Atari 2600+ Hardware Overview

[AgentOrange96]

Hello all,

I know others have already done teardowns and comparisons with other systems on YouTube, but since my other video about this system was already posted here anyway, I figured I'd post this much more positive video myself:

For some context, I was in a late batch of pre-orders, so I only just received mine yesterday. I had purposely avoided looking at any videos or discussion about the 2600+ after they got into the hands of customers as I wanted to be able to create this comparison with fresh eyes.

Since creating this video today, I've seen that others have already beaten me to the punch with their own great videos on this system. Not a surprise at all given how passionate Atari nerds are, but I'll definitely be catching up on those in the coming days! xD

 

Unfortunately, like a few other people's system, mine is DOA, but that didn't stop me from getting a good look at the hardware. Since I already have my main 2600 HDMI modded and loaded with a Harmony Cart, I did mostly purchase this to examine it out of pure Atari geekiness. So it's not the end of the world, but I do hope to get a resolution on that and create an update video on it at a later date.

Anyway, I'll officially release the video tomorrow, but you all can get a sneak peak! I hope you all enjoy my commentary, and thank you so much!

[xeex]

Your serial (53928) is a new high score. (Mine is 53388.)

 

These higher serial systems contain new I/O board revisions that differ from earlier models in a few ways. For example, the ribbon cable interconnects run out the bottom of board now instead of the top.

 

Early I/O boards are marked PCB01-120723.

Mine (and yours, I assume) are PCB01-090923.

 

Thanks for the teardown.

[Ben from Plaion]

34 minutes ago, xeex said:

Your serial (53928) is a new high score. (Mine is 53388.)

 

These higher serial systems contain new I/O board revisions that differ from earlier models in a few ways. For example, the ribbon cable interconnects run out the bottom of board now instead of the top.

 

Early I/O boards are marked PCB01-120723.

Mine (and yours, I assume) are PCB01-090923.

 

Thanks for the teardown.

Any new subsequent manufacturing have the new dates printed on them in the correct DDMMYY format, for the high US numbers these were in an additional manufacture run hence the different dates.

 

PCB01 is the IO board

PCB02 is the mainboard

PCB03 is left side lever PCB

PCB04 is the right side lever PCB

 

I recall being asked what I wanted the PCBs to be labelled as. I could of put my name on them - imagine 'BEN15C00L'. But no I just fired back to make them PCB01 to 04 and put the manufacture date on as a suffix.

 

Heres a couple of pictures of an early prototype PCBs I dug our the other day vs launch day PCBs

[AgentOrange96]

1 hour ago, xeex said:

Your serial (53928) is a new high score. (Mine is 53388.)

 

These higher serial systems contain new I/O board revisions that differ from earlier models in a few ways. For example, the ribbon cable interconnects run out the bottom of board now instead of the top.

 

Early I/O boards are marked PCB01-120723.

Mine (and yours, I assume) are PCB01-090923.

 

Thanks for the teardown.

Aw sweet, time to put my initials down! xD
And that's interesting information, I guess some optimizations were made which is neat.

 

35 minutes ago, Ben from Plaion said:

Any new subsequent manufacturing have the new dates printed on them in the correct DDMMYY format, for the high US numbers these were in an additional manufacture run hence the different dates.

 

PCB01 is the IO board

PCB02 is the mainboard

PCB03 is left side lever PCB

PCB04 is the right side lever PCB

 

I recall being asked what I wanted the PCBs to be labelled as. I could of put my name on them - imagine 'BEN15C00L'. But no I just fired back to make them PCB01 to 04 and put the manufacture date on as a suffix.

 

Heres a couple of pictures of an early prototype PCBs I dug our the other day vs launch day PCBs

This is really cool to see! It looks like even before the ribbon cable switched sides it was originally a pin-header. It's interesting to see what remained the same and what differed, because there's a good amount of both there.

I see the original cartridge connector looks like an off-the-shelf component. Whereas the final product has what looks like a custom part which is neat!