Nebulon Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 An Atari 400. I've wanted one of these for over 14 years now. I recall seeing the 800 in a store running Pac-Man and was BLOWN AWAY. Then later in 1979, I was at a friend's house and he had a shiny new Atari 400. Needless to say, it left a strong impression on me. The case design is shweeeeeet! Interestingly, the flat keyboard works a lot better than I thought it would. I tried typing on it and it was actually not that bad. I wouldn't want to try to write an essay on it, but it's workable (especially considering that they were initially thinking of not including a keyboard on the 400). I'm amazed by how much computer people got for the price when the 400 and 800 first arrived on the scene. These are real technological marvels. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+DrVenkman Posted July 15, 2014 Share Posted July 15, 2014 An Atari 400. (SNIP) Interestingly, the flat keyboard works a lot better than I thought it would. I tried typing on it and it was actually not that bad. First, congratulations! A 400 was my first Atari, circa 1982. Second, I spent FAR too many hours back in the day typing in DATA statements for BASIC programs published in Antic and Analog magazine. That keyboard is fine for a few words but it gets ... old ... after awhile! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Stephen Posted July 15, 2014 Share Posted July 15, 2014 First, congratulations! A 400 was my first Atari, circa 1982. Second, I spent FAR too many hours back in the day typing in DATA statements for BASIC programs published in Antic and Analog magazine. That keyboard is fine for a few words but it gets ... old ... after awhile! I was very fortunate - when my folks got me my 1st computer, a 400 back in 1982, it has the B-Key upgrade. A few months later, my dad & I spent days typing in and debugging Compute's "Caves of Ice", we realized it needed 48kB. Good memories. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+DrVenkman Posted July 15, 2014 Share Posted July 15, 2014 I was very fortunate - when my folks got me my 1st computer, a 400 back in 1982, it has the B-Key upgrade. A few months later, my dad & I spent days typing in and debugging Compute's "Caves of Ice", we realized it needed 48kB. Good memories. GREAT memories! I loved my 400. I have two of them now, both working (tho' one of them needs a new hinge spring and the other one has a glitchy door switch). Both minor issues, and both easily fixable - heck, I may do some surgery and get one fully intact and leave the other as a "hanger queen" for donor parts. Anyway, congrats on your purchase and enjoy! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nebulon Posted July 15, 2014 Share Posted July 15, 2014 I was very fortunate - when my folks got me my 1st computer, a 400 back in 1982, it has the B-Key upgrade. A few months later, my dad & I spent days typing in and debugging Compute's "Caves of Ice", we realized it needed 48kB. Good memories. Back in the day, I had to settle for a 64K Color Computer 2. I was big into graphics and sound so maybe the TRS-80 wasn't the right choice. A buddy of mine was a hardcore robotics programmer; I think he got a lot more out of the CoCo than I did. Anyway, your story reminds me of when I decided to make the 'ultimate' text adventure in BASIC (yeah, I know -- wrong choice of programming language) and I soon hit the 32K BASIC memory limit. So much for the super-awesome dungeon adventure.... I always had this nagging feeling that the Atari 8-bit was the machine I was meant to use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+slx Posted July 16, 2014 Share Posted July 16, 2014 An Atari 400. Needless to say, it left a strong impression on me. The case design is shweeeeeet! Interestingly, the flat keyboard works a lot better than I thought it would. The design is really quite cool and the keyboard gives it that extra touch of colour that the 800 misses. Apart from the colour the keyboard is well....drool-proof.... I especially like that overall wedge shape. I recently bought a 400 myself but still wait for parts to replace those that were smashed in transit. That upper grille is quite brittle and needs loving handling. (I was really lucky to get an 800/810 combo as a teenager and by now - a parent of three myself - I realize how totally out of proportion that Christmas was. I don't know what I would say if my teenage sons asked for a present the value of a nice used car.....) Now I'm lucky that my wife tolerates my Atari hoarding if I don't overdo it.