1200XL Pizza Box w/detachable keyboard...

[+davidcalgary29]

You can count me in for any new A8 hardware offering.

[KLund1]

I vote for 1450xld!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I think the 1450xld case would be the best. The pizza box thing might be ok for some, but would just be like an XL version of a Mega ST? I do not know of any Atari 8-bit user that would not love to own a real 1450xld. This would be the next best thing!!! Let's get this going. It looks like several people here already have the know-how and connections to get started.

 

If you could get a case made that could have mount holes, and stand-offs that could be cuff in not needed for a particular MB, and would fit any of the 'regular' motherboards, you would have a lot of buyers! Look at what happened with the ST Ultrasatan HD. Other people would put out small kits or DIY instructions to get the keyboards/drives/cart slot working. Just getting the case out into the wild and Atari users will take over.

 

It would be FANTASTIC to put my highly mod'd 1200xl into 1450xld case. I'd rip my US'd 1050's apart, stuff them in, and use regular old SIO cables inside the case just to get the drives working. (skip the controller card thing for now) It would really nice to have space to put the powerbrick inside too.

 

I do not know what others would do, but for such a case, I'd pony up $100 for it!!!! and not think twice about it.

[drac030]

I do not know of any Atari 8-bit user that would not love to own a real 1450xld.

 

I wouldn't.

[Curt Vendel]

I'll be back to working on this project in Aug,I'm really tied up with getting the 7800 expansion module done first and then I can focus on this.

 

 

Curt

 

I do not know of any Atari 8-bit user that would not love to own a real 1450xld.

 

I wouldn't.

[+wood_jl]

I do not know of any Atari 8-bit user that would not love to own a real 1450xld.

 

I would, too.

 

 

It would be FANTASTIC to put my highly mod'd 1200xl into 1450xld case.

 

I think I like Metaguy66's idea of using a 130XE motherboard, though.

[KLund1]

I do not know of any Atari 8-bit user that would not love to own a real 1450xld.

 

I wouldn't.

 

draco030 you must be nuts......

Be that as it may. Wouldn't it be real cool to put any 8-bit motherboard into a 1450xld case, pop in a FD or two, and party on........

 

Curt, No problem, We all have been waiting for a 1450xld to show up on ebay for years, we can wait a couple of months for the chance to easily make our own!!!

 

wood_jl, I have an AtariMax 12000xl, this has to go into a 1450LXD case!!!!!!!

Edited July 1, 2010 by KLund1

[+Philsan]

Regan Cheng's Concept Sketches

Concept Computer Designs (many links doesn't work, sometimes you have to change the first part of the URL from www.atari-history.com to www.atarimuseum.com)

(from Atari History Museum)

 

It would be nice if Curt could sell this sketches as posters.

[drac030]

I do not know of any Atari 8-bit user that would not love to own a real 1450xld.

 

I wouldn't.

 

draco030 you must be nuts......

 

Well, I don't think so. What's a 1450XLD anyway - functionally it is a stock 800XL (i.e. 64 KB RAM) with two 360k disk drives housed in an ugly case. It wouldn't even run my favourite assembler, as it requires at least 128k, and I am a bit tired of floppies. The only use for such a machine I can think of is to sell it to a museum. The 130XE I have here is much more usable.

[Kalvan]

Would you like a system that had the looks of a 1450 but the functionality of (say) a hypothetical 2080XE? Perhaps one on a fast FPGA (Like an Achronix Speedster at 1.8 Ghz) with a(n arbitrarily speeded up) 65816 softcore CPU, a 5" DSED Floppy, a 3M SuperDisk (Backward compatible with a 3.5 in Floppy, a 72-in-1 card reader, CD/DVD ROM Drive and a 30-in-1 OS ROM?

 

I know I'd spend at least $500 to get something like that.

Edited July 1, 2010 by Kalvan

[MEtalGuy66]

Would you like a system that had the looks of a 1450 but the functionality of (say) a hypothetical 2080XE? Perhaps one on a fast FPGA (Like an Achronix Speedster at 1.8 Ghz) with a(n arbitrarily speeded up) 65816 softcore CPU, a 5" DSED Floppy, a 3M SuperDisk (Backward compatible with a 3.5 in Floppy, a 72-in-1 card reader, CD/DVD ROM Drive and a 30-in-1 OS ROM?

