That long-gone and rare hardware.¢¢Article by: Dean Garraghty.¢¢¢ Many newer Atari users won't know about some of the older hardware that was once available. Also, some old-hands may not know about some of the rarer hardware, some of which was never released.¢¢ This article will discuss both rare and old hardware.¢¢ It is going to be very difficult to split this artcile into 2 sections: old hardware, and rare hardware. In some cases certain items could be classed as both. So, this is what I've done: the old hardware section will talk about old hardware that was available in the UK. The rare hardware section will talk about hardware (old or new) that was either: available in the States but not the UK, or not available at all!¢¢¢Section 1 - old hardware¢¢¢ If you own a XL/XE machine then it's possible you won't have used, or even seen, a 400 or 800 machine.¢¢ The standard 400 didn't have a real keyboard. It was a membrane (or touch pad) keyboard, and very difficult to type on! It only had 16K of RAM, and so it wasn't really feasable to use it with a disk drive. They were quite large machines, made even bigger because they had a cartridge lid, which had to be lifted up to put cartridges in. The 400 had a built-in TV lead, and no monitor socket. The quality of the picture and sound was awful. Also, it didn't have Basic built-in as on the XL/XE series, so you had to plug a Basic cartridge in. The 400 had 4 joystick ports, for those old 4 player games! But, for all its "faults" this was a nice sturdy machine.¢¢ The standard 800 either had 16,32, or 48K RAM. Extra 16K cards were slotted into sockets under a cover at the back of the machine. The 800 had a GREAT keyboard, the best of any of Atari's computers! Ask any old-hand and they'll tell you the same! The 800 also had no built-in Basic, but did have 4 joystick ports. It also had a monitor port.¢¢ That's got the old computers dealt with, so let's go on to talk about what peripherals were available for use with them.¢¢ If you wanted a datarecorder, then you had to get a 410. These were quite bulky, but sturdy. There were 2 different 410s released.¢¢ If you wanted a disk drive, then you needed an 810. These were HUGE beasts, and could only hold 88K a side! There were 2 different versions of the 810 (well, there were more than 2, but the others were operating differences, which are too technical for this article). One had a Tandon drive mechanism. Here the disk was just entered into a slot, and a latch brought over the end of the disk. The other types had a MPI drive mechanism. Here there was just a large box shaped hole at the front. The disk was pushed into the middle, and then a large door slammed down to cover the hole. A very weird drive! The 810s were not exactly quiet either!¢¢ If you wanted a printer, then you had a choice! You could have the Atari 825 80 col. dot-matrix. This was very strange, in that it didn't use the standard Atari serial socket. It needed an 850 interface to work. Then there was the 822 40 col. thermal printer. What a weird looking device that was. It was part metal and part plastic. They were quite small, and very quiet in operation. Then there was the 820 40 col. I think this was dot-matrix. This was also a strange looking thing. It looked like an 810 drive with a hole cut in the top for the paper to come out of! I've only seen a photograph of one of these, so I can't really comment too much on them. I'm not exactly sure whether or not they were actually sold in the UK.¢¢ Atari also had other hardware available back then, like the 850 interface which supplied parallel and serial ports for printers and modems. They had a modem of their own: the 830 acoustic modem. I don't think this was available in the UK.¢¢¢¢Section 2 - rare hardware¢¢¢ Some items of hardware were only sold in the States, and others never made it out of the Atari workshop!¢¢ Atari had a far wider range of computers than many people think. We usually talk about the 400, 800, 600XL, 800XL, 65XE, and 130XE. But there are others, some VERY strange!¢¢ One you may have heard of, is the 1200XL. This really is the "black sheep" of the Atari family. It was a pre-600/800XL computer. It had the silver function keys along the top of the keyboard. As well as the OPTION, SELECT, etc. keys, it also had some extra function keys, and a couple of LEDs up there! It is probably the least compatible of all the Atari machines. It had no in-built Basic. It had 64K RAM.¢¢ Then there is the 1400XL. This beast had a built-in modem and speech chip, along with associated device drivers. A very odd looking thing, but with a nice keyboard (managed to see one of these things thanks to Colin Hunt at BaPAUG).¢¢ There was also a 1450XLD. This was basically an 800XL with a double sided disk drive built into the back. VERY rare machine.¢¢ Atari also released a 65XEM. This had 8-channel stereo sound. It was compatible in every other way, but the sound had to be specially programmed.¢¢ Atari was planning on releasing the XEP portable Atari, but pulled out before production.¢¢ Atari may well have had more computers than this, but I know of no others.¢¢ Readers of Mapping the Atari, will have read that Atari meant to release the 815 double density disk drive, but it was withdrawn from production. One of the things that never got past Atari's door! However, you may have read on past issues of the news-disk that the 815 was actually a two 810s in one case. No idea which is true!¢¢ Also on disk drives, Atari experimented with the 1050, and came up with the 1055. This had a 3 1/2" drive mechanism, which was never produced.¢¢ I have heard that the XF-551 drive was developed as a 3 1/2" drive. This is why the circuit board is crammed at the back. The big space left was for the 3 1/2" drive mechanism.¢¢ Other bits and pieces never released in the UK are: the 835 modem, XM-301 modem, 1030 modem, XTC201 colour thermal printer, XDM121 daisy-wheel printer, 1025 printer, and possibly lots more things!¢¢ It is very possible that a lot more hardware than that listed here never made it into the shops, but Atari was very secretive (and still is!), and so there's no way we'll ever find out!¢¢ The sources used for this article were: computers for people (Atari edition), several old copies of ANTIC magazine, the latest 'Ol hackers Atari User Group newsletter (New York), Atari Explorer magazine (Jan/Feb 91 issue), Mapping the Atari, and several old Atari friends and contacts.¢¢
