Atari 8 Bit Systems
Overview
In 1978, Ray Kassar became the new CEO of Atari and changed the company's focus to produce a line of computers to compete against Apple II series of computers.
In December, Atari introduced the Atari 400 and 800 models that were built on the 8-bit MOS 6502 processor. The Atari 400 listed for US$549.99 while the Atari 800 listed for US$999.99.
The Atari 400 featured 8KB of memory and a whopping 128 colours, which was huge for the time as most of Atari?s competitors offered no more than 16 colours. However, these high colours came at a cost as it could only support a resolution of 160 x 96.
The 400 had two internal expansion slots, four controller orts and a TV output through a RF modulator. Storage was handled through an optional cassette recorder or 5 ¼ floppy drive.
Despite the much hated membrane keyboard, the Atari 400 was the more popular of the two computers.
The design team for the Atari 400 and Atari 800 included Jay Minor, who was the brain behind the Commodore-Amiga 1000.
Atari 400 Specifications
Price: US$549.95
CPU: MOS 6502,1.8MHz
RAM: 8K base, 48K max
Display: 24 X 40 text; 320 x 192 monochrome; 160 x 96 with 128 colors
Expansion: 2 internal expansion slots; 1 cartridge slot under front cover
Ports: 4 controller ports; TV video output
Storage: external floppy drive; cassette recorder
OS: Atari OS
In 1978, Ray Kassar became the new CEO of Atari and changed the company's focus to produce a line of computers to compete against Apple II series of computers.
In December, Atari introduced the Atari 400 and 800 models that were built on the 8-bit MOS 6502 processor. The Atari 400 listed for US$549.99 while the Atari 800 listed for US$999.99.
The Atari 800 offered several improvements over the Atari 400 including twice the number of expansion slots. The 800 also had several single purpose co-processors for sound and graphics that took significant load off the main processor, which made the Atari 800 ideal for a games computer.
With the added expansion slots, it was possible to expand the Atari 800 to an 80-column display, 64KB of ram and even add a 5 ¼ disk drive card.
Some expansion cards, like the Atari OS personality card as well as the Atari 8K and 16K memory cards, were encased in plastic or metal cases, which caused the Atari 800 to overheat.
Essentially, the 800 was a powerful computer allowing people to do things they had never before been able to do with any electronic device. The Atari 800 was a highly customisable computer for its time from both a hardware and a software point of view.
While the Atari 800 was discontinued in 1982, it is still in use today by hobbyists.
Design NOTE: The design team for the Atari 400 and Atari 800 included Jay Minor, who was the brain behind the Commodore-Amiga 1000. Jay Minor took the idea of multiple co-processor to a higher level with the Amiga.
Atari 800 Specifications
Price : US$999.95
CPU: MOS 6502,1.8MHz
RAM: 8K base, 48K max
Display: 24 X 40 text; 320 x 192 monochrome; 160 x 96 with 128 colors
Expansion: 4 internal expansion slots; 2 cartridge slots
Ports: 4 controller ports; RGB video output; TV video output
Storage: external 90K floppy drive; cassette recorder
OS: Atari OS
In 1983, Atari introduced the Atari 600XL 8-bit home computer as a replacement for the Atari 400. It came with 16K of memory, which was not significant amount as the Commodore 64, released in 1982, came with 64KB of memory.
The Atari 600XL, along with the 800XL, 1400XL and the 1450XL had a lower profile than the typewriter-style Atari 400/800.
The 600XL came with a Parallel Bus expansion port that was important for attaching printer devices. It also came with Basic, which was common for computers of the day.
Atari was having trouble with their production lines that delay the introduction until late 1983. Commodore, which had a much tighter supply line, started a price war and was able to sell the significantly more units despite the Atari 600XL having comparable features. Atari was losing millions each day and their parent company was eager to sell the troubled unit.
Atari 600XL Specifications
CPU: MOS 6502 at 1.79 MHz
Memory: 16K RAM, 24K ROM
Operating System: Basic in ROM
Input/Output: Two joystick ports, Atari cable bus
Bus: Atari daisy-chain cable bus, connects floppy drives, cassette drives, printers
In 1983, Atari released the Atari 800XL with 64K of memory and several custom chips: Antic, GTIA, Pokey and PIA. The difference between the 600Xl and the 800XL is that the 800XL has 64K while the 600 has 16K.
The design is also much different the the old 400/800 computers. The 400 and 800 computers were typewriter in style and designed to compete against Apple. The newer 800XL, along with the 600XL and 1200XL were designed with fewer parts integrated on to a single circuit board.
The 800XL came with a Parallel Bus expansion port that was important for attaching printer devices just as did the 600XL. It also came with Basic, which was common for computers of the day.
Atari was having trouble with their production lines that delay the introduction until late 1983. Commodore, which had a much tighter supply line, started a price war and was able to sell the significantly more units despite the Atari 800XL having comparable features. Atari was losing millions each day and their parent company was eager to sell the troubled unit.
