ACML Posted July 9, 2023 Share Posted July 9, 2023 (edited) My opinion is limited to only those external peripherals I have experience with. If I don't mention your favorite, it's most likely because I have no experience with it. My criteria is usability, cost, and reliability. 1) Fujinet 1.6: Wow! What an amazing peripheral. I use it mainly for two functions, disk drive and printer emulation. It's small, has a passthrough SIO capability and a wireless network connection. It's not too expensive, but it's not the cheapest solution if you are only looking for a drive emulator. 2) SIO2SD: By far my favorite disk drive emulator. It's cheap, super reliable and I just like it's onscreen interface the best. It pretty much plays nice with everything. I actually like the older 2.2 and 2.5 menus better than the newer 3.5 menu. 3) UNO Cart: I also have the Ultimate Cart, but the capabilities it has for $63 is an amazing value. The form factor is 1200XL friendly, you can play the Atari 128K carts (Battlezone, GATO, etc.) without a memory upgrade. It can be Assembler Editor, Rev C BASIC, Action!, MAC/65, Microsoft BASIC II, etc. I sold all my original cartridges as this will emulate them all. Has a great EXE loader for playing games. You can use the RESET button on the top of the cart to change games without cold power cycling the machine every time you want to change a game. 4) Lotharek's SIO splitter: Late to the party, but it's the "original USB hub" from 1979. No more need to worry about dead legged peripherals (SIO2SD, printer interface, 410, etc.). Also has the ability to supply own 5V power so a stock 1200XL can use all the other peripherals. 5) Y/C S-video or Composite to HDMI upscalers: Not a specific Atari peripheral, but allows Ataris to use HDMI without internal mods. I have found cheap ($20-$30) units on Amazon that work great. Edited July 9, 2023 by ACML 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+MrFish Posted July 9, 2023 Share Posted July 9, 2023 Turbo Freezer 2011 Hooks up to your PBI or ECI/Cart port. Has a load of unique features. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Philsan Posted July 9, 2023 Share Posted July 9, 2023 In a top 5 external peripherals I would add - AVGCart/SubCart multicarts (quickly load everything, expand RAM, new SubCart emulates Stereo Pokey/COVOX) - SIDE3 multicart (perfect U1MB companion) and I would remove - UNOCart (above mullticarts are better) - SIO2SD (there's already FujiNet) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+slx Posted July 9, 2023 Share Posted July 9, 2023 I‘d vote for any joystick before any of the above , especially for the Suncom TAC-2. I need no storage if I can‘t play games. My top vote for hardware is for the Incognito which both fulfills the 800s promise of adaptability and expandability and takes it into the XL age (and beyond?). 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nasty niff Posted July 9, 2023 Share Posted July 9, 2023 My 1050s ultra reliable for their age.... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chevymad Posted July 9, 2023 Share Posted July 9, 2023 Depending on meaning of "external". U1MB is probably my tops. I have it in nearly all my atari's. Then fujinet. Sophia is my favorite video adapter. Just getting going with my Side3. And finally, just cause it always works my Sdrive Nuxx. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke210 Posted July 9, 2023 Share Posted July 9, 2023 #1 AVGCart Don't need #2-5 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mimo Posted July 9, 2023 Share Posted July 9, 2023 1. AVG cart 2.AVG cart sio cable 3.AVG cart PBI cable 4.AVG cart eci cable 5.Happy 1050 for those old school days Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+CharlieChaplin Posted July 9, 2023 Share Posted July 9, 2023 What, no love for the data recorders and 300 Baud modems ? 😄 1) AVG cart with SIO cable and PBI cable (have not bought Sub cart yet, but will as soon as money allows) 2) SIO2SD (have not bought Fujinet cart yet) 3) 1050 with Mini Super Speedy waiting for: - Melody Cart PSG/AY - Melody Cart OPL/OPM - MIDICAR for XL (with case) - Stereo FPGA for A8 (Simple Stereo 4) - Fujinet Prof. (with 2 SIO ports) 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reifsnyderb Posted July 9, 2023 Share Posted July 9, 2023 1090XL Expansion System. 