Google Groups no longer supports new Usenet posts or subscriptions. Historical content remains viewable.
Dismiss

Atari 800 XL (F) to buy / trade

65 views
Skip to first unread message

Alistair Ross

unread,
Jan 26, 2005, 7:43:01 AM1/26/05
to
Hey everyone.

I've been scouring Ebay UK for quite some time now, and every while an
Atari 800 XL pops up for sale. I am a collector of all things retro, and
one of my biggest desires is the Atari 800 (see my website:
www.aliross.co.uk/museum).

All the ataris that pop up on ebay don't seem to come tested, or with a
power supply. I've only ever emulated an 800, so I don't know what PSU
it takes, or if any of the ones I have currently would suit it (I have a
2600 and an ST - not that the ST has an external PSU).

So, basically, I wanna buy one. I've been trawling the net but I can't
find any for sale apart from Ebay - would you buy one without a PSU? If
so, how would I get a UK PSU?

I live in the UK as you have already guessed, and my main reason for
posting here is if any of you are willing to part with an Atari 800 I
would be really happy to pay you for it.

I would ideally like an 800 XLF (but an XL will be fine), I also want a
floppy drive and any carts or disks you want to part with as well.

I do have some other hardware, that I may be willing to part with for a
trade or part-trade. For information on these items (all 8-bit with the
exception of the ST and my Sun Stations).

So, let me know if you wanna pass on an Atari to a loving home (if you
wish to email me personally, just remove the words 'remove', 'at' and
'dot' from my email address).

Kindest Regards,

Alistair Ross

Iain Laskey

unread,
Jan 26, 2005, 8:22:30 AM1/26/05
to
In article <41f7904d$0$26026$fa0f...@news.zen.co.uk>,
removem...@atxboltdot.net (Alistair Ross) wrote:

> I've been scouring Ebay UK for quite some time now, and every while an
> Atari 800 XL pops up for sale. I am a collector of all things retro,
> and one of my biggest desires is the Atari 800 (see my website:
> www.aliross.co.uk/museum).

Set up a saved search. Fully working/tested 800's turn up regularly, often
boxed.

> I would ideally like an 800 XLF (but an XL will be fine), I also want a
> floppy drive and any carts or disks you want to part with as well.

No such thing as an 800XLF. Are you getting confused with STs that used
the F to indicate built in floppy?


Michael Current

unread,
Jan 26, 2005, 10:00:00 AM1/26/05
to

I've got this in the FAQ, hopefully it's accurate:

There was a late version of the 800XL in Europe, called 800XLF. The 800XLF
includes a redesigned motherboard (the XE design) and contains FREDDIE for
memory management and has chroma output. BASIC is Revision C.


Michael Current, mailto:hunm...@earthlink.net
8-bit Atari FAQs, http://www.cs.uu.nl/wais/html/na-dir/atari-8-bit/.html
St. Paul Atari Computer Enthusiasts, http://space.atari.org/

RichardK-PB

unread,
Jan 26, 2005, 10:12:39 AM1/26/05
to
Alistair Ross wrote:
> Hey everyone.
>
> I've been scouring Ebay UK for quite some time now, and every while an
> Atari 800 XL pops up for sale. I am a collector of all things retro, and
> one of my biggest desires is the Atari 800 (see my website:
> www.aliross.co.uk/museum).

Guess you missed my 800 last year, then - I've seen you on the Apple
group ;)

Anyway, if you get an 800, I have a CX85 keypad I grabbed in Canada from
Active Surplus in Toronto (they had a box full of them. If I had space
I'd have bought the lot). I also have, which might be of interest to
you, an XE:VGS system with gun.

Richard
--
RichardK - 1980s in a can. http://www.dmc12.demon.co.uk/music/
Retro computing - http://www.dmc12.demon.co.uk/retrotech/
Cars - 2004 Beetle Cabrio, 1990 Supra, 1990 Sera, 1990 Volvo 740
MidiGuitar, Enterprise 128, NeXT, AU/X. Apple 77-04. See links ;)

Iain Laskey

unread,
Jan 26, 2005, 10:18:17 AM1/26/05
to
In article <85cfv05coukn2lf04...@4ax.com>,
hunm...@earthlink.net (Michael Current) wrote:


> There was a late version of the 800XL in Europe, called 800XLF. The

Interesting, thanks.

Alistair Ross

unread,
Jan 26, 2005, 11:38:46 AM1/26/05
to
Michael Current wrote:
> On Wed, 26 Jan 2005 13:22:30 GMT, ila...@cix.co.uk (Iain Laskey) wrote:
>
>
>>In article <41f7904d$0$26026$fa0f...@news.zen.co.uk>,
>>removem...@atxboltdot.net (Alistair Ross) wrote:
>>
>>
>>>I would ideally like an 800 XLF (but an XL will be fine), I also want a
>>>floppy drive and any carts or disks you want to part with as well.
>>
>>No such thing as an 800XLF. Are you getting confused with STs that used
>>the F to indicate built in floppy?
>
>
> I've got this in the FAQ, hopefully it's accurate:
>
> There was a late version of the 800XL in Europe, called 800XLF. The 800XLF
> includes a redesigned motherboard (the XE design) and contains FREDDIE for
> memory management and has chroma output. BASIC is Revision C.


Yup, that's the same things that old-computers.com states the XLF has.

RichardK-PB

unread,
Jan 26, 2005, 12:59:23 PM1/26/05
to
Alistair Ross wrote:

>
> Yup, that's the same things that old-computers.com states the XLF has.

