Atari 800 vs. 800xl?
Gary Sutton
On Mon, 3 Nov 1997 04:34:42 GMT,
Alan Christie <94ch...@scar.utoronto.ca> wrote:
>> 3) Which keyboard is better (easier to type on), the 800 or the 800xl? (the
>> 400 is quite difficult.)
>I prefer the 800XL. I haven't use a 1200XL, but out of all these 8bits
>400,800, 600Xl, 800XL, 65XE, 130XE I find the 800XL to have the BEST
>keyboard.
>
But if you pardon the expression, the 800 has the sexiest design. :3
--Otter
Alan Christie
On 3 Nov 1997, PBjurman wrote:
> I might be interested in purchasing either an Atari 800 or an 800xl to replace
> my current Atari 400 computer. However, I need some info first.
>
> 1) Does the 800xl come with an 80-column card built-in, or would I have to add
> it?
No Atari 8bit comes with 80 columns built-in, you have to add via
software or hardware.
>
> 2) Will the 800xl run most of my 400 carts and disks?
The 800XL will run 90-95% of your 400 carts and disks, I think Michael
Current created a list of 400/800 only 8bit programs.
>
> 3) Which keyboard is better (easier to type on), the 800 or the 800xl? (the
> 400 is quite difficult.)
I prefer the 800XL. I haven't use a 1200XL, but out of all these 8bits
400,800, 600Xl, 800XL, 65XE, 130XE I find the 800XL to have the BEST
keyboard.
> > 4) Is the 800xl worth the extra $3 I'd have to pay for it?
An Atari 800 might be worth more as a collector but I would argue the
800XL is a more versatile machine. Yes, $3 extra is fair. (Out of
curiousity how much are you paying for that Xl?)
Stephen Knox
PBjurman wrote:
> I might be interested in purchasing either an Atari 800 or an 800xl to replace
> my current Atari 400 computer. However, I need some info first.
>
> 1) Does the 800xl come with an 80-column card built-in, or would I have to add
> it?
No Atari 8bits came with 80 column adapters out of the box.
>
>
> 2) Will the 800xl run most of my 400 carts and disks?
>
Yup. Around 90%. There is a Translator disk to let you run 800 stuff on your XL
> 3) Which keyboard is better (easier to type on), the 800 or the 800xl? (the
> 400 is quite difficult.)
>
Both are pretty good.
> 4) Is the 800xl worth the extra $3 I'd have to pay for it?
>
Get the XL. The extra memory will let you pplay some of the newer games, plus the
smaller footprint.
Later,
Steve
> Thanks for the help!
>
> -Sam
>
> S a m H a r t m a n n p b j u r m a n @ a o l . c o m
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
> -------
> AgentQ on #rgvc - Visit the Video Game High Score Page:
> http://members.aol.com/pbjurman/highscores.html
PBjurman
I might be interested in purchasing either an Atari 800 or an 800xl to replace
my current Atari 400 computer. However, I need some info first.
1) Does the 800xl come with an 80-column card built-in, or would I have to add
it?
2) Will the 800xl run most of my 400 carts and disks?
3) Which keyboard is better (easier to type on), the 800 or the 800xl? (the
400 is quite difficult.)
4) Is the 800xl worth the extra $3 I'd have to pay for it?
Thanks for the help!
Michael Current
In article <Pine.GSO.3.95.971102...@fissure.scar>, Alan
Christie <94ch...@scar.utoronto.ca> wrote:
>On 3 Nov 1997, PBjurman wrote:
>> 2) Will the 800xl run most of my 400 carts and disks?
>The 800XL will run 90-95% of your 400 carts and disks, I think Michael
>Current created a list of 400/800 only 8bit programs.
Here's that list, still looking to make any additions/corrections.
Subject: 13.16) What games run only on the 400 and 800 models?
Here they are!
Alley Cat Synapse
Apple Panic Broderbund
Aquatron Sierra On-Line
Astro Chase Parker Brothers
Atlantis Imagic
Attack at EP-CYG-4 (by Bram) Romox
Bandits
BearJam Chalkboard Inc.
Boulders And Bombs CBS
Chicken Synapse
Disk 50
Dreadnaught Factor, The Activision
Drelbs Synapse
Forbidden Forest Cosmi
Galahad And The Holy Grail APX
Go Hayden
Gorf Roklan
Jet Boot Jack English
Juggler IDSI
K-Razy Antiks K-Byte
K-razy Kritters CBS Software
K-razy Kritters K-Byte
Kangaroo Atari
KoalaPainter Koala
Leo's 'Lectric Paintbrush Chalkboard Inc.
Leo's Links Chalkboard Inc.
LogicMaster Chalkboard Inc.
Lunar Leeper
Mario Bros. ('83) Atari
MicroMaestro Chalkboard Inc.
Micro Illustrator Chalkboard Inc.
