would a portable Atari XE be possible with today's tech ?

[andy_bernstein]

HELLO - THIS POST HAS BEEN MOVED TO THE ATARI 8-BIT SECTION - PLEASE REPLY OVER THERE. THANKS.

 

Hey gang,

 

With this post, I wish to avoid emulation on a portable PC or MAC but really stimulates ideas about the possible creation of a portable XE computer.

 

If you've seen my post from a week ago, I'm a Macintosh User who has been a deep hardcore XL XE collector for these last twenty years. I have a major passion for this platform that I consider, with the MSX2, possibly the best 8 bit platform ever (if properly used).

 

I recently got an ATARI 130XE from Ebay this week (my collection is 18000 kilometers away so...) and I started immediately to program in Basic. It felt like I had never lost it BUT, if there is something I don't miss, it's to be immobilized in front of my XE for hours just programming. Hence the idea of a portable XE which would recapture the look and feel of the classic machine.

 

With today's technology (especially LCD screens & new batteries), such a portable seems plausible but it would require a return to the drawing board to optimize all the elements (+ to upgrade the existing hardware with why not a Stereo Pokey upgrade or other affordable gizmos like a MyIde HD interface, a 1.4 meg disk drive, etc...)

 

My starpoint would be the use of a 130XE board alone then resolve each problem (alimentation, video...) one by one. I don't believe such a revival machine would look as slim as a Powerbook G4 Titanium but nothing prevents from trying.

 

Again, I'm aiming at the creation of an ultimate machine that would make programming something natural to do in any kind of environment.

 

Any opinion is welcome. Thank you - Andy.

 

Also, do anybody has this chip ?

(from http://www.atari-explorer.com/XE.html):

 

There was also an announcement made about the 65XEM, which donated "music".  This system was never released, but a number of working prototypes were produced.  A new polyphonic AMY super-sound chip was being worked on at Atari, and was a parting legacy by Warner-Atari computer engineers.  Unfortunately, these engineers no longer worked at the new slim and trim Atari, and the project was eventually axed.

 

Compute! magazine featured a news story on the 65XEM in April 1985:

 

"The third new 8-bit machine is an interesting variation of the 65XE called the 65XEM (XE Music computer). It's a 65XE with an additional sound chip, the new eight-voice "Amy". Unfortunately, this was the only new computer Atari didn't exhibit at the show.

 

However, those who have heard Amy say it outperforms even the SID synthesizer chip in the Commodore 64. Amy has a dynamic range exceeding 60 decibels, a frequency range of nearly 11 octaves from 4.8 hertz (far below human hearing) to 7.8 kilohertz, frequency resolution of 1/64 semitones, 64 harmonics, and many other features. Reportedly it can synthesize almost any musical instrument sound. The 65XEM will sell for about $150."

 

Such a chip would help re-energize the music production on the XE beyond the Pokey stereo upgrade. That would be neat.