Were there different keyboards fitted in the Atari 800XL i.e. did it get cost reduced?

[oky2000]

A while back I got around to unpacking an almost new old stock Atari 800XL retail packaged computer and noticed the keyboard wasn't quite as good as I remember. My stuff is all packed away while I finish up work on my house but on this machine the keyboard doesn't feel as good as the other 2 models I have.

 

Is it my memory playing tricks or was there two, or more, different keyboards fitted to the Atari 800XL throughout it's commercial life?

 

 

Edited December 2, 2022 by oky2000

[reifsnyderb]

I think there were 4 possible keyboards.  I know of 2 definitely.  Somewhere, on this forum, is a list of the keyboards.

Edited December 2, 2022 by reifsnyderb

[adam242]

There were five different XL keyboards, documented very well in this thread.

[+DrVenkman]

The 800XL was cost-reduced but not by changing keyboard versions, or at least not directly. The most obvious cost reduction was elimination of sockets for for the ICs, starting with the logic chips and then eventually all the chips being soldered in. It's also a fair to assume that the Tramiels negotiated HARD among the couple of different assembly companies to play one off the other and drive down unit prices as much as possible, too. 

 

[leech]

I think I currently have three of the variants.  Some of them definitely type better than others.

[Rybags]

There's another thread about kb variants.  I've got my second 600XL (sold the first) with stepped keys - the first had short travel and solid feel where this one is fairly short travel and mushy feel.

How many variants?  I don't remember though it might be over 4.

Cost reduction on XLs - aside from what's mentioned I'd guess the general price of the generic ICs and DRams would have come down during the life of the machine.  And about a year into it's life we had the price wars which eventually saw most of the base model machines under $100 in the US.

[oky2000]

Thanks to everyone for the info. I remember trying out the 800XL as it was a computer I tried really hard to buy but money was just too short when they were all put on clear-out sales in the UK for between £80-100 (absolute bargain). I remember thinking the keyboard was much nicer than the high friction mechanism of my 1983 C64 breadbin I had been using for a while. This sort of feels a bit like the XE or possibly my Amstrad computer. Sort of like the late 1990s/early 2000s 'free' keyboard you got with a desktop PC.

 

Doesn't really bother me that much, just curious, as the computer and all the packaging is in such fantastic condition, it is like coming home from the shops with a brand new Atari 800XL  I have at least 2 other units, one was sold to me by some scumbag liar on ebay and will never work (boarded has been messed about with by some clueless idiot with hamfisted soldering skills) and the other I bought in the 1990s from a bankrupt/liquidation auction with a load of other stuff so it might not work as it was already 'high mileage'.

 

This is really for display purposes, I have spent decades looking for all the machines I had or wanted with as close to 'as new' condition packaging. The VIC-20 starter pack outer packaging was impossible to find in that sort of condition but I did find VCS, 800XL, C64 and just the VIC-20 box inside the starter pack. Was just checking if my memory of typing on 800XLs in the shops was accurate.