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Muzz73

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Everything posted by Muzz73

  1. Muzz73
    I just bought a spare SF314, a pair of Space Invaders vinyl stickers and a pair of license plate frames that say ATARI in the middle and have the Fuji on either side. Not anything terribly interesting, but Atari-related, nonetheless.
  2. Muzz73
    Can anyone recommend a decent visual composition program that will allow me to input notation on the screen and output to an external synth box via MIDI? Loved the ST for 20+ years, but am just now getting into doing anything musically with it. Any suggestions will be much appreciated. Thanks!
  3. Muzz73
    Confirmed. I'm totally going to be there! My son (12 years old) will be accompanying me. He loves Atari and wants to learn as much as he can about them. I told him the best way to get started is to sit down and play. He's an XBOX junkie, so he's used to that! This is going to be cool! I hope some of you guys can make it!
  4. Muzz73
    I have no mass storage solution as of yet, so dual floppy drives it is! Definitely looking into mass storage, though... even with two drives, it's still a pain in the backside to rummage through 700+ floppy disks looking for this or that. Once done, I can't imagine using either FDD much.
  5. Muzz73
    My list would be too long, as I have spent WAY too much time and money on consoles and systems these past 25+ years, but I will say one thing... when all is said and done, and every other system has failed me or lost my interest, the 2600 stays around. Granted, I am on my 2nd one now, but it's only been 30 years...
  6. Muzz73
    I am definitely going to try to be there!
  7. Muzz73
    Personally, I am waiting with baited breath! Eew, maybe not... but I do think this is awesome!
  8. Muzz73
    I had the computer add-on for the Intellivision and thought to myself "Why aren't more companies doing this?!" Then I saw that you could get a more powerful Commodore or Atari 8-bit computer for less than you'd pay for a game console with an add-on and I figured it out pretty soon thereafter...
  9. Muzz73
    I have owned five 1050's in my time (still have one) and they never let me down. I've only owned one XF551 (acquired it in a trade). I can't say for longevity's sake, because it didn't work with some of my older software, so I never used it and decided to get rid of it. I offered it for trade on usenet years ago, nobody took me up on it, so I eventually gave it away (yes, I now see the error in my reticent behavior and yes, I would love to have it back).
  10. Muzz73
    What is the exact model # that you have? Example; 1040STf, 1040STE, 1040STfm? If you have a modulated model (the "m" designation in the name), you can build a composite cable (or buy one) fairly inexpensively. That'd allow you to hook it up to a TV or composite monitor. It might not look great, but it'd get you to see if the thing boots up without funneling too much cash into it up front. Mice are not difficult to come by. Check ebay, but don't pay much for a used one. You could try getting a genuine STM1 (the stock, gray mouse) used and as cheaply as possible, just to get you going. You can always get the parts to rebuild it from Best later on.
  11. Muzz73
    Man, we are such nerds... isn't it great?!
  12. Muzz73
    Oh, I agree on the Apple ][ thing for sure... my friend had a pimped-out //e that my C=64 was certainly inferior to, in many respects. His dad had over $2,000 into it, while my C=64 system was nowhere near that, but there was no arguing against the performance of the peripherals! I ended up getting an Apple //e a couple of years later. I hadn't dumped the C=64 and converted, but my eyes had been opened!
  13. Muzz73
    Yeah, the Apple ][ reminded me of the PC in the 80's... the users all boasted about their expandability and to a point, they were correct. At the same time, if you wanted your Apple ][/][+ to do what an A8 or C= was capable of doing right out-of-the-box, you lost slot 0 just to get you from 48K-64K, slot 1 to your printer, slot 2 to your MoDem, etc. You would literally have to fill all eight of an Apple ]['s slots to have the same types of ports available as one of those machines and the Apple ][ would still be inferior in many respects (while superior in others). The //e was a bit better, but not by much. The C= and A8 line were great in that they had ports for everything that you could daisy-chain devices off of and didn't cost you thousands of dollars like a loaded PC or Apple machine. Apples and PC's of the day were some of the least capable and expensive machines available (again, out-of-the-box) and people seemed to have no problem shoveling money into them at the drop of a hat.
