Rachel-Emma Posted April 10, 2011 Share Posted April 10, 2011 (edited) I was thinking about buying a 65XE/130XE and wouldn't mind modding one up but where can I purchase upgrades from? Can anyone advise as to what the benefits would be and what the best computer is to upgrade? Maybe someone has a spare computer that has been upgraded and modified ? Edited April 10, 2011 by Rachel-Emma Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+bob1200xl Posted April 11, 2011 Share Posted April 11, 2011 You're going to get any number of answers... mainly because you're going to get any number of opinions. The best upgrade base is a 1200XL. Everything can be neatly held inside the covers and the keyboard is excellent (after you fix it). All the chips are in sockets and the PCB traces are resonably robust. But... how proficient are you at doing electronic re-work? How much time (and $) are you willing to put into upgrades? And, just what did you have in mind? Which upgrades? Bob I was thinking about buying a 65XE/130XE and wouldn't mind modding one up but where can I purchase upgrades from? Can anyone advise as to what the benefits would be and what the best computer is to upgrade? Maybe someone has a spare computer that has been upgraded and modified ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rachel-Emma Posted April 11, 2011 Author Share Posted April 11, 2011 (edited) You're going to get any number of answers... mainly because you're going to get any number of opinions. The best upgrade base is a 1200XL. Everything can be neatly held inside the covers and the keyboard is excellent (after you fix it). All the chips are in sockets and the PCB traces are resonably robust. But... how proficient are you at doing electronic re-work? How much time (and $) are you willing to put into upgrades? And, just what did you have in mind? Which upgrades? Bob Hi Bob, Thanks for the reply. I've heard there's a modification that actually improves picture quality - makes it much more clearer and secondly I would like more RAM. What other options for mods are there and what are the benefits. I am not very good at doing electronic re-work as I have never tried it myself but I do have a friend who is a wizard with that sort of thing. Rachel Edited April 11, 2011 by Rachel-Emma Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+bf2k+ Posted April 11, 2011 Share Posted April 11, 2011 Here's a site for upgrades: http://morethangames.a8maestro.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillC Posted April 11, 2011 Share Posted April 11, 2011 I was thinking about buying a 65XE/130XE and wouldn't mind modding one up but where can I purchase upgrades from? Can anyone advise as to what the benefits would be and what the best computer is to upgrade? Maybe someone has a spare computer that has been upgraded and modified ? The 65XE/130XE are mostly unsocketed and have motherboards which are easily damaged when soldering/desoldering components, so I would recommend staying away from these unless experienced at such work. As Bob has already stated the 1200XL is an excellent choice, but can be difficult to acquire. Many(most?) 600XL/800XL circuit boards are socketed, better quality than the XE boards, and also a good choice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
russg Posted April 11, 2011 Share Posted April 11, 2011 I was thinking about buying a 65XE/130XE and wouldn't mind modding one up but where can I purchase upgrades from? Can anyone advise as to what the benefits would be and what the best computer is to upgrade? Maybe someone has a spare computer that has been upgraded and modified ? I don't know about your shadow problem with your new 800XL, maybe adjust the color pot in a small hole on the bottom of 800XL. My opinion, since I upgraded my original 800XL with a 256K Newell upgrade.... I almost never use the upgrade. You can run 99.9% of NTSC programs with a 130XE, which I think you said you already have. As for display upgrades, there are several, but there again, I don't see much wrong with the stock display, not counting your shadow problem. So, my recommendation... Get a SIO2PC or SIO2USB adapter, that I use a lot, I haven't used a real floppy drive for years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rachel-Emma Posted April 11, 2011 Author Share Posted April 11, 2011 my recommendation... Get a SIO2PC or SIO2USB adapter, that I use a lot, I haven't used a real floppy drive for years. Yeah I've recently bought an SIO2PC from Atarimax but im having to ship it back tomorrow as i've 2 that have failed so far. I still use my 1050 Disk Drive. Something special about them. I've started to write most of my games onto real floppies as well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+orpheuswaking Posted April 11, 2011 Share Posted April 11, 2011 my recommendation... Get a SIO2PC or SIO2USB adapter, that I use a lot, I haven't used a real floppy drive for years. Yeah I've recently bought an SIO2PC from Atarimax but im having to ship it back tomorrow as i've 2 that have failed so far. I still use my 1050 Disk Drive. Something special about them. I've started to write most of my games onto real floppies as well Weird you would get 2 bad sio2pc from Atarimax, never had a bad product from him... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rachel-Emma Posted April 11, 2011 Author Share Posted April 11, 2011 [Weird you would get 2 bad sio2pc from Atarimax, never had a bad product from him... He's a nice guy is Steve from Atarimax. He's having to make me a specialist SIO2PC to prevent future failures Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
