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800XL or 1200XL for Daily Driver?


Xebec

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Which would everyone recommend as a daily driver - an 800XL or a 1200XL?

 

I have a couple of 1200XLs that need the keyboard treatment (eyeing Best Electronic's keyboard mylar), but also have fully working 800XLs. They *appear* to work otherwise.

 

I plan to move a U1MB onto one of them (off of a dead 800XL), and Stereo Pokey.

 

Which XL makes the better daily driver these upgrades, and why? (and is there any way to loosen up the cartridge port on the 1200XL - the SIDE 2 likes to stick..)

 

In the future I may look at a 65c816 accelerator, and possibly VBXE.. but have to get back into the workforce first :).

 

The machine will be sharing a table with a Mega STE and an Amiga 1200, and for peripherals - a 1050 drive, 850 interface, and wifi232 modem.. small CRT monitor.

 

Thanks,

John

 

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No matter what you chose as the daily, get the 1200s fixed...they are gold now. I love mine, except for the cart position.

 

I agree with both of these observations. I did pick up one of Dropcheck's 1200XL cartridge port extensions which at least makes odd-sized carts like the SIDE2 or the UNO Cart a bit more usable, at the expense of needing more space to the left of the machine. The deeper footprint of the 1200XL is also both a plus and a minus - there's more space inside for mods or upgrades, but of course you need more desk space as well. And to be fair, there's plenty of room inside an 800XL for pretty much everything already.

 

So really, in *MY* case, I love the 1200XL because, well, what's not to love?!? :)

 

post-30400-0-30945200-1497829542_thumb.jpg

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I would have to say 800XL. It's reasonably compact and the most common in use by far. Less headache to keep going over time. That said, I would probably have a 1200XL setup if I owned one. ;-) They are indeed the cadillacs of the XL series. Maybe I would drive the Chevrolet (800XL) and keep the Cadillac in the garage to drive on weekends.

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The daily driver for me is the 1200XL. Can't beat the feel and comfort of that keyboard. The keyboard layout is larger as well. The 1200XL has the same foot print as an original 800, but half the height and that allows it to have a larger keyboard layout. Plus, I like the cursor keys (F1-F4) that no other Atari had (not counting the few 1400XL and 1450XLs that made it out of Borregas Avenue). And then there is the fact that the 1200XL is a gorgeous machine. Depending on how often you use it, not sure you will break it if used often. What's going to break? I guess you could accidentally fry something if you plug in power wrong, drop it or a line surge takes out your motherboard. They sure aren't cheap to replace anymore.

Edited by ACML
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