ataridave Posted March 11, 2010 Share Posted March 11, 2010 To play the most games on, that is. Out of the three listed on this page: http://www.4jays.com/atari8bit.html Hopefully not the most expensive one! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cebus Capucinis Posted March 11, 2010 Share Posted March 11, 2010 1050 will work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Syfo-Dyas Posted March 11, 2010 Share Posted March 11, 2010 I'd just pick up an SIO2SD device and emulate floppy drives via ATR images. The loading time is MUCH faster and you don't have to worry about your floppy disks dying, let alone finding new ones. There is also the SIO2USB device which you can use with APE. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tregare Posted March 11, 2010 Share Posted March 11, 2010 I'd just pick up an SIO2SD device and emulate floppy drives via ATR images. The loading time is MUCH faster and you don't have to worry about your floppy disks dying, let alone finding new ones. There is also the SIO2USB device which you can use with APE. I've had trouble with protected software and disk emulation in the past. if you're going to get a drive, get a 1050, preferrably with a happy or us-doubler in it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Syfo-Dyas Posted March 11, 2010 Share Posted March 11, 2010 Thus far, most of my problems have been due to not having a PAL Atari, or by not holding down option when booting certain programs. Can you think of some protected software off hand that I could try to run and see if I get the same results? Also I may have a 1050 for sale. I'm not getting any use out of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ataridave Posted March 11, 2010 Author Share Posted March 11, 2010 Ok thanks! Would I have to have the Dos disk that comes with the one on 4jay's to play games? IIRC, the XEGS comes with the operating system built in, doesn't it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ApolloBoy Posted March 14, 2010 Share Posted March 14, 2010 Just get a SIO2PC adapter from Atarimax and you won't have to worry about disk drives. When I got my SIO2PC, the first thing I did was sell my two drives and I haven't looked back since. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ataridave Posted March 14, 2010 Author Share Posted March 14, 2010 (edited) Ok, which type of cassette drive will I need? There are two listed on that 4jays site. Edited March 14, 2010 by dave4shmups Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ApolloBoy Posted March 14, 2010 Share Posted March 14, 2010 Ok, what type of cassette drive will I need? I'm assuming that those are harder to find. You don't need a tape drive either, since there aren't a whole lot of NTSC games on tape and you can easily find ATR versions of cassette games, which you can load with the SIO2PC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mimo Posted March 14, 2010 Share Posted March 14, 2010 Sio2pc, SDrive or SIO2SD would be a great investment, much more useful than a disc drive unless you particularly want to collect discs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mirage Posted March 14, 2010 Share Posted March 14, 2010 Totally agree with the SIO2xx solution. I have the SIO2USB, and it's the most amazing device for the A8. It even works with most copy-protected software images due to the .pro and .atx image formats. Burst mode for speed, ease of use, small size, affordable... it's just a great product. As mentioned above, unless you really want to collect real disks, or have a bunch of disks you want to archive or something, I wouldn't bother with a real drive anymore, for either the A8 or the Commodore computers for that matter. Hardly any point to it anymore. Real floppies are unreliable, take up lots of space, are a lot slower to work with, and cost a lot in shipping to get them from ebay or wherever... not worth it in 2010 except as a curiosity/nostalgia. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ataridave Posted March 15, 2010 Author Share Posted March 15, 2010 Totally agree with the SIO2xx solution. I have the SIO2USB, and it's the most amazing device for the A8. It even works with most copy-protected software images due to the .pro and .atx image formats. Burst mode for speed, ease of use, small size, affordable... it's just a great product. As mentioned above, unless you really want to collect real disks, or have a bunch of disks you want to archive or something, I wouldn't bother with a real drive anymore, for either the A8 or the Commodore computers for that matter. Hardly any point to it anymore. Real floppies are unreliable, take up lots of space, are a lot slower to work with, and cost a lot in shipping to get them from ebay or wherever... not worth it in 2010 except as a curiosity/nostalgia. Ok, since these disc images are copy-protected is SIO2xx method legal? Don't take offense, I just want to know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mirage Posted March 15, 2010 Share Posted March 15, 2010 Totally agree with the SIO2xx solution. I have the SIO2USB, and it's the most amazing device for the A8. It even works with most copy-protected software images due to the .pro and .atx image formats. Burst mode for speed, ease of use, small size, affordable... it's just a great product. As mentioned above, unless you really want to collect real disks, or have a bunch of disks you want to archive or something, I wouldn't bother with a real drive anymore, for either the A8 or the Commodore computers for that matter. Hardly any point to it anymore. Real floppies are unreliable, take up lots of space, are a lot slower to work with, and cost a lot in shipping to get them from ebay or wherever... not worth it in 2010 except as a curiosity/nostalgia. Ok, since these disc images are copy-protected is SIO2xx method legal? Don't take offense, I just want to know. I can't answer the specific legality question, as that's another whole topic(s), but... It's no more ore less legal than a cracked copy. The copy protection doesn't have anything to do with it. If you want to run only Public Domain software off of disk images, you can do that. If you want to run old cracked copyrighted software, you can do that. If you want to run old copy-protected copyrighted software, you can (usually) do that too. The SIO2xx solution is just a technical solution... what you chose to do with it is up to you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Syfo-Dyas Posted March 15, 2010 Share Posted March 15, 2010 Something like this comes in REAL handy: http://morethangames.a8maestro.com/proda8/adv-ek0130.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HiassofT Posted March 15, 2010 Share Posted March 15, 2010 Something like this comes in REAL handy: http://morethangames.a8maestro.com/proda8/adv-ek0130.htm I totaly agree, the SDrive is awesome, but the price tag on this item is quite high. I built an SDrive (ok, without a case and without a SIO jack) by myself and the parts cost me approx. 15 EUR (some 20 USD), including taxes (20% here in Austria). so long, Hias Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Syfo-Dyas Posted March 15, 2010 Share Posted March 15, 2010 Yes, if you look around you can find, or build them for much cheaper. There are a variety of different versions out there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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