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Allan Posted July 16, 2014 Share Posted July 16, 2014 Here's some of the stuff I picked up recently. This one cost a lot but now it will be available to everyone. http://www.ebay.com/itm/151350820932?_trksid=p2059210.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT Still waiting for these. A nice catch. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Computing-Atari-APX-Lot-Atari-Program-Exchange-Floppy-Disk-Software-/161355560248?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2047675.l2557&nma=true&si=BjVzlDV7AYpAglg5d3r4rKF7rRY%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc The manuals of these are all scanned. Waiting to get my Windows XP running again to put them on Atarimania.com. Once I get my SIO2PC driver working I will copy the disks as well. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Atari-Learning-System-Lot-for-Atari-400-800-RISWALS-/301227337024?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2047675.l2557&nma=true&si=BjVzlDV7AYpAglg5d3r4rKF7rRY%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc This is scanned and disk copied. Just waiting for the same as above. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Atari-400-800-Flags-of-Europe-Educational-Disk-Sealed-a-bit-squished-/380934701225?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2047675.l2557&nma=true&si=BjVzlDV7AYpAglg5d3r4rKF7rRY%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc Plus I picked up some other stuff from Bravo Sierra. A couple of books that need to be scanned one page at a time. Arrg! Plus a couple of other manuals that are all scanned. Allan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
galax Posted July 16, 2014 Share Posted July 16, 2014 Not eBay, but I bought my first 8-bit Atari locally on Kijiji- $40 for a 65XE with 1050 drive, all seems to work perfectly. I know that the earlier models tend to get more love, but part of the appeal for me is that it looks like a mini ST. The only 8-bit Atari I've ever seen before was my 2nd cousin's 400, the 8 bit Atari micros weren't to popular in my area of the UK- it was all BBCs, Spectrums, C64s, and Amstrads. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbking67 Posted July 16, 2014 Share Posted July 16, 2014 Not eBay, but I bought my first 8-bit Atari locally on Kijiji- $40 for a 65XE with 1050 drive, all seems to work perfectly. I know that the earlier models tend to get more love, but part of the appeal for me is that it looks like a mini ST. The only 8-bit Atari I've ever seen before was my 2nd cousin's 400, the 8 bit Atari micros weren't to popular in my area of the UK- it was all BBCs, Spectrums, C64s, and Amstrads. 65XE is a fine machine... some even have the ECI (parallel bus). Good video output compared to a stock 800XL or 1200XL (which suck unless they are modded). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nebulon Posted July 17, 2014 Share Posted July 17, 2014 The design is really quite cool and the keyboard gives it that extra touch of colour that the 800 misses. Apart from the colour the keyboard is well....drool-proof.... I especially like that overall wedge shape. I recently bought a 400 myself but still wait for parts to replace those that were smashed in transit. That upper grille is quite brittle and needs loving handling. It's really too bad about the brittleness of the plastic. I spent the first evening feeding crazy glue into the hairline cracks on the 400. Apparently the guy who designed the case (Doug Hardy) holds the patent to it. I wonder if anyone will ever approach him to make a new run of Atari 400 cases (assuming it doesn't cost a fortune to manufacture them). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dashv Posted July 17, 2014 Share Posted July 17, 2014 Just picked up Solaris and Moon Patrol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillC Posted July 18, 2014 Share Posted July 18, 2014 It's really too bad about the brittleness of the plastic. I spent the first evening feeding crazy glue into the hairline cracks on the 400. Apparently the guy who designed the case (Doug Hardy) holds the patent to it. I wonder if anyone will ever approach him to make a new run of Atari 400 cases (assuming it doesn't cost a fortune to manufacture them). Don't design patents expire after only 14 or 15 years, in which case patents on the 400/800 case design would have expired 20 years ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atari8bitCarts Posted July 18, 2014 Share Posted July 18, 2014 (edited) It's really too bad about the brittleness of the plastic. I spent the first evening feeding crazy glue into the hairline cracks on the 400. Apparently the guy who designed the case (Doug Hardy) holds the patent to it. I wonder if anyone will