t.skid Posted January 24, 2003 Share Posted January 24, 2003 Sorry for the silly question, but I don't know much about 7800... I was surfing eBay looking for a console - I still miss 7800 -, and I've notice that there is "7800 ProSystem" and "7800". What are the difference between the two versions? Only a market choice, maybe for US and Europe? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Mitch Posted January 24, 2003 Share Posted January 24, 2003 Sorry for the silly question, but I don't know much about 7800...I was surfing eBay looking for a console - I still miss 7800 -, and I've notice that there is "7800 ProSystem" and "7800". What are the difference between the two versions? Only a market choice, maybe for US and Europe? It's the same thing. The full name is "Atari 7800 ProSystem". It's called the 7800 for short. Mitch http://atari7800.atari.org Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MegaManFan Posted January 24, 2003 Share Posted January 24, 2003 It's the same thing. The full name is "Atari 7800 ProSystem". It's called the 7800 for short. Yep. Call it the Atari Video Compuer System or the 2600, it's still the same thing. Names on these old consoles are quite malleable. The only two that seem concrete to me are Lynx and Jaguar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
t.skid Posted January 24, 2003 Author Share Posted January 24, 2003 Sorry for the silly question, but I don't know much about 7800...I was surfing eBay looking for a console - I still miss 7800 -, and I've notice that there is "7800 ProSystem" and "7800". What are the difference between the two versions? Only a market choice, maybe for US and Europe? It's the same thing. The full name is "Atari 7800 ProSystem". It's called the 7800 for short. Mitchhttp://atari7800.atari.org But there's also 2 version of console, right? I mean: one with the '7800 ProSystem' logo and one with only '7800'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CPUWIZ Posted January 24, 2003 Share Posted January 24, 2003 The only difference I know of is that one has an expansion port and the other doesn't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oesii Posted January 24, 2003 Share Posted January 24, 2003 Doesn't the European Pal system just have '7800' with a thin rainbow stripe? That's different than the thick stripe in the US. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
t.skid Posted January 24, 2003 Author Share Posted January 24, 2003 The only difference I know of is that one has an expansion port and the other doesn't. Expansion port? For what? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
t.skid Posted January 24, 2003 Author Share Posted January 24, 2003 Doesn't the European Pal system just have '7800' with a thin rainbow stripe? That's different than the thick stripe in the US. Exactly what I see In Europe, at least until now, I see only "7800" and rainbow stripe. So only the US version have '7800 ProSystem', right? Sorry again, but I'm try to learn about 7800 console Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CPUWIZ Posted January 24, 2003 Share Posted January 24, 2003 The only difference I know of is that one has an expansion port and the other doesn't. Expansion port? For what? Thanks Atari had planned a keyboard and other accessories for it but nothing was ever released. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZylonBane Posted January 25, 2003 Share Posted January 25, 2003 There are actually 3 major variations on the 7800. The rare original production run with expansion port, a second run with slotted joystick ports (identical to the ports on the 2800/Sears Arcade II), and a third component-reduced version, which is the one with all the compatibility problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
t.skid Posted January 25, 2003 Author Share Posted January 25, 2003 There are actually 3 major variations on the 7800. The rare original production run with expansion port, a second run with slotted joystick ports (identical to the ports on the 2800/Sears Arcade II), and a third component-reduced version, which is the one with all the compatibility problems. This is interesting... there is a way to recognize the last cr version, apart open it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SS Posted January 25, 2003 Share Posted January 25, 2003 There are actually 3 major variations on the 7800. The rare original production run with expansion port, a second run with slotted joystick ports (identical to the ports on the 2800/Sears Arcade II), and a third component-reduced version, which is the one with all the compatibility problems. From what I've seen, version #2 is the most common. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Atari Posted January 25, 2003 Share Posted January 25, 2003 I think I have version #2, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