19Echo Posted April 11, 2011 Share Posted April 11, 2011 my recommendation... Get a SIO2PC or SIO2USB adapter, that I use a lot, I haven't used a real floppy drive for years. Yeah I've recently bought an SIO2PC from Atarimax but im having to ship it back tomorrow as i've 2 that have failed so far. I still use my 1050 Disk Drive. Something special about them. I've started to write most of my games onto real floppies as well Weird you would get 2 bad sio2pc from Atarimax, never had a bad product from him... try 2 Myide's Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
classics Posted April 11, 2011 Share Posted April 11, 2011 (edited) Weird you would get 2 bad sio2pc from Atarimax, never had a bad product from him... In this case the first one was actually damaged, not defective, a burned 22V10 gate (internally shorted to ground) on the Atari side. I haven't seen the second one yet. If its the same thing I would say there is something electrically unusual going on with her setup, since these particular 22V10 have had an extremely low failure rate for me in this application. Steve Edited April 11, 2011 by classics Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
classics Posted April 11, 2011 Share Posted April 11, 2011 try 2 Myide's There are a couple of suggestions in your video thread about how to repair the CPU timing problem with your Atari. If you are unable to fix it and would prefer to return the items please e-mail me. Thanks Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mimo Posted April 11, 2011 Share Posted April 11, 2011 The best video fix I have done can be found here Easy RAM upgrade http://www.atariage.com/forums/topic/162420-ram-320xl/page__st__440__p__2226424__hl__320xl__fromsearch__1#entry2226424 if he has any left to sell. Candle is about to release his ultimate 1 meg RAM upgrade http://www.atariage.com/forums/topic/178323-ultimate1mb-preorder-starts/page__st__120__p__2247224__hl__ultimate__fromsearch__1#entry2247224 if you are not too late Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mclaneinc Posted April 11, 2011 Share Posted April 11, 2011 Just adding that to remember the OP is in the UK so postal costs could be an issue, so anyone UK based might be a preference? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carmel_andrews Posted April 11, 2011 Share Posted April 11, 2011 Mimo and flashjazzcat seem to be proficient with doing upgrades rachael....might want to ask them (they are UK based too) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rachel-Emma Posted April 11, 2011 Author Share Posted April 11, 2011 Mimo and flashjazzcat seem to be proficient with doing upgrades rachael....might want to ask them (they are UK based too) Many thanks for this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flashjazzcat Posted April 11, 2011 Share Posted April 11, 2011 (edited) Heh... my ears started burning as soon as I noticed the title of this thread, and sure enough... Edited April 11, 2011 by flashjazzcat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rachel-Emma Posted April 11, 2011 Author Share Posted April 11, 2011 Heh... my ears started burning as soon as I noticed the title of this thread, and sure enough... I would love your XE's - they look mint I'm hoping I can get some upgrades from you - especially SVideo upgrade Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mimo Posted April 11, 2011 Share Posted April 11, 2011 Heh... my ears started burning as soon as I noticed the title of this thread, and sure enough... Hehehehe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flashjazzcat Posted April 11, 2011 Share Posted April 11, 2011 Sorry Rachel - I just asked you if you're in the UK in my reply to your email, and it's patently apparent from your sig. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sloopy Posted April 11, 2011 Share Posted April 11, 2011 Heh... my ears started burning as soon as I noticed the title of this thread, and sure enough... your reputation precedes you... :'D sloopy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flashjazzcat Posted April 11, 2011 Share Posted April 11, 2011 Heh... my ears started burning as soon as I noticed the title of this thread, and sure enough... your reputation precedes you... :'D sloopy. Not among 600XLs, I hope. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fox-1 / mnx Posted April 11, 2011 Share Posted April 11, 2011 I just asked you if you're in the UK in my reply to your email, and it's patently apparent from your sig. Not U.K. She's from England. oh, wait... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MEtalGuy66 Posted April 11, 2011 Share Posted April 11, 2011 She's from that british country that's part of europe.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rachel-Emma Posted April 11, 2011 Author Share Posted April 11, 2011 She's from that british country that's part of europe.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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