+atari2600land Posted October 5, 2022 Share Posted October 5, 2022 So I found it funny that I had 5200 games but no 5200 to play them on. I already have an Atari 800, but I took the plunge anyway and bought a 5200 on eBay. It didn't come with a power cord. So I bought one of those as well separately. I think I spent all in all about $100. Now I'll be awaiting for the mail to come in a few days. Everything said it was working, so I don't know why it was so cheap. The console is missing its back lid (whatever that means), but seller said it works, so... I went to the garage and found a couple games for it: Galaxian, Pac-Man and Super Breakout that I had from that brief time I had an almost broken 5200 that died on me. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+-^CrossBow^- Posted October 5, 2022 Share Posted October 5, 2022 17 hours ago, atari2600land said: So I found it funny that I had 5200 games but no 5200 to play them on. I already have an Atari 800, but I took the plunge anyway and bought a 5200 on eBay. It didn't come with a power cord. So I bought one of those as well separately. I think I spent all in all about $100. Now I'll be awaiting for the mail to come in a few days. Everything said it was working, so I don't know why it was so cheap. The console is missing its back lid (whatever that means), but seller said it works, so... I went to the garage and found a couple games for it: Galaxian, Pac-Man and Super Breakout that I had from that brief time I had an almost broken 5200 that died on me. Missing the back lid... likely means that the controller storage cover is broken off. Very common on 5200s as that part of the plastic is quite brittle and just pushing the storage lid too far back is enough to crack the pegs that hinge that into the cover. Additionally, it will be interesting to see if the controllers actually work 100% as well since those usually require maintenance as well. That said, Congrats on the purchase! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cris1997XX Posted October 5, 2022 Share Posted October 5, 2022 (edited) I'm surprised a certain BIGHMW person hasn't commented on this yet 😁 Edited October 5, 2022 by Cris1997XX 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cris1997XX Posted October 5, 2022 Share Posted October 5, 2022 (edited) (Ignore this, I sent it by mistake) Edited October 5, 2022 by Cris1997XX 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0078265317 Posted October 7, 2022 Share Posted October 7, 2022 If it's not mint and boxed then 100 is fair. It should not be any more. I paid about 60 bucks for a working 2 port and vcd adapter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qrysdonnell Posted October 7, 2022 Share Posted October 7, 2022 The big question will be if 'it works' extends to the controllers. In general most Atari 5200 controllers won't at this point and 2 working controllers are probably worth as much as the rest of the console (if not more!) 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miker Posted October 7, 2022 Share Posted October 7, 2022 @atari2600land Isn't it time to "upgrade" your nickname then? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+atari2600land Posted October 8, 2022 Author Share Posted October 8, 2022 Found out the 4-port one needs a certain RF box. Judging by the photos in the auction, it looks like it's included. But I had to buy a power supply separately. That came today. Man it's big. Is 28 - 07- 83 the date it was made, or what? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+atari2600land Posted October 8, 2022 Author Share Posted October 8, 2022 It came. I need some controllers with it. But I can't find a way to plug it in. I bought this power supply and there is nowhere to plug it into the console. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+atari2600land Posted October 8, 2022 Author Share Posted October 8, 2022 OK, I realized I needed the special switchbox. So I had to order one of those. All the controllers on eBay are UNTESTED, so I don't know... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phuzaxeman Posted October 9, 2022 Share Posted October 9, 2022 Congrats, does that mean you're going to be in the atar5200land as well? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+atari2600land Posted October 9, 2022 Author Share Posted October 9, 2022 Yes, lol. I didn't get as many replies about that when I got a 7800 or a Jaguar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fragman Posted October 11, 2022 Share Posted October 11, 2022 There is a fairly cheap and easy mod (if you can do some basic soldering) that negates the need for the switchbox. I was in the same boat. Got an Atari 5200 game included in some other stuff on ebay, so of course, I could sell it on or I could buy a 5200 to go with it. Got one of those on ebay but it was just the console and the 4 port one at that. Did the mod (its basically removing two components, making a power 'lead' with a capacitor, diode, some wire and a DC jack), soldering that lead to the board and voila) and it worked. I also had to replace the 4013 chip ( a whopping $1 at the local electronics store), but that's independent of the mod. As for controllers, I bought another 'Atari Lot' on eBay of several 2600's and a whole bunch of controllers. 