Atari 600XL Specifications
CPU: MOS 6502, 1.79 MHz
Memory: 64K RAM, 24K ROM: the Atari 600 had 16K
Operating System: Basic in ROM
Input/Output: Two joystick ports, Atari cable bus
Bus: Atari daisy-chain cable bus, connects floppy drives, cassette drives, printers
In 1983, Atari released the Atari 800XL with 64K of memory and several custom chips: Antic, GTIA, Pokey and PIA.
The design is smaller than the 800, had a solid keyboard and moved the cartridge port to the top centre. The system did have some compatibility problems with existing 400/800 software, which was addressed by a translator disk. The 800XL also came with a built in copy of Atari BASIC.
In 1982, Atari introduced the Atari 1200XL. The XL series of computer were smaller, largely due to the consolidation of the main board, power, CPU, OS and three 16KB boards.
The Atari 1200XL was the first in the XL series of 8-bit computers. Competition in the market was getting crowded and fierce. Commodore was the first to maximise their supply line and reduce the number of components per computer, which gave them a competitive advantage.
Atari set up to do the same. However, in doing so, they made several changes that were unpopular with the marketplace:
1) They reduced the number of joystick ports from four to two: this led to incompatibility problems with software.
2) The elimination of an expansion port: this was a standard port on all 8-bit computers of the time, which was used for upgrading the computers with one or many cards/cartridges.
As a result of all these unwanted changes, consumers walked away from the 1200XL in favour of the older 800. Atari withdrew the 1200XL from the market a year later and replaced it with he Atari 600XL and 800XL.
Atari 1200XL Specifications
Microprocessor: MOS 6502C
RAM: 64k
Clock speed: 1.79 MHz
Data bus width: 8 - bits
Address bus width: 16 - bits
Graphics Processor: Antic
Sound Interface device: Pokey
Screen size - Col x Rows: 40 x 24
Sound generation: Four voices
Resolution - Colors/High: 2 / 320 x 192
Resolution - Colors/Low: 16 / 80 x 192
Max colours: 128
Sprites or Missiles: 4
The Atari 1400XL was designed to be the next generation home computer. This prototype included Freddie that included several enhanced features such as memory management. So what does this mean? Well essentially, it allowed the 1400XL to display more colours and more complex graphics.
Another enhancement was the inclusion of a SC-01 speech synthesiser chip. The 1400XL also featured a built-in 300 BAUD modem, which was a good idea as modems were soon becoming a mandatory communication device.
However, with a management change, Atari changed focus and concentrated on developing a 16-bit home computer that would beat the Commodore-Amiga to market.
The Atari 520ST would be Atari's next generation computer.
In 1985, Atari introduced the Atari 65XE 8-bit home computer as a replacement for the Atari 800XL with a low price of US$99.99. The price put in in a price point against the Commodore 64, however, Atari did not learn from failure of the Atari 1200XL: The 65XE did not come with the an expansion port.
The Atari 65XE and the 130XE were the first 8-bit computers released after Jack Tramiel bought Atari. Tramiel was the founder of Commodore Business Machines.
Atari 65XE Specifications
CPU: MOS 6502C
Clock: 1.79 MHz
Memory: 64K RAM, 24K ROM
Operating System: XL Operating System
Input/Output: Cartridge Port, two joystick ports, composite video output, serial bus connector for floppy drive or printer
Resolution: 320x192 max, up to 256 colors, 40x24 text
Bus: Atari serial bus
In 1985, Atari introduced the Atari 130XE 8-bit home computer for US$140.00, which was a hundred dollars less than the Commodore 64.
The 130XE came with 128K, 11 graphics modes, five text modes and four sound channels. It was also compatible with the Atari 400, 600XL and 800. However, while it has 128K, it can only access 64K without bank switching.
The Atari 65XE and the 130XE were the first 8-bit computers released after Jack Tramiel bought Atari. Tramiel was the founder of Commodore Business Machines.
The 130XE was discontinued in late 1987.
Atari 130XE Specifications
CPU: MOS 6502C
Speed: 1.79 MHz
CO-Processors: GTIA (video), POKEY (Sound, I/O), ANTIC (Video), FREDDY (memory)
RAM: 128K
ROM: 24K
Text modes: Five text modes, maximum 40 x 24
Graphics modes: 11 graphic modes, maximum 320 x 192
Colours: 16 colours with 15 intensity level each
Sound: Four channels, 3.5 octaves
I/O ports: Composite video output, Cartridge port, Expansion port, SIO peripheral port (tape, disk, printer, modem), 2 x joystick connectors
Date Range: 1978 - 1987
Release Price: US $549
Atari had a successful entry into the 8-bit computer line. The first computers, the 400 and 800, were based on the Atari 2600 with an open architecture design that resembled typewriters of the time.
Each new model offered minor changes, improvement and sometimes, they even removed functionality.
Atari achieve significant market penetration until Commodore started a price war that was intended to put Texas Instruments out of business. However, the resulting price war left Atari losing US$1,000,000 a day by 1984 as a result.
Commodore had complete control of the supply line from chip making to assembly and distribution, which resulted in a much cheaper cost per unit. Atari eventually improved their manufacturing, but the damage was already done. Atari left the 8-bit line shortly after 1985 as they focused on their new 16-bit computer line.
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