Atari2600 vs Atari800 vs Amiga1000

[ataridano]

This is interesting, I had to reply

 

VCS:

Atari 2600 is so simple but nothing was able to compete with it.

<snip>

Is it perfect? I think yes (but unfortunatelly not for me as there is no keyboard - game system was never enough for me).

I would say it was the right thing for the time, but I wouldn't say "perfect" because of it is a little tricky to program. Then again, my "perfect" machine may not sell I was never really a game system guy either, though.

 

A 8 bit:

Was Atari 800 overengineered? It was obviously more capable that Apple ][ but far less expandable. Was there anyone who replaced personality board? With what? Is it possible to install 16KB XL OS? 80 column boards required more then RAM expansion slot.

I don't know if I would say less expandable, though a PBI would have helped. All of the expansion was through the SIO (or cartridge) which isn't nearly as clean as the Apple. It is a 1979 computer though, competing with the Apple II (no plus), TRS-80 model I, and PET.

 

Disks drives are neither nor as simple as Apple had nor programable as C64's though they have its own processor. With smarter drives DOS would take less RAM.

I think Apple drives are too simple to a fault, and I don't want them programable like the 1540/1541. That's the coolest thing about the Atari, to me. the drives are just sector I/O devices, DOS might take a little more RAM but it's loaded at boot time and you can pick your favorite DOS or the one that best suites what you want to do. Because there aren't more smarts in the drives, anything that can handle sector I/O can be used...harddrives, SD cards, you name it. I actually read that Commodore used an Atari 400 for the inspiration for their serial bus! Remember that the C64 is much newer than the 800, I'm a VIC-20 collector among other things, and even it is newer than the 800 and not as capable (but cheaper).

 

800 XL has PBI yet there is almost nothing to connect. Clearly some important signals are missing. Thanks God 1090 was canceled - I do not think it would be possible to reliably connect this whale to light keyboard via PBI.

I think the PBI could have been better used, just look at the Black Box and MIO.

 

XEGS - good that cart slot is back on top and easly accessible. Separate keyboard would be even better idea if 1200 XL had it (plus some internal expandability, PC was 1981 design, right?).

 

Yea, unfortunatly the XEGS was really marketed as a game console, it's just dumb luck that it happened to be an Atari 8-bit with a detachable keyboard. I'm working on building a custom keyboard for mine

 

Amigas:

Amiga 1000 had perfect chipset if not for the lack of ergonomic high resolution mode - not good for office.

256KB RAM (the other 256 taken by the system) was twice as much as Mac but still hardly enough.

Nice case but I still think everyone would be happy if we were given Amiga 2000 instead in 1985.

 

I have a couple Amiga 1000s too, and like the system, but find it a little lacking on expansion. At least on the A8 you could add high capacity floppy drives, a different video system, or faster serial port (using the correct handler, of course). The Amiga's internal hardware was amazing at the time, but you're sorta stuck with it. Like others have mentioned, the 8-bits are much more limited and a different kind of art form. I like the 68000 and the overall design of the Amiga but it is a totally different era. I still get a good laugh when I think of an A1000 sitting next to the origional Mac with it's little mono screen and huge price tag

 

Amiga 500 - do not know what killed it but it was not the lacking hardware. For home computer expandability was very good.

ST seduced me with its quality mono monitor and it could play games as well. I never seriously considered buying Amiga.

 

Our first computer was a 1040ST, and you got a lot of bang for the buck at the time, but I'm not all that impressed...so I got a 130XE which has the look and feel of the ST I remember as a kid, but is still an 8-bit

 

Which of the three you consider the most perfect and why?

What you consider differentiators making them stand out from the competition?

 

I would vote A8, just because they got it right on so many levels compared to the other offerings of the 8-bit era. These were the computers that defined what a home computer is, but the mid 80s you just had to copy the good ideas from the generation before.