WTB Atari 800XL

[Max_Chatsworth]

I want to buy an Atari 800Xl like I used to have, but I want to upgrade it with Sophia and 1MB memory upgrade. I plan to do the work myself, but I am a little lost as to which version of the XL I should get, PAL or NTSC?  Also, I've heard mention of 'fully socketed' chipset XL's and is that something I need to be worried about?  

[+orpheuswaking]

In the US a NTSC machine would be preferred unless you aim to run a bunch of European demos and a small handful of games that rely on the differences in timing. A PAL machine might give you difficulty in finding a compatible display (Although adding a Sophia might mitigate this, I have to say I am not as familiar with that upgrade.)

 

As for a fully socketed board that just means the chips are in sockets rather than soldered direct to the board. getting one with sockets makes it easier to upgrade but not insurmountable. 

[+wood_jl]

Get both!  (just kidding; impractical for most people)

 

A display that will do both (my favorite Atari screen) is the JVC TM-A13SU CRT Video Monitor 

 

This guy is in Phoenix and doesn't want to ship.  But he as some good pictures.

 

If you are interested in one, be sure NOT to mix it up with the JVC TM-A130SU.  Although it looks the same, it has no sound/speaker.

 

A small drawback is that this monitor requites a BNC to RCA adapter to hook to a standard RCA cable, but they are cheap and available.

 

I'd get NTSC 800XL first, of course.