Who here thinks the Atari 400 mini was a good idea ?

[Giles N]

The more I think about it, the better the idea and timing seems to be: continuing the streak from the 2600+ while its release are still fresh in peoples memories and folks out there still picking it up; a release of a affordable multi-Atari 8-bit system, even if no cart-dumper(s), seems like the right thing to do.

 

If it have no big emulation-problems, I actually can’t wait to get one, add my 5200-library and best/top homebrews/aftermarket 8-bit games.

 

I hope Atari just keeps going with this…

[Havok69]

6 hours ago, Sean_1970 said:

I had a friend who had one and can remember the pain of typing in a program from a magazine for an hour, saving to tape only for the game to turn out to be crap/broken. 

Me too! That's why we mostly typed them up on my system since I had the 800XL, and then I got a 1050 and I never used my 1010 after that. We got pretty good at debugging since there was always typos of one sort or another.

[djmartins]

On 1/21/2024 at 5:32 PM, Forrest said:

I like the 400 Mini because of the increased visibility of  the 8 bit Atari software to those who never owned the original. Picking the 400 case was a good choice, because many who owned the original mostly used it for game playing. The membrane keyboard was terrible to type on, and you had to expand the internal memory if you wanted to use disk drives.

 

If the 400 Mini sells well, we might get a full size 800XL or 130XE in the future.

I had a 400 in college and actually used to chat on the mainframe with it on a 300 baud modem and it was so painful I bought a 800xl and a 1200 baud modem.

Even on the 400 keyboard I got to the point of out typing the modem.

[Sean_1970]

3 hours ago, Havok69 said:

Me too! That's why we mostly typed them up on my system since I had the 800XL, and then I got a 1050 and I never used my 1010 after that. We got pretty good at debugging since there was always typos of one sort or another.

Sadly at that age I didn’t know enough about programming to debug 😅

 

In high school I got an 800XL, 1050 disk drive and that horrendously loud “letter quality” printer that people on my hall in uni absolutely LOVED 😅

I recall the 1050 had the amazing design “feature” of a pulley with no groove on the pulley under the disk so the belt slipped off after awhile causing me to have to shut down, open it up and slip it back on. Needless to say I learned to save often after writing a ten-page paper my freshman year at uni only to have to write it again from scratch when I went to save and nothing happened. My sophomore year I bought a friend’s IBM 8086 with dual floppys and massive dot matrix printer and that was the end of my Atari computing experience. I did see an ST at an upperclassman’s house later that year and was a bit jealous at the whiz-bang graphics and colour hi-res monitor (I was rocking fabulous CGA graphics in all their pastel glory 🙄).

[FaberfoX]

I love that they picked the 400 to mini-ize. Not having any hands-on experience with the Atari 8-bits, I see this one as the most unique and forward looking considering when it was launched. I'm from Argentina and I've never seen a 400 or 800 in the flesh, all we had were some 800XLs dumped on us once they had already been replaced by the XEs, and they didn't make a dent in a market dominated by Commodores and Sinclairs, where MSXs were a distant third. 

 

[Arnuphis]

I remember seeing the Atari 400 and 800 at my local department store, alongside the TI-99/4a and Vic-20. They were iconic machines and also very expensive. So it's nice to finally pay homage by buying the mini version. Not sure how much use I will get out of it but I want it to be successful so a full size Atari 8-bit (800 please!) comes out.

Edited January 25 by Arnuphis

[Gory-Glory]

I think it is a really good idea to make a The 400 Mini so that we that are not so into Atari 8-Bit can come into the for us strange world of classic Atarigames. 😀

[yerzmyey]

Well, it's a good idea to release the new Atari 400 fully compatible with the
XL/XE series.
For the collector (as well as fro the regular user) it's a great
opportunity: the cost of Atari 400 is *high*; the additional interfaces and
modifications making it fully compatible with the XL/XE series are also
expensive.
And with the planned Atari Mini we will have all in one - at once.
I'm also glad they chosen this particular model (MOST
beautiful design in my humble opinion).
Along with the full 130XE capabilities - will be a
great asset for Atarians.

[+Larry]

Presuming that the case is injection molded, the tooling and probably the materials would be the lowest cost with the flat surfaces of the 400. Personally, I think the 400 is not esthetically pleasing and makes a poor representative for the Atari line.  And if it sells well and they make a maxi, it will have another membrane keyboard?

[Gory-Glory]

I think it would cooler is the mini would look like Atari 130XE with its gray 80s future design.

 

400 is typically 70s and early 80s design and it looks like a spaceship.

Edited February 9 by Gory-Glory

[+MrFish]

On 2/9/2024 at 2:41 PM, Larry said:

And if it sells well and they make a maxi, it will have another membrane keyboard?

Unless the company is sooo in love with the Atari 400, it wouldn't make much sense to create a 400 Maxi. People interested in a larger Atari 8-bit with a working keyboard would unanimously prefer a real keyboard to a 400 membrane. A 400 Maxi would still be neat, but it would be a pass for way too many people if a membrane was used (although I suppose there's no reason why a B-Key type keyboard couldn't be used on a 400 Maxi).