icbrkr Posted January 25, 2003 Share Posted January 25, 2003 I think I have version #2, too. Checked mine... first run! I have the expansion port. I'm wondering how many of these were really made. Odd enough, I have a first run Intellivision (2609.. no A, serial number under 165,000). Wasn't the first run of 200,000 of Intellivisions used only for the test market in Fresno, CA? Brian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZylonBane Posted January 25, 2003 Share Posted January 25, 2003 This is interesting... there is a way to recognize the last cr version, apart open it? It doesn't have the holes in the joystick ports sleeves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liquid_sky Posted January 25, 2003 Share Posted January 25, 2003 I have a version one, serial #2484 if we are getting specific here.. no real use for the expansion port anyway, so its not like it matters what version 7800 you have for the most part Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oesii Posted January 25, 2003 Share Posted January 25, 2003 I have a version one, serial #2484 if we are getting specific here.. no real use for the expansion port anyway, so its not like it matters what version 7800 you have for the most part actually some versions of the 7800 have problems with some games like Robot Tank and there's a suspicion that some 7800's will fry a Supercharger. At the very least some 7800's don't work with a SC. I'm lucky mine works both with Robot Tanks and my SC so I can keep my 2600's for display purposes only Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liquid_sky Posted January 25, 2003 Share Posted January 25, 2003 I knew about the robot tank issue, but wasent aware of the supercharger one until now.. I keep my 2600 around because I dont like having to force some games into the 7800. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Mitch Posted January 25, 2003 Share Posted January 25, 2003 Wow, this thread really took off. Just a quick reminder that many of these questions have been answered in The Atari 7800 FAQ. There's lots of info in there. (though I am one of the maintainers) To answer t.skid's question; yes, the case design between the NTSC and PAL models are different. The NTSC model sports a narrow rainbow and the words Atari 7800 Pro System and the PAL model has a wide rainbow and the words Atari 7800. Though, I have one PAL-I model that has the NTSC casing. As far as differences in the system boards, there were two major revisions of both the NTSC and PAL systems. The first NTSC board is the one you normally see with the expansion port and works with the supercharger, Robot Tank, etc., but had some compatibility problems with a few Atari games. The later board revision added an extra timing circuit that fixed the problems with the Atari games but caused problems with the supercharger and some Activision games. If you want to learn more about this issue check out Chad Schell's page. The later board generally came without the expansion port, some cases still had the hole in the side for it but later cases didn't have the hole. I'm afraid the slotted joystick port has nothing to do with board revsion. It was more to do with whatever happened to be the cheapest (slotted or non-slotted) 9 pin connector when Atari bought them. I have seen 2600 with the slotted joystick ports as well. On a side note, the expansion port was designed for a laserdisk add-on not the 7800 keyboard.(It plugged into the second joystick port) The PAL 7800s also had two board revsions. I don't own the earlier, slightly rarer model so I can't comment about it. The later model is a universal board with NTSC/PAL jumpers on it but I have never seen this board in an NTSC 7800. It has the same compatibility problems as the later NTSC model. Incidentally, there is a PAL SCART 7800 (sold in France) that uses this board as well. Mitch http://atari7800.atari.org Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZylonBane Posted January 25, 2003 Share Posted January 25, 2003 I'm afraid the slotted joystick port has nothing to do with board revsion. It was more to do with whatever happened to be the cheapest (slotted or non-slotted) 9 pin connector when Atari bought them. I doubt they were a commodity item. The slotted ports were specifically for the 2800 controllers, which have small bumps on them that let them lock into the slotted ports. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
t.skid Posted January 25, 2003 Author Share Posted January 25, 2003 Wow, this thread really took off. Just a quick reminder that many of these questions have been answered in The Atari 7800 FAQ. There's lots of info in there. (though I am one of the maintainers) To answer t.skid's question; yes, the case design between the NTSC and PAL models are different. The NTSC model sports a narrow rainbow and the words Atari 7800 Pro System and the PAL model has a wide rainbow and the words Atari 7800. Though, I have one PAL-I model that has the NTSC casing. ...... Thanks for the link and the answers, to Mitch and all of you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SS Posted January 26, 2003 Share Posted January 26, 2003 I'm lucky mine works both with Robot Tanks and my SC so I can keep my 2600's for display purposes only I think that it’s interesting that many of us seem to do this when, in reality, the 7800’s the rarer machine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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