4 of them were 5200's. Tried a couple, of course they did not work. Took the first one apart and cleaned it up, now it seems to work OK. So have a working 5200 now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+atari2600land Posted October 11, 2022 Author Share Posted October 11, 2022 I spent the extra money and bought a refurbished 5200 controller. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Traxx Posted October 11, 2022 Share Posted October 11, 2022 (edited) Delete Edited October 11, 2022 by Traxx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldSchoolRetroGamer Posted October 11, 2022 Share Posted October 11, 2022 2 hours ago, atari2600land said: I spent the extra money and bought a refurbished 5200 controller. Hey man, I did not own a 5200 back in the day nor did I know anyone that owned one, ok well there was one kid who's step dad owned one but we were not allowed to touch it let alone hook it up and play. I bought a 4 port years ago when I was in my collecting phase, it had everything I needed EXCEPT a controllers so I bought one of those gold contact ones from good old BEST ELECTRONICS. No regrets. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fragman Posted October 11, 2022 Share Posted October 11, 2022 9 hours ago, atari2600land said: I spent the extra money and bought a refurbished 5200 controller. That works too! Especially if you don't have any already. I happened to have 4 in a box, so thought why not try to fix one up? Based on initial results, I will probably fix up the best functioning two controllers and sell them on. Opened up another one last might and the traces seem to be in good condition, just a little dulled. So looks like there will be two good controllers at least with existing parts. The two I have left over, I was going to give the Best (with a capital B) upgrades. Guessing that's new flex circuits, fire buttons, keypads and whatever they call the 'Start/Pause/Reset' button strip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Alexander Posted October 17, 2022 Share Posted October 17, 2022 Congratulations, there are games that are better on the 5200 vs their 400/800 counterparts. Dont forget to track down a Track ball for the best Missile Command, Centipede and Tempest experiences. A rebuilt 5200 controller is a must. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+atari2600land Posted October 17, 2022 Author Share Posted October 17, 2022 I know the Jaguar had a 12-key pad because they were planning to include modem support but dropped it. But why does the 5200 have one? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flyindrew Posted October 17, 2022 Share Posted October 17, 2022 On 10/11/2022 at 12:45 AM, atari2600land said: I spent the extra money and bought a refurbished 5200 controller. Last new year I bought a 5200 and refurbished it head to toe. I had also done the ebay route with regard to refurbished controllers. Last week I started having typical 5200 issues with the controller (wasnt moving left). I stuck my fingers by the stick in the controller, gave it a great pinch, and its been working perfectly ever since lol. In my 43 years of collecting, the 5200 has been my favorite system to collect for. The arcade ports on this system are almost spot on and the games released on it are so much fun to play. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+atari2600land Posted October 17, 2022 Author Share Posted October 17, 2022 Well, the switchbox finally came. I hooked it up to my TV and hooked the AC adapter. Nothing. I tried to make sure everything was plugged in all the way. A little fire came out. So that meant that everything was getting electricity. So I turned it on again. Galaxian came up. It works! My "refurbished" controller has a slight problem of wanting to go left sometimes when I don't press left. I guess I need another controller? Pac-Man looks exactly like the 8-bit version, and Super Breakout on the 5200 was rendered unplayable. So it works. Now I need to leave eBay feedback on all the stuff I bought. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RB5200 Posted October 17, 2022 Share Posted October 17, 2022 the problem is most likely not the controller at all, but rather the 5200 unit its self. the machines have drift and is adjustable by a pot. inside the machine. look up the many video's on how to clean and adjust the pot so the machine is back to center. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Alexander Posted October 18, 2022 Share Posted October 18, 2022 (edited) On 10/17/2022 at 1:53 PM, atari2600land said: I know the Jaguar had a 12-key pad because they were planning to include modem support but dropped it. But why does the 5200 have one? On some games the keypad supports extra functions. Although many games not much of the keypad gets used on games that use it, it adds a lot of functions like on Star Raiders, Baseball, also some on Rescue on Fractalus etc., Edited October 18, 2022 by David Alexander 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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