Odd Idea Question - Atari 400/800 "Shell" for Raspberry Pi...

[DavidD]

I'm pondering putting together a little hands-on exhibit of old home computers for my students.  I thought it might be fun to have them try out games on old hardware... but, realistically, emulating old computers on a few Raspberry Pi devices might be simpler and safer (less chance of data corruption).

 

Is there any PRACTICAL way to get something like an "Atari 800 Shell" (possibly with a working keyboard) that either sits on (or connects to) a different device?  A faux-console, as it were...

 

(For that matter... Apple II, C64, etc..)

[Beeblebrox]

9 minutes ago, DavidD said:

I'm pondering putting together a little hands-on exhibit of old home computers for my students.  I thought it might be fun to have them try out games on old hardware... but, realistically, emulating old computers on a few Raspberry Pi devices might be simpler and safer (less chance of data corruption).

 

Is there any PRACTICAL way to get something like an "Atari 800 Shell" (possibly with a working keyboard) that either sits on (or connects to) a different device?  A faux-console, as it were...

 

(For that matter... Apple II, C64, etc..)

You could just get the 400 mini which sounds ideal for your purposes. 

See the pinned thread at the top of AA. 

[djglish]

I put a Bmax mini PC (it's about 4.5" square and 1.7" high) in a 800XL case.  Used an Arduino micro to connect it to the keyboard.  I found the sketch online. Unfortunately the Arduino board doesn't have enough connections to allow use of the 5 silver keys n the  I bought a Joystick to USB adapter for the joysticks.

I'm using Altirra for the emulator.  You should see the looks when you switch from Altirra into Windows 10.

 

The newer Bmax mini now has 8gb RAM and 128gb of hard drive space (twice what mine is).  Not bad for about $100.