  14. Muzz73
    I only borrowed Zaxxon from a friend around 30 years ago and didn't put much time into it. Maybe as an adult, I might appreciate it more.
  15. Muzz73
    I used to have a 1200XL. I picked it up at a used computer store in perfect working order for $25 back in 1996-97. I got ready to start doing all manner of hardware hacks to it and started asking questiuons about it on usenet. There were a few people from Europe who asked me not to hack up such a beautiful machine, especially being that most of them had never even seen one up close. I agreed and gave it to a buddy who is a serious Atari collector in France and he was more than happy to get it. I grabbed a used 800XL and that's what I've been using ever since. It has never let me down, but it's 30 years old, so I have a spare motherboard or two NIB, just in case... So... my $0.02 on the matter? 1200XL = sexiest. 800XL = Best workhorse/daily beater.
  16. Muzz73
    Don't get me wrong, when I said "cheap and everywhere", I only meant that it was part of the C=64's success, not solely responsible for it. The C=64 is a great machine. It's what I started on and I own several of them to this day. I happen to like the A8 better, but Commodore machines are still really nifty, IMHO. Not just the cheap thing, either... the "everywhere" thing helped, too. When I was a kid, growing up in Santa Cruz, CA, USA (just over the hill from the Silicon Valley), there were only a few places you could buy Atari computers; K-Mart, I seem to think Long's Drugs had the 400, the Kay-Bee Toys in the Capitola Mall and Teddy Bear Toys in Aptos. I'm sure there were other places, but those were the only ones I knew of. If you wanted to buy a C=64, heck, K-Mart, Sears had them, Montogomery Ward & Consumers Distributing had them in their catalogs and ready for local pickup, almost any place with an appliance dept, an electronics counter carried the VIC-20 and/or the C=64. Granted, this may have been limited to the quiet, hippy-laiden beach town that I grew up in, but Commodore stuff was all over the place.
  17. Muzz73
    I know the 6502C is different, I just meant using the CM630P in a drive, or something to that effect. I should have been more clear on that. Sorry!
  18. Muzz73
    I thought Zaxxon was bad. Ugh...
  19. Muzz73
    It certainly can cost more rebuild than to replace, depending on what all is wrong with the stick. Replacing the PCB & handle with improved versions and changing the fire button spring will cost you about $11 USD (before shipping). If the rubber boot is gone, you'll need a new one... and a boot-retaining ring... yeah, it can add up fast. I really like that red & black job from Video61... I may have to pick a few of those up! Especially the left or right-handed thing (my son is a southpaw). Thanks for sharing that!
  20. Muzz73
    I use CM630P's in place of 6502's in VIC-20's, 1541's, etc. Never had a problem in anything Commodore, but never tried it in any Atari machine. If it turns out that is causing a problem with ATARI hardware, please keep us posted, OK?
  21. Muzz73
    Like VHS and Betamax... Betamax was superior to VHS in almost every conceivable way, but VHS was cheap and EVERYWHERE, so that's what caught on. Hmph...
  22. Muzz73
    A guy on one of our local BBSes in the Santa Cruz, CA area referred to Atari's marketing division as having the speed and agility of a Ford Pinto. Sometimes it sucks to be right!
  23. Muzz73
    Don't forget... http://www.myatari.com/ You can buy new, reconditioned or used from most of those sites. I like getting thrashed CX-40 joysticks for $0.25 at yard sales or swap meets and rebuilding them with new parts. Once you do, they can be made to function better than when the joystick was brand new (30+ years ago).
  24. Muzz73
    Oh, man... I can totally sympathize with you on the disk speed! I bought an EPYX FastLoad cartridge for my 64C back in the day. Although the speed difference was VERY noticeable most of the time, stock Apple ][ and A8 machines still spun donuts around it.
  25. Muzz73
    My dad got ours gently/briefly used, but it was the Heavy Sixer w/Combat, two joysticks and two sets of paddles. The guy also threw in Missile Command and Asteroids. Those were the days...
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