This article looks at some of the differences between the 800 and 1200XL. It was taken from the newsnet system, transferred using UTIL on an IBM PC, and tidied by Dean Garraghty.¢-----------------------------------¢¢Sorry if anyone gets mad about this...¢¢¢---- Undocumented differences between the 800 and the 1200 XL ----¢¢This article will discuss several undocumented (for me, at least) differences between the old Atari 800 and the Atari 1200XL. I am able to do this, since I own both, and have experimented a lot.¢¢Artifacted colors¢-----------------¢¢In Graphics 8, setting even, odd, or both bits of one pixel will generate different colors. These colors are different on the two computers. On the 800 the colors are white, green and blue, while on the 1200xl the white is slightly different, and the colors are red, and a darker shade of blue.¢¢Text¢----¢¢When looking at an 800-generated text screen, and then at a 1200xl, I noticed a very different text display. The 800's were slightly pinkish and very sharp and thin, while the 1200xl's were more yellow-greenish, and a lot more fat-looking and less sharp.¢¢Most graphics screens, including mode 15 (7-plus), look sharper on the 800.¢¢Graphics¢--------¢¢The regular graphics colors look different, and look a bit more flourescent-ish on the 1200xl. This includes the blue of the GR.0, being very strainy on the eyes on the 1200xl, compared to the 800.¢¢Signal¢------¢¢The RF signal on the 800 is much stronger than the 1200xl, meaning that the 1200's video output is much more vulnerable to interference than the 800. Even worse, sometimes this interference seems to come from the 1200 itself!¢¢The monitor signal (I only have a greenscreen) of the 800 is A LOT more contrasty and brighter, and much better for 80-column work, for stuff like terminal emulators. This is why my monitor is usually hooked up to my 800.¢¢ROM bugs of 800¢---------------¢¢Several bugs in the OS have been fixed on the 1200 XL:¢¢Editor - Try this: press Ctrl-insert, and then Ctrl-right arrow. Repeat this quickly a couple of times. On the 800, the cursor will sometimes unexpectedly output a CR. This has been fixed on the 1200xl and works fine.¢¢Clear Screen - When clearing a screen on the 800, the clearer will only stop on a 1K boundary. This is OK, but sometimes, you put data (maybe a charset) right after the screen data, and when you clear the screen, the clear works - but some data may be lost. For example, GR.0 clears a full 1024 bytes, instead of 960. This means 64 bytes down the drain! This, too, has apparently been fixed on the 1200xl.¢¢Scrolling - The E: scroller, (PRINT) has been improved, and now scrolls the screen down much more quickly than with the 800.¢¢Note¢----¢¢All of these comments are random ramblings, said while using the 800 and the 1200XL (both NTSC) on the same TV set (also NTSC). Obviously, they were used alternately.¢¢Anyone? Comments? Questions? Furious denials? Flowers? Blessings? Sandwiches?¢All to...¢¢ Itay Chamiel¢¢