 

The 800 would a logical choice for the Maxi to maintain the 4 joystick ports, but the problem there is that its a behemoth, which uses a lot of space to accommodate all the internal cards and 2 cart ports (that wouldn't exist in a Maxi anyway). So, the 600XL, 800XL, and 130XE would be the next options in line. I just think it would be wise to incorporate 4 USB ports with any of these designs, in spite of them all having just 2 joystick ports on the originals.

 

[+Larry]

My take is that there will not be a 400 Maxi. I think the only reason there is TheVic20 Maxi is that is that it is so similar to the TheC64 Maxi from a production standpoint.  I totally understand the C64 and Amiga.  But of course, this is all my speculation.  I hope they sell really well.

[JPF997]

On 2/9/2024 at 10:23 PM, Larry said:

My take is that there will not be a 400 Maxi. I think the only reason there is TheVic20 Maxi is that is that it is so similar to the TheC64 Maxi from a production standpoint.  I totally understand the C64 and Amiga.  But of course, this is all my speculation.  I hope they sell really well.

I think they're plan is to make a 400 mini and then an 800 Maxi, it's the most logical thing to do after all.

[zzip]

On 2/9/2024 at 5:10 PM, MrFish said:

The 800 would a logical choice for the Maxi to maintain the 4 joystick ports, but the problem there is that its a behemoth, which uses a lot of space to accommodate all the internal cards and 2 cart ports (that wouldn't exist in a Maxi anyway). So, the 600XL, 800XL, and 130XE would be the next options in line. I just think it would be wise to incorporate 4 USB ports with any of these designs, in spite of them all having just 2 joystick ports on the originals.

My gut feeling is an 800 Maxi would be too costly, and they might clone a 600XL for that reason, it's about the same size as a C64.   I think four USB ports would easily fit where the joystick ports are on the XL models.

 

 

[Goochman]

1 hour ago, zzip said:

My gut feeling is an 800 Maxi would be too costly, and they might clone a 600XL for that reason, it's about the same size as a C64.   I think four USB ports would easily fit where the joystick ports are on the XL models.

 

 

Id see the Maxi800 as a slightly enlarged 400mini.  Cart slots are not functional so not a big change there,  so just make model a bit bigger with a mini keyboard - creating a whole new 600XL design seems like it would be a more costly route IMHO.

[+MrFish]

4 hours ago, zzip said:

I think four USB ports would easily fit where the joystick ports are on the XL models.

Yeah, there's no reason why they couldn't stack the USB ports to fit in four. The64 Maxi has 3 USB ports in the joystick port area and 1 USB port on the back, where the HDMI port is.

 

[Gory-Glory]

Yes that would be cool with 600 Maxi or 800 Maxi

[Stechmann]

I don't like the 400 mini. 

 

Fake keyboard.

No cartridge slot. 

USB ports??? 

 

Makes no sense to me. 

 

I would have based it on the XEGS but with 4 proper DB9 ports 

[SuperZapperRecharge]

10 hours ago, Stechmann said:

USB ports??? 

What about using those 400 usb sticks on other RetroPie RetroArch consoles or a PC and Mac?

Would be sweet to use those joysticks for emulation!

[+Stephen]

11 hours ago, Stechmann said:

I don't like the 400 mini. 

 

Fake keyboard.

No cartridge slot. 

USB ports??? 

 

Makes no sense to me. 

 

I would have based it on the XEGS but with 4 proper DB9 ports 

The thing is so small, I'm not even sure 4 DB-9 ports would physically fit.

[+LS650]

It all comes down to money.  To fit a working keyboard and a cartridge slot would have raised the price. 

A bean-counter somewheres decided that to maximize profit, some things would have to be sacrificed, or they would have to charge more to the consumer. 

I dunno; I like what I see and I pre-ordered one.  

[Sean_1970]

On 3/18/2024 at 5:51 PM, Stephen said:

The thing is so small, I'm not even sure 4 DB-9 ports would physically fit.

Small enough to sit next to my 2600+ 😁👍

[Spanner]

I would of like it to be a Atari800 XL Mini, more a popular model, I wish someone would make a 3D printed case of the Atari800XL case of it, THE400 mini look more like a starship from Battlestar Galactica, well thats the 70s for you...  I like the 80s,90s better, to much flower power then and TV programmes based on it, they always thought the future was like the 70s still like on Buck Rodgers, way out there...  80s programs are better.

Edited March 24 by Spanner

[Spanner]

Its the first time I have seen a official forum supporting this type of device, you would not see English Amiga Board supporting THEA500 Mini and it having its own section, they class it as a emulated device and not a real Amiga, maybe times are changing or maybe because its supported by Atari and has its name on it.

Edited March 24 by Spanner

[+MrFish]

1 hour ago, Spanner said:

they class it as a emulated device and not a real Amiga

It is an emulation device; but, what's wrong with that? Since we don't even have one available to examine yet, or even see a review at this point, I also won't judge it too harshly until we can see exactly how well it performs its intended functions.

 

Also, why shouldn't we support a product that's in support of our hobby and interest? I may not ever even end up buying one; but I can certainly see the value of a professionally-produced Atari game-playing (and other software) device that can easily be plugged into a modern television and play a large number of games from the library with little effort.