🙂 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adam242 Posted July 10, 2023 Share Posted July 10, 2023 1. Ultimate Cart 2. SIO2PC 3. Atari 1050 w/ mini Super Speedy and call me old-school, but: 4. Commodore 1702 color monitor 5. Suncom TAC-2 joystick (runner-up? Competition Pro 1000) Way too many internal upgrades to name, but PokeyMAX, APE 32-in-1 OS module, Incognito are def in the running. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenames99 Posted July 10, 2023 Share Posted July 10, 2023 1090XL. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beeblebrox Posted July 10, 2023 Share Posted July 10, 2023 (edited) Side3.1 Sio2pc usb Fujinet 1.6/1.7 SNACK with SNES controller LG Flatron M227WD lcd TV/monitor A CRT TV. Edited July 10, 2023 by Beeblebrox Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Overange Posted July 11, 2023 Share Posted July 11, 2023 AVGCART Fujinet 1.6 XE Right Angle Cart Adapter Competition Pro Joystick 1010 Cassette Player 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Larry Posted July 12, 2023 Share Posted July 12, 2023 APE/SIO2PC-USB Black Box with ACARD + compact flash or SD IDE+2 All-in-Wonder video card for the Atari display AVGCART + cables 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+x=usr(1536) Posted July 12, 2023 Share Posted July 12, 2023 On 7/9/2023 at 1:18 PM, Philsan said: SIDE3 multicart Definitely the SIDE3. This plus a FujiNet pretty much covers all of the peripheral and cartridge-based software needs on a modern A8. Going off-piste for a moment, I'll echo the recommendation of the U1MB (in part due to its excellent integration with the SIDE3) and add the UAV for improved video. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akator Posted July 12, 2023 Share Posted July 12, 2023 AtariMax MyIDE-2 Cart FujiNet PBI memory expansion variations SysCheck 2.2 SDrive variations 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Larry Posted July 12, 2023 Share Posted July 12, 2023 7 hours ago, x=usr(1536) said: Definitely the SIDE3. This plus a FujiNet pretty much covers all of the peripheral and cartridge-based software needs on a modern A8. Going off-piste for a moment, I'll echo the recommendation of the U1MB (in part due to its excellent integration with the SIDE3) and add the UAV for improved video. The external U1MB would be fantastic! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+DrVenkman Posted July 12, 2023 Share Posted July 12, 2023 2 hours ago, Larry said: The external U1MB would be fantastic! I think Lotharek showed off a PBI/ECI connected U1MB prototype on Facebook some months ago (maybe last year?). Not sure if anything came of it. Anyway, my for purely external devices: 1. FujiNet 2. SIDE3 (especially if paired with a U1MB equipped machine) 3. ? Internal upgrade musts for me are: 1. Ultimate 1MB (XL/XE) / Incognito (800) 2. UAV 3. ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+remowilliams Posted July 12, 2023 Share Posted July 12, 2023 U1MB/Incognito and SIDE cart have long been the king of modern expansion and they are still right up there. However the AVG cart with cables is now a near unbeatable no effort, no mod upgrade offering comprehensive functionality that can't be matched outside of the above combo. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+bf2k+ Posted July 12, 2023 Share Posted July 12, 2023 IDE2Plus (I have 2) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillC Posted July 14, 2023 Share Posted July 14, 2023 On 7/12/2023 at 6:54 AM, DrVenkman said: I think Lotharek showed off a PBI/ECI connected U1MB prototype on Facebook some months ago (maybe last year?). Not sure if anything came of it. @candle originally posted about it in this forum ~2.5 years ago, I believe the design was finalized soon after. The delay in production/availability would be due to the chip shortages. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Larry Posted July 14, 2023 Share Posted July 14, 2023 Or this "unboxing" on YouTube: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atari8guy Posted July 14, 2023 Share Posted July 14, 2023 XEP-80 MyIDE (the first version, not II) CX-70 Light Pen CX-75 Light Pen and... the XG-1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Larry Posted July 14, 2023 Share Posted July 14, 2023 I'm curious why you pick the MyIDE + Flash over the MyIDE-II? (I'm not criticizing your choice -- just curious about why.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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