Are Hardware mod's or upgrades for the Atari 8bit neccessary

[classics]

YES BUY SOME TODAY

 

(Sorry I couldn't resist )

 

But seriously, for me, there are two different Atari 8-bit experiences. The one we all know, with all the modern easy to use goodies, and the one I remember as a kid. Both are fantastic, I wouldn't give either up.

 

The one I remember from being a kid is sitting up all night with the smell of hot floppy disks cooking in my 1050s while I tried to hack my way through Planetfall and Enchanter. I don't get this one as often as I would like any more, but I keep plenty of real hardware around so I can recreate it occasionally.

 

Steve

[+bf2k+]

YES BUY SOME TODAY

...

OK!! What's New??

[+bob1200xl]

Not necessary, no.

 

I have many 8-bits - with lots of upgrades/hacks and such. They're all in boxes or on the back of the shelf while I work on the newest upgrade/hack using a stock machine. Generally, I use a 1200XL with just video clean-up and, maybe, a CF card. Why is that? I don't want to become dependent on any non-stock hardware just in case something comes along that I do 'have to have'. Or, the thing dies and I can't get another one.

 

The two items that I have used consistently over the years, however, have been the 3.5 inch XF551 that I did and a SIO2PC that Nick Kennedy made for me. They have put a lot of my data on a PC or a 3.5 inch diskette, somewhere a 1050 or 810 aren't going to help me. I could have kept everything on a 5 1/4 floppy, I suppose, but the advantages of the modern storage far outweighs any future obstacles.

 

Of course, you never know what's coming around the corner and there is something to say for anticipation.

 

Bob

 

 

 

Now before you people start slating me for dissing those involved in making or marketing Atari 8bit mod's and upgrades, I think i have a valid point

 

The point being that going over some of the recent posts on various upgrades and h/w mod's for the A8, I notice that whilst some people are positive and enthusiastic about that type of continued development on extending the capabilites and usefullness of the A8, there still remains a sizeable part of the fan/user base that is still non plussed or not interested in that type of comntined development of the A8

 

So it begs the question... Are A8 h/w mod's and upgrades really neccessary and if they are then why isn't the upgrades or mod's supported by software applications as well as the majority of the fan/user base

 

A classic case in point was a remark that AA member TMR made following a post i made on another forum discussing various upgrades or mod's for classic computers, where i was mentioning various A8 and c64 equivalent upgrades and mod's, and mentioning that there was a lack of software applications that went beyond the current data storage limit on c64/A8 disk drives (i.e 171k on the c64 and 131 or 180k if double density on an A8), especially when you consider that there exists for the c64/A8 data storage devices (sd cards, hard drives, cd/cvd devices) that go well beyond the current data storage limit

 

TMR made the same point that i made in the 2nd paragraph of this thread...i.e very little interest in this aspect of developing either the A8 or C64 any further and secondly because there is very little interest from the fan/user base regarding contined development of the a8/c64 etc, it dis incentivises programmers or coders to make software application that drive the various hardware mod's and upgrades and also it dis-incentivises programmers/coders to developing software applications (games and non games) that extend beyond the current data storage limit on most A8/c64 setups (i.e standard or even modd'd disk drives)

 

Now, i not saying that we should go out there and buy every little hardware mod/upgrade on the A8 known to man....that's simply not practical, what i am saying though is, we got to be a bit more enthusiastic and positive about these sort of developments and show our support where possible

 

Whilst i realise that the A8 market isn't anywhere as BIG as it used to be or at least once was...there is still a sizeable base of supporters/users still into that market, if we can't show our support for this type of development for the A8, all that happens is that the people developing the hardware simply leave the A8 and go onto machines like the c64/spectrums etc and because theres little hardware development going on for the A8, that will ultimately effect software development, who again will simply move on to the likes of commodore/sinclair etc...and because nothing new software or hardware wise is develioped for our machine, that will ultimately drive users/fan base away from the A8 onto the likes of commodore/sinclair etc...And that's the last thing we want...i.e even less users then before

 

I'm not saying that the people behind the A8 hardware/software development etc are going to become bill gates overnight, the size of the A8 market doesn't warrent that, but i do think that these people deserve our support and deserve to be suitably compensated for the efforts they invested in bringing the hardware mod/upgrade to the market in the first place (and similarly for software as well)...not that i need to state the patently or blindingly obvious but the more supprt these people got from people buying there h/w mod's/upgrades the more support we are going to get in regards to more products for our A8 and that will have a marked effect on the level of software support as well...not just the software applicationas that drive particular hardware mod's/upgrades but also new software (games and non games) that go beyond the current data storage limit of 131 or 180k for the A8)

 

 

Just a thought...thats all

[Artlover]

I think just about any low level OS upgrade like an UltraSpeed or something is neccessary if only to improve the horrible default math routines.

[Urchlay]

I think just about any low level OS upgrade like an UltraSpeed or something is neccessary if only to improve the horrible default math routines.

 

Unless you're doing heavy calculations in BASIC (or Turbo BASIC, BXL, etc), the crappy math routines aren't a problem. Very few programs other than languages use them... I've been testing Thomas Richter's OS++ (which has *no* math routines, crashes if something calls them) with various software, and I have yet to find a (non-BASIC) game that uses the math ROM. I haven't tested any business software (I suspect spreadsheets would use them), but really who seriously tries to run a business on an Atari 8-bit in this century?

[Tickled_Pink]

I've never seen RAM upgrades as being particularly useful - they've really been nothing more than a technical exercise.

 

I can't think of any upgrade that is more usefull. It's not as if there aren't programs that can't take advantage of it. And it's a must if you want to run some 130xe software on the 800xl's.

Nope. Sorry. Still don't get you.

 

I have a few 256K upgraded XLs and I never use the extra RAM. When I first got them I started fiddling around with RAMdisks but in the end never saw the point in them. I guess I just never used programs that made extra RAM useful to me.

[Artlover]

I guess I just never used programs that made extra RAM useful to me.

You like Megablast without the digi sound effects? <smack!>

[ijor]

...and I have yet to find a (non-BASIC) game that uses the math ROM.

 

You didn't test MULE, did you?