 

I know I'd spend at least $500 to get something like that.

 

Why? That'd be a totally hermaphrodite, grossly incompatable, bastardized P.O.S..... We all already have modern PCs if we want speed-demon performance... And if what you want to do is design your own "atari derivative" computer using those devices and specs, you should start another thread to discuss that. This thread is about making a plastic case.

 

If what you want is something similar to what the 1450XLD is/was/wouldve been, then remake the case, but with generic mounting options for varios common ATARI 8bit boards inside.. Then make different versions of the "port wiring" kit to accomadate each board type. (eg. 600/800/1200xl, 65/130xe). That is my "vote"...

Edited July 2, 2010 by MEtalGuy66

[KLund1]

Just a 'generic' case we could fit any 8-bit atari motherboard into, add drives of your choice, and have the very good looking 1450xld, but with better parts. Isn't that what these retro sites are kind of about? Have some fun with older but still VERY good hardware/software?

If you don't think the 1450xld is good looking machine, put one on ebay, start the price at 1 cent, and see where the price is after 7 days. 4K?, more, most likely. Atari people like this model, and if they could make their own for a fraction of that ebay cost, many ,many would go for it. imo

 

Any other votes for a 1450xld case??

[doctor_x]

Regan Cheng's Concept Sketches

Concept Computer Designs (many links doesn't work, sometimes you have to change the first part of the URL from www.atari-history.com to www.atarimuseum.com)

(from Atari History Museum)

 

It would be nice if Curt could sell this sketches as posters.

 

 

man those concept sketches always get my blood flowing.. i LOVE them!

[yorgle]

Imagine this profile, maybe just a wee bit thinner, with the top keyboard area being a nice thick, solid feeling, shiny glass capacitive touch keyboard with silver function key row flush fit just like the production 1200xl's.

[KLund1]

Imagine this profile, maybe just a wee bit thinner, with the top keyboard area being a nice thick, solid feeling, shiny glass capacitive touch keyboard with silver function key row flush fit just like the production 1200xl's.

 

There is not a lot of difference between this and a standard 1200. Flush keyboard may make hitting keys around the edges difficult at best. captive touch keyboard?? what r u smokin' (send some!!) might that cost more than a mint, boxed, fully functioning 1450xld?

 

A 1450xld case that anyone could but any 8-bit motherboard, and(if wanted) drive(s) (including psu's) into is the way to go!!!!

[HiroProX]

 

If what you want is something similar to what the 1450XLD is/was/wouldve been, then remake the case, but with generic mounting options for varios common ATARI 8bit boards inside.. Then make different versions of the "port wiring" kit to accomadate each board type. (eg. 600/800/1200xl, 65/130xe). That is my "vote"...

 

This one wins.

 

Though my current project is building a 130XE into a Mega ST case.

Edited August 4, 2010 by HiroProX

[+wood_jl]

Though my current project is building a 130XE into a Mega ST case.

 

 

Pics please????

[HiroProX]

Though my current project is building a 130XE into a Mega ST case.

 

 

Pics please????

 

When it's done. I'm splitting time on it with two other projects. Hence I work on them when the mood strikes me.

[svenski]

Well given that the 1200XL keyboards get a bit dodgy with age I think the pizza box is a great idea.

[MEtalGuy66]

1200xl keyboards dont get "dodgy" unless you let them sit for 20 years and the contacts oxidize.. Even then, it's easy to clean them and thus restore like-new functionality... and then its good for another 20 years.. If you use them at all frequently, they don't oxidize..

 

And the 1200XL keyboard blows away any crappy PC keyboard.. I Like the old IBM Model M keyboard, as far as PC keyboards go.. I have one for each of my PCs.. But I wouldnt trade my 1200XL keyboards for it.. Not in a million years..

[Defender II]

Here are links to cleaning the 1200XL keyboard.

 

Here on AA in Tips/Tricks/Products Used In Restoration

Or atRetrobits.net 1200XL Keyboard Tune-up

I like it the best of all the Atari 8-bit keyboards as well.