ever approach him to make a new run of Atari 400 cases (assuming it doesn't cost a fortune to manufacture them). That would be weird. Atari would hold the patent, and that would have been an asset to be transferred when they were sold. I've never heard of a person, let alone the designer, owning rights to a piece like that. Even if it was freelance work-for-hire stuff, Atari would own something that important. Edited July 18, 2014 by chrislynn5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wiffleplop Posted July 18, 2014 Share Posted July 18, 2014 Picked up Pac-man and Asteroids on cart, plus an original 2600 joystick off eBay the other day and had an enjoyable blast on Asteroids once I'd worked out the key-presses. I don't know what it is about Asteroids, but I always have to own a copy on any computer system I get I also got an SIO2SD board from Lothartek, totally forgetting I needed an SIO cable... now I'm on the hunt for one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nebulon Posted July 18, 2014 Share Posted July 18, 2014 That would be weird. Atari would hold the patent, and that would have been an asset to be transferred when they were sold. I've never heard of a person, let alone the designer, owning rights to a piece like that. Even if it was freelance work-for-hire stuff, Atari would own something that important. You'd think it would fall under the 'work for hire' category and fall back to the employer -- as you mentioned. Personally, I dunno. I'm just basing it on the quote on page 462 of the book, "Atari Inc.: Business is fun" http://books.google.ca/books?id=3FwGMtRafrAC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_atb#v=onepage&q&f=false Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atari8bitCarts Posted July 19, 2014 Share Posted July 19, 2014 You'd think it would fall under the 'work for hire' category and fall back to the employer -- as you mentioned. Personally, I dunno. I'm just basing it on the quote on page 462 of the book, "Atari Inc.: Business is fun" http://books.google.ca/books?id=3FwGMtRafrAC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_atb#v=onepage&q&f=false weirder things have happened I guess but Atari letting that go seems very unlikely. maybe someone will stumble on this and shed some light. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wiffleplop Posted July 22, 2014 Share Posted July 22, 2014 A SIO cable for my SIO2SD card, and a couple of cartridges - Donkey Kong and Space Invaders :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacobus Posted July 22, 2014 Share Posted July 22, 2014 Finally found an 8K memory cartridge to go with the empty box I've had for years! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gozar Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 Pacman Fever on 8-track. :-) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darth Link Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 Found a 2600 at a yard sale with a joystick, keypad, and 16 games, which include: Asteroids Blackjack Centipede Cosmic Ark Donkey Kong E.T. The Extra Terrestrial Enduro Human Cannonball Pac-Man Phoenix Pitfall River Raid Space War Star Raider Swordquest Fireworld Vanguard Got the lot for $20, all in all not a bad set of results considering how dry the entire realm was, flea markets, thrift stores, and yard sales, not even crappy sports games... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atari8bitCarts Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 Pacman Fever on 8-track. :-) do you have a pic? I've never seen it on 8track. I have the album. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Stephen Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 Pacman Fever on 8-track. :-) do you have a pic? I've never seen it on 8track. I have the album. Same here - the album is cool, I like the level "maps" for PacMan. I did not know an 8-track existed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atari8bitCarts Posted July 27, 2014 Share Posted July 27, 2014 New auction items. Second Lifespan (reversed label). Diamond mine yellow shell Video Easel (mint - NIB) 800 protective cover - NIB 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tregare Posted July 27, 2014 Share Posted July 27, 2014 another indus gt to replace my 2nd one that seems to have vanished. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariGeezer Posted July 29, 2014 Share Posted July 29, 2014 Some new carts for my collection: New Manuals: My first Black Box: Another 1200XL Atari 800 (Parts Unit) Majority of the yellow plungers are cracked 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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