations on SIDE, the CART vs. MYIDEII or maybe something else I haven't thought of? Edited October 17, 2021 by hloberg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_The Doctor__ Posted October 17, 2021 Share Posted October 17, 2021 AVG cart is the most economical and capable multi-cartridge... it may be overkill, but the price is right 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Philsan Posted October 17, 2021 Share Posted October 17, 2021 At the moment AVGCart with SIO cable is the best solution. Compared to other multicarts, as-is it's the only one with full ATR compatibility, compared to SIO devices it lets you select and load XEX faster and loads cartridge games (some of them need a memory expansion to be loaded from SIO devices). You will no longer use SDrive and SIO2PC (unless like me you want to load software from PC - I use FujiNet for this purpose). If you plan to install U1MB internal expansion, you should buy Side3 instead, the perfect companion. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mclaneinc Posted October 17, 2021 Share Posted October 17, 2021 Another vote for the AVG and SIO cable, if you want near perfect tape, disk and numerous cart support then this is the cart for you, no other cart at the moment offers the same, things like the SIDE3 are close but without the SIO connection they can't match the AVG. In terms of U1MB then the SIDE3 is a great choice, although the AVG has many of it's features.. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faicuai Posted October 17, 2021 Share Posted October 17, 2021 Well, after having used Side1, Side2, Ultimate/SD and AVG, and tested all on my pre-XL and XL fleet, I would also conclude that the AVG Cart (with SIO-server csble) would be the best overall, most practical, all-on-one solution available today. It even emulates up, to Side-2 carts. SIDE-3 is quite sophisticated and powerful on its own. If cross-platform compatibility, on-board SIO server (.ATR & .CAS), or Video play-back are not your priorities, it would be a pretty solid choice, indeed, and most likely your one-to-go cart. im this scenario. Enjoy! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+hloberg Posted October 17, 2021 Author Share Posted October 17, 2021 had not even heard of the AVG. Glad I posted. Thanks, I look into it very seriously. the only thing I not liking is it does not do ROM but it looks like CAR has replaced ROM anyway in a lot of carts (BASIC XL is CAR). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Robot Posted October 17, 2021 Share Posted October 17, 2021 AVGCart+SIO cable gets my vote too any rom/bin file you have can be simply converted to car using either altirra or atari800 emulators. If you are stuck, just post the .rom here and ask for a conversion and someone will do it for you. fyi car just adds a header to the front of the rom/bin that tells emulators or multicarts what type of cart image it is. if you ever need to write the file you can easily convert back to rom/bin (just remove the header, again, with altirra or atari800) EDIT: if you visit https://atari8bit.net/dl/ you will find a zip file with my cart collection in it, that should have anything you want to run in it and all files are already .car 3 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Westphal Posted October 17, 2021 Share Posted October 17, 2021 (edited) AVG + SIO is the way to go, but don't discount Alexy's Sdrive2. It has excellent .atr support. I use one on my 48k 400 for greatest software compatibilty. They are about $50 shipped from Novgorod Russia. Here is a video of it in action : Edited October 17, 2021 by Paul Westphal 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+videofx Posted October 17, 2021 Share Posted October 17, 2021 Who is selling the AVG +SIO? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Stephen Posted October 18, 2021 Share Posted October 18, 2021 AVG + SIO is a fantastic cart especially for the price. If you can wait a little while (or are really wanting a killer solution for read/write access to FAT32 volumes) then get a SIDE 3. The best advice is get one of each to support the developers, but I know that is not always a viable option. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Robot Posted October 18, 2021 Share Posted October 18, 2021 2 hours ago, videofx said: Who is selling the AVG +SIO? https://miscretro.com/ or in the UK https://retrolemon.co.uk/atari-8bit-storage-devices/125-avgcart.html (SIO cable is in the 'you might also like' section) there is no USA supplier but shipping from miscretro is pretty quick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+videofx Posted October 18, 2021 Share Posted October 18, 2021 8 minutes ago, Mr Robot said: https://miscretro.com/ or in the UK https://retrolemon.co.uk/atari-8bit-storage-devices/125-avgcart.html (SIO cable is in the 'you might also like' section) there is no USA supplier but shipping from miscretro is pretty quick. I went to https://miscretro.com/ and it seems the SIO cable is too short for Atari 800. So I emailed asking if there is a way to get a longer cable 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Robot Posted October 18, 2021 Share Posted October 18, 2021 You'll probably have to make a custom cable for the 800, Will the cable even fit into the socket on the side of the AVGCART if it's plugged into the deep 800 slot? @Faicuai can probably answer that question. Instructions for making the cable are on my website here. https://atari8bit.net/tutorials/de-re-avgcart/#DIY_SIO_Cable_Mod Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faicuai Posted October 18, 2021 Share Posted October 18, 2021 38 minutes ago, Mr Robot said: Will the cable even fit into the socket on the side of the AVGCART if it's plugged into the deep 800 slot? @Faicuai can probably answer that question. Yes, it will on the 800! (it will NOT, however, on the 400 or 1200XL, unfortunately, or at least safely, without sharp bends of the runners at the main-header). I will post some pics tomorrow, since I made my own, longer cable with the supplied semi-finished 30cm cable assembly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmp Posted October 18, 2021 Share Posted October 18, 2021 26 minutes ago, videofx said: I went to https://miscretro.com/ and it seems the SIO cable is too short for Atari 800. So I emailed asking if there is a way to get a longer cable i'll reply here if you don't mind 30cm is the longest pre-crimped jst cable i'm able to get, i wasn't even aware that it's too short for 800 until @a8isa1 pointed that out earlier this year currently i don't feel like crimping those cables myself (too much pain), extending them would make the joints with heatshrinks probably too thick for the cable braid i have (and still pain) i have a few of these here somewhere, soldering a pair together would make a 20cm extension, it'd be ugly but would probably work https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005002332868366.