I hope this project goes forward with the 1450XLD case.

[AtariNerd]

As much as I like to speculate, to ponder and to dream of what might have been and what might still occur and as much as I and others might love the old 8-bit Atari computers, there probably aren't enough people interested in something like a 1450xld to pay off the cost of the outer case design and inner support lattice and fittings, which would run into the 10's of thousands of dollars in up-front costs. I'd love to see many of these designs come to fruition, but functionality plays a major key, here, and the 1450xld case, while a behemoth of 80's engineering, provides little in terms of extending functionality compared to what is already available and often implemented better by more recent developments, such as the various IDE and flash storage devices available in a much smaller footprint. While one might say that of this project as well, I think many of those items might be implementable into this design as is, especially if for some reason, you might retrofit it with one of the other, smaller XL or XE boards. Heck, you could stick in a 600XL board in there and have room for a hard-drive. Remember, the case was chosen partly because of the size and the abilty to put out a relatively simple single-piece case-mod like this, providing tinker-room as well as a possible monitor platform, while clearing desk space. That might be a bit of a backward step in intention with the 1450 Mother-ship.

[Defender II]

As much as I like to speculate, to ponder and to dream of what might have been and what might still occur and as much as I and others might love the old 8-bit Atari computers, there probably aren't enough people interested in something like a 1450xld to pay off the cost of the outer case design and inner support lattice and fittings, which would run into the 10's of thousands of dollars in up-front costs. I'd love to see many of these designs come to fruition, but functionality plays a major key, here, and the 1450xld case, while a behemoth of 80's engineering, provides little in terms of extending functionality compared to what is already available and often implemented better by more recent developments, such as the various IDE and flash storage devices available in a much smaller footprint. While one might say that of this project as well, I think many of those items might be implementable into this design as is, especially if for some reason, you might retrofit it with one of the other, smaller XL or XE boards. Heck, you could stick in a 600XL board in there and have room for a hard-drive. Remember, the case was chosen partly because of the size and the abilty to put out a relatively simple single-piece case-mod like this, providing tinker-room as well as a possible monitor platform, while clearing desk space. That might be a bit of a backward step in intention with the 1450 Mother-ship.

 

To me, making a pizza-box top to cover a 1200XL computer that has a perfectly fine 1200XL top case which is tossed is a step back. If someone wants to make an Atari box, please make a shorter 1090XL and use a 600XL as your computer & keyboard. Make it so it can have all the upgrades plug into slots. With the technology we have now the 1090XL cards could be much smaller.

[Curt Vendel]

Just wanted to give everyone a heads up, this is NOT a dead project. The 7800 Expansion Module took 110% priority over everything else. I was going to work on a next project on the 7800, but I may take a break for 3-6 months on it, let the dev's work on Expansion Module games, really allow it to take a good foot hold, then I'll introduce the next component for the Expansion Module, plus I have a controller project for the 7800 too.

 

I will instead come back to finishing up the 1200XL pizzabox project and get that going, now that I've got a plastics tooling company that I know is reliable and the pricing will work with the project within budget, I can go back to this project after the New Years and finish up that work already started on the interface board as well and that should get this project readied by late spring to ship to everyone so that the 1200XL can get some upgrade love! :-)

 

 

Curt

[OldAtarian]

How are you going to cover the costs for this project if you can't cover the costs for a run of 2600 cartridge shells? There's maybe 50-60 1200XL's registered in the serial number thread. If you can't justify the cost of making 2600 cart shells with a few thousand, how can you justify the cost of this?

 

And how do you put a 1200XL into a 1450XLD case? The drives were addressed as high speed PBI devices in the 1450XLD weren't they? The 1200XL has no PBI to tap into.

 

The biggest issue still goes back to there being too few 1200XL's left in the world for this project to make any sense.

Edited November 27, 2010 by OldAtarian

[venom4728a]

I am very interested as well, please count me in for one, I would love to have a unit with external keyboard and room inside for all the mods available right now. I would vote for an interface that could use a pc keyboard, that way I could use a KVM switch; to switch between Atari and PC as needed and not crowd my deskspace. Totally awesome.