It is basically the Atari 800/65XE. If they made an 800XL with internal
drive it would be the 800XLD - I think most 800XLs you find in the UK
are XLFs, because Atari discounted like mad in the mid 80s after
relatively poor sales in the early 80s compared to the US market.

Richard

--
RichardK - 1980s in a can. http://www.dmc12.demon.co.uk/music/
Retro computing - http://www.dmc12.demon.co.uk/retrotech/

Cars - 2004 Beetle Cabrio, 1989 Supra 3.0i, 1990 Sera
MidiGuitar, Enterprise 128, AU/X. Apple 77-04. See links ;)

Andreas Magenheimer

unread,
Jan 26, 2005, 3:11:53 PM1/26/05
to
Well,
800XLF = Atari 800 XL with Freddy chip. Not very common, but also not
very uncommon... -Andreas.

Greg.G...@family-news.org

unread,
Jan 26, 2005, 10:28:02 PM1/26/05
to
When I heard the 800XLF I was thinking something built in, like the holy
grail of the Atari8 world, the 1450xl.

Well, holy grail to some. Not much of a XL user here.

Backing the beige tanks..

Doc Clu 800

> From: ila...@cix.co.uk (Iain Laskey)

--- BBBS/NT v4.01 Flag-5
* Origin: FamilyNet Sponsored by http://www.christian-wellness.net (8:8/2)

Ed Shepherd

unread,
Jan 27, 2005, 12:39:09 AM1/27/05
to
I would think that being in the UK,you would want a PAL unit,not NTSC
(U.S.) right?

Gork

unread,
Jan 27, 2005, 5:00:38 AM1/27/05
to
My 800XL package is still available: www.gorksplace.com/atari1

This unit is NTSC, though, and comes with a US power supply, so I'm not sure
that it's what you're looking for... $40 plus actual shipping cost...

Sean


"Alistair Ross" <removem...@atxboltdot.net> wrote in message
news:41f7904d$0$26026$fa0f...@news.zen.co.uk...

carmel

unread,
Jan 27, 2005, 7:36:00 AM1/27/05
to
I was informed by one of the principle of the A8 user group i was once
with (way back when) that although Warners had plenty of XL(F)s in
warehouses, after Atari was taken over by TTI (the tramiels) Uncle
Jack chose to cancel the XL(F) and incorporate the technology into the
130 xe, in saying that, i am told that Warner's Atari never
'OFFICIALY' released/launched it

Apparently Atari had'nt gotten arround to doing a PAL version XL(F),
just like the 5200, although this bloke i spoke with at this A8 user
group had a motherboard from an 800xl(f), he said it wasn't PAL (he
also had the only UK/EU compatable 1200xl, he modd'd it himself) and I
do recall seeing BaPAUG showing a full fledged 1450 xl at the atari
90's computer show, can't remember if it was switched on or not

Iain Laskey

unread,
Jan 27, 2005, 8:38:30 AM1/27/05
to
According to www.atarimuseum.com, the XLF was SECAM only.


Iain Laskey
Practical PC Online www.practicalpc.co.uk

Kryten

unread,
Jan 27, 2005, 8:48:41 AM1/27/05
to

"Iain Laskey" <ilask...@cix.co.uk> wrote in message
news:memo.2005012...@ilba14195.www.blueyonder.co.uk...

> According to www.atarimuseum.com, the XLF was SECAM only.

In that case it is wrong.

I had one, it had a Freddy in it, it did drive a PAL TV.
And it also had the chroma output and I got it driving S-video.

Michael Current

unread,
Jan 27, 2005, 10:01:22 PM1/27/05
to
On Thu, 27 Jan 2005 13:48:41 GMT, "Kryten"
<kryten_droid...@ntlworld.com> wrote:

>I had one, it had a Freddy in it, it did drive a PAL TV.
>And it also had the chroma output and I got it driving S-video.

My question is, did Atari actually use the label "800XLF" on the outside of
the machine, or on the box? Or did we the public just adopt the name "800XLF"
to differentiate these late-model 800XL's from earlier designs?

Anyone have a picture of something labeled "800XLF" by Atari?

-Michael

Andreas Magenheimer

unread,
Feb 8, 2005, 1:12:41 PM2/8/05
to
Nope,
they were simply named Atari 800XL, like every other 800XL. The user had
to find out the difference by opening the computer and looking at the
motherboard (and probably counting the big chips)... Thus the name
800XLF was chosen by the users not by Atari itself... Believe it or not
there were even a few Atari 800XL or 800XLF available with 128k of RAM
and they were still named 800XL. In France where SCART is much more
popular than Super-video (or S-VHS like we germans use to say), Atari
even produced 800XL computers with scart connectors instead of the usual
monitor ports. They were also named 800XL, but maybe some users call
them 800XL (S) where "S" means SCART connector (not sure if that one has
a Freddy or not, also not sure if it was available with 128k RAM or
not).

Anyways, the 800XL(F) computers are a little bit harder to find here in
Europe than normal 800XL computers (let`s say 800XLF are uncommon), but
the 128k version of the 800XL and the 800XL with Scart are extremely
rare... Me, I would like to get an original 800XL with Freddy, Scart
and 128k RAM, grin. Also on my wish list is a 1400XL (not a 1450XLD) and
a 65XEM. -Andreas.

Michael Current

unread,
Feb 9, 2005, 8:59:06 PM2/9/05
to
Thanks for clearing that up about the "800XLF", I've been wondering for years!

Very interesting info on the 128K and SCART variations as well.

Time to update the FAQ once again...

-Michael

Michael Current, mailto:hunm...@earthlink.net

0 new messages