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What Atari computer would you buy


Jim Pez

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800.

 

Surprised to see nods to the 600XL. Used to be NObody wanted the 600XL and if you had one, people told you to get an 800XL. :P

Since upgrading it to 64Ko or more become easy it mean that there is no reason not to get a 600XL. Especially since there are more 600XL left because of the past dislike, they are in larger supply now.

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Like all 8-bits the whole line has a variety of memory expansions.

 

Used to be the very retro and typewriter looking Atari 800 was laughed at in the earlier days of the retro computer resurgence. The 800 only had up to 48K Axion memory and could not run some XL programs. But with the before mentioned Incogneto board you can now have XL memory and like 1088K of memory. :D Beautiful mod.

 

Atari 800 was my choice long before the Incogneto. The computer is a tank, expandable, and as said, retro looking with a nice keyboard.

 

And it was the computer my friend had back in high school. I got a Atari 400 at the time (another cute machine). Got a 800 a decade later in a pawn shop for like $15. ;)

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...there is no reason not to get a 600XL.

The 600XL doesn't have composite A/V out like the 800 and 800XL. RF only. That could be a deal-breaker for some.

 

Though I guess if you're going to upgrade it to 64K anyway, it probably isn't too much of a stretch to do a composite mod as long as you're in there.

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Oh! Could be an issue. I didn't know about that. European 600XL have composite out.

 

600xlarriere.jpg

 

Several French 600XL even had RGB out tho it's luma-chroma from the video chip converted into RVB.

Early French sold model liek the one I own are PAL composite and were sold with a PAL to RVB Transcoder.

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If I had to pick one, it'd be the 800XL. I'd just have to upgrade the video and make sure I found one of the better keyboards for it.

 

I like the 1200XL best, and it's my daily driver, but if it requires a lot of work to bring it up to spec and I'd not want to do all that again.

 

I love my 800, but, again, it's a lot of work and in the end you don't have the PBI no matter what you do. Plus they're complicated beasts with multiple boards and many more components.

 

I've never been a fan of the look and feel of the XE series.

 

So, I'd end up with an 800XL if I was starting over now, and could only have one.

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Oh! Could be an issue. I didn't know about that. European 600XL have composite out.

 

Several French 600XL even had RGB out tho it's luma-chroma from the video chip converted into RVB.

Early French sold model liek the one I own are PAL composite and were sold with a PAL to RVB Transcoder.

Very cool, I didn't know that. :thumbsup:

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800XL I think is the best looking/most functional right away 8bit to get. The early ones have a nice keyboard also.

 

The 130XE is a good package due to memory and the ECI, but the keyboards are not the most popular.

 

If you didnt mind investing in modding a bit after purchase then the 1200XL would be my pick.

 

I was an original 800 owner and love that machine, but going above 48k and trying to get XL/XE compatibility is a pain. Not alot of stuff used the 4 joystick ports and it has a big footprint.

 

I personally use my 130XE when I break out my 8bit and I have a 800XL, 800, 400, 1200XL and XEGS.

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If I had to start over again, I'd probably start with the 800XL. Nice, compact little system with a conveniently-placed cartridge port that plays just about all of the games I would worry about. Of course I'd want it modded for true S-video support, but even with its default "psuedo S-video" support it looks pretty good.

 

I might lean toward the 130XE just to get as much capability out of the box as possible, but swapping cartridges on the 130XE is really awkward, even more so than on the Commodore 64.

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