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beeblebrox Posted October 18, 2021 Share Posted October 18, 2021 6 hours ago, Stephen said: AVG + SIO is a fantastic cart especially for the price. If you can wait a little while (or are really wanting a killer solution for read/write access to FAT32 volumes) then get a SIDE 3. The best advice is get one of each to support the developers, but I know that is not always a viable option. Re SIDE3 and the FAT read/write functionality it's gonna be amazing! Latest vid over on this thread of FJC's progress on this post. ? 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mclaneinc Posted October 18, 2021 Share Posted October 18, 2021 (edited) 7 hours ago, tmp said: i have a few of these here somewhere, soldering a pair together would make a 20cm extension, it'd be ugly but would probably work https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005002332868366.html Even with my best try it does look ugly, and it does work.... Did one and then binned it thinking I had some parts left.. I didn't Got one of Mr Robot's superbly made ones.. Edited October 18, 2021 by Mclaneinc 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atari Nut Posted October 18, 2021 Share Posted October 18, 2021 (edited) On 10/17/2021 at 2:56 PM, Paul Westphal said: AVG + SIO is the way to go, but don't discount Alexy's Sdrive2. It has excellent .atr support. I use one on my 48k 400 for greatest software compatibilty. They are about $50 shipped from Novgorod Russia. Here is a video of it in action : What's the advantage of the AVG Cart with SIO over the Sdrive2? Edited October 18, 2021 by Atari Nut Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sugarland Posted October 18, 2021 Share Posted October 18, 2021 (edited) 59 minutes ago, Atari Nut said: What's the advantage of the AVG Cart with SIO over the Sdrive2? AVG can fully emulate carts and offers hard drive storage and SIDE2 emulation. Soon it will offer 512K RAM expansion for XE machines. Edited October 18, 2021 by Sugarland 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Philsan Posted October 18, 2021 Share Posted October 18, 2021 1 hour ago, Atari Nut said: What's the advantage of the AVG Cart with SIO over the Sdrive2? 27 minutes ago, Sugarland said: AVG can fully emulate carts and offers hard drive storage and SIDE2 emulation. Soon it will offer 512K RAM expansion for XE machines. Not to mention loading menu, way better: very fast, not 8.3 characters limited, with fast search function even if you have hundred of files (I have SDrive2 and many other Sdrive based devices...). 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Stephen Posted October 18, 2021 Share Posted October 18, 2021 2 hours ago, Atari Nut said: What's the advantage of the AVG Cart with SIO over the Sdrive2? Don't forget - the AVG cart can playback phaeron's movie files (60fps with digitized audio) as well as PDM files (audio). This is of course not possible with any SIO solution. It's currently the only solution for playing back movies that are not recorded on a dedicated media device - meaning it can store dozens on a device and play them all back. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Level42 Posted October 18, 2021 Share Posted October 18, 2021 I have U1MB and SIDE3 because I absolutely hate the cable running from the AVG cart to the SIO port. It’s clumsy and looks hideous and yes I find that important, but I seem to be the only one so it’s probably me who’s crazy….. with U1MB, SIDE3 loads about every ATR available as well. Only if you are hardcore and -must- load original version of games etc. this is a thing. There is only a handful of things that won’t work with SIDE3. However if you haven’t got U1MB you can go far AVG. or get U1MB….no-one regrets getting a U1MB because of its many incredible features. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_The Doctor__ Posted October 18, 2021 Share Posted October 18, 2021 The AVG doesn't have to use the SIO cord and can run as a SIDE cart... it's pretty much the same in terms of loading in that configuration as any of the other cart solutions... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akator Posted October 19, 2021 Share Posted October 19, 2021 I have SIO2PC USB, SDrive2, FujiNet, and MyIDE-II. All are great devices but I'm currently using FujiNet and MyIDE-II. As much as I love FujiNet, MyIDE-II is still my favorite and used the most. It's also only $70 plus shipping now, that's a great price. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mazzspeed Posted October 19, 2021 Share Posted October 19, 2021 As a SIDE3 user, I'd love it if Phaeron's video player would support it - But sadly I don't think that's going to happen. Having said that, I've never regretted the purchase of my SIDE3. If I need floppy emulation via SIO, RespeQt and a cheap home made USB2PC adapter works great. Both TMP and Candle/FJC support their products 100%, in the rare case a firmware issue pop's up, all involved are usually right on it with none of the peaky 'developer attitude' that's so commonplace these days. TBH, it's pretty rare I need floppy emulation via SIO, it's usually only needed to transfer downloaded software from my Pi400 to my A8 PBI HDD quickly and easily. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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