ATARI FALCON030

Falcon030

Technical Details:

  • 16 MHz M68030 CPU, optional 68882 FPU
  • 1, 4 or 14 MB of RAM
  • 512KB of ROM
  • Motorola 56001 DSP, 32 MHz
  • 32KWords of static DSP RAM
  • 16 bit True Color Mode (65536 colors)
  • 262,144 possible colors
  • Super VGA Resolution: 640x480
  • BLiTTER Graphics Coprocessor
  • Optional Overscan
  • Eight 16 bit digital audio DMA channels
  • Up to 50KHz sampling rate
  • Stereo 16 bit digital DMA input/output
  • Optional Internal IDE Hard Disk
  • SCSI II port
  • High speed LAN port
  • MIDI In/Out
  • DSP Port
  • RS232C
  • Parallel Port
  • Stereo In/Out Ports
  • 1.44 MB disk drive

Falcon030 in studio

   Multimedia. 32 Bit Processor. True Color Video. Stereo Sound. Digital Signal Processor. Multitasking. User Friendly. Welcome to the world of the Falcon030. The Atari Falcon030. This machine represents what multimedia is all about. AtariÆs last gift to the world of disappearing home computers. It was at CeBIT in Æ92 when Jack Tramiel showed a Falcon030 prototype to the public. "Today, we bring workstation power into the living room." AtariÆs answer to the multimedia buzz word. For under $1000 Atari offered a 32 bit machine based on the Motorola 68030 with a built in Digital Signal Processor, the Motorola 56001. Computer fans were excited about the new possibilities. True color graphics for Photo CD applications, MPEG playback, hard disk recording, fax/modem software for the DSP: an all-round talent. The Falcon030 was running AtariÆs latest TOS version plus MultiTOS, the multitasking version.

 At the (last) Atari Fair in Duesseldorf in the summer of Æ92, Atari president Sam Tramiel showed the final version of the Falcon030 to the public. Mulitmedia for the masses was born. It was a very successful and exciting show. Unfortunately it would take until December for it to ship to the retailers. The first shake up of Atari happened that fall when shortly after Atari Germany moved from its old location in Raunheim to its newly built building in Schwalbach, Jack Tramiel himself asked Alwin Stumpf, the head of Atari Germany, to leave. Jack explained to the employees that he believed in the consumer marker while Alwin was trying to drive the company into the professional market. The times started to change. The Falcon030 was off on a late start and not many machines were available for the Christmas season. Therefor Atari did not make a big marketing push. In March of Æ93 Atari attended the CeBIT fair in Hanover for the last time. The Falcon030 was the main attraction and throughout the year the Falcon030 sold quite reasonable in Europe. It was especially popular in the music community.

MicroBox

Atari MicroBox

 But by now Atari was shifting back to its roots, the video game business. The market was overcrowded with PC clones and it was getting harder and harder to make money of computer hardware. The Tramiels were foreseeing the end of Commodore and tried to make a shift as soon as possible. The ST computer business was slowing down dramatically in all markets. The big new hope was the upcoming new 64 bit Jaguar video game console. The writing was on the wall. But loyal Atari fans still hoped for the Falcon040 and the MicroBox to come to live. The MicroBox was the successor of the Falcon030. Many people objected to the 1040ST case of the Falcon030. The MicroBox was planned to ship in a nice mini tower case with three available slots. And the CPU bus would have been 32 bit wide instead of 16 bit, resulting in a big speed increase. Unfortunately the MicroBox never came onto the market, although it was close to completion.

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