Monster Maze Epyx
M.U.L.E.(early release only)Electronic Arts
Nautilus Synapse
Picnic Paranoia Synapse
Pool 1.5 IDSI
Protector II
Rack 'Em Up Rocklan
Shamus Synapse
Slime Synapse
Snapper Silicon Valley Systems
Space Dungeon Atari
Squish 'Em Sirius
Story Machine
Zaxxon 16K DataSoft
Zaxxon 32K DataSoft
--
Michael Current, mailto:mcur...@carleton.edu
8-bit Atari FAQ and Vendor Lists, http://www.faqs.org/faqs/atari-8-bit/
Cleveland Free-Net Atari SIG, telnet://freenet-in-c.cwru.edu (go atari)
St. Paul Atari Computer Enthusiasts, http://www.library.carleton.edu/space/
Vidar Olavesen
Many will work with translator though! I run a lot of these games on my
130XE
Michael Current <mcur...@carleton.edu> wrote in article
<mcurrent-031...@macmcurrent.library.carleton.edu>...
den...@uss.net
I am confused of how the 800 and 800xl are camparative.
Does the 800xl have built in all of the cards in the slots of the 800?
I understand the 800xl was released after the 800. Is the 800xl a
superior machine?
Andre Bullock
--------Response by AB----------
In the 800XL the functionality is there, but without the card slots,
making it cheaper to produce. This was a big deal after the Commodore 64
came along. The 800XL does everything the 800 did except:
Play 4 player games, I don't remember any.
Allow for a second cart. for the right slot, don't remember anything
that went in there anyway.
The 800, and 400 for that matter were released in 78-79 time frame. The
800xl, which followed the 1200xl was released in 83. The other reason to
get the xl not mentioned in the prior posts is the GTIA v's CTIA video
chip. The GTIA (256 color pallate) was released only in the last 800's
and all 1200/800XL's. So buying a 800 you may be getting a CTIA (128
color pallate) machine.
For a while in the early 80's you could buy an GTIA chip to retrofit old
800/400 machines. I doubt anything like this exists now.
There were a number of projects to bring a 800xl up to 256K or RAM (used
as a RAM disk as devices D6:,D7:. The most popular was called RamboXL,
and worked with a patched version of Dos2.5. I built one into an 800XL
at that time.
AB
Raphael James Espino
>
> den...@uss.net wrote:
> >
> > I am confused of how the 800 and 800xl are camparative.
[snip]
> --------Response by AB----------
> In the 800XL the functionality is there, but without the card slots,
> making it cheaper to produce. This was a big deal after the Commodore 64
> came along. The 800XL does everything the 800 did except:
>
> Play 4 player games, I don't remember any.
[snip]
There was Asteroids! Which had a 4 player mode.
Stephen Knox
AND MULE!
That appears to be the favorite 4 player game.
Later,
Steve
Austin Franklin
> Allow for a second cart. for the right slot, don't remember anything
> that went in there anyway.
We used the right cartridge slot for the console software for our 80 column
board. The cartridge occupied none of the 8k address space assigned to the
right slot, so you could use full 16k cartridges in the left slot. The 80
column board plugged into the third slot on the 800 (the 800XL was missing
these expansion slots....).
Austin Franklin
dark...@ix.netcom.com
Steven Posey
On 7 Nov 1997 15:46:54 GMT, "Austin Franklin"
<dark...@ix.netcom.com> wrote:
>> Allow for a second cart. for the right slot, don't remember anything
>> that went in there anyway.
>
The Monkey Wrench II was a right-cart by Eastern House Software (they
also made an XL/XE version). It was a programmers tool for auto
line-numbering/renumbering, disassembling, machine-language
monitoring, etc. I was very successful at backing up some of my
cassette games that were otherwise copyprotected (like zaxxon &
frogger) using the MWII. I also got some good dissassembly use out of
it by plugging in a cart game, like pacman, and booting with the MWII
in place. I could get to the monitor to dissassemble the cartridge
and make changes to give me 99 men, etc. Obviously, you couldn't do
this with the XL/XE version since you need BOTH cartridges in place.
There weren't many right-carts, but the MWII and the 80-col carts were
the most memorable. I believe OSS had some other programming tools
meant for right-carts.
Carry on...
Steven
Michael Current
In article <3462835a...@news.snip.net>, mh...@snip.net (mhop) wrote:
>Don't any programs on that list work with the Translator? Or doesn't
>that count?
Attempting to run natively, without a translator, was implied.
I'll add a note to that effect.
Oh, since I'm posting, somebody without a reply address told me in e-mail
that Micro Illustrator (by Chalkboard) and Zaxxon (DataSoft) do run on an
800XL, without a translator. Any confermations? He didn't mention which
version of Zaxxon, 16K or 32K, was used.
Thanks,
-Michael
mhop
>In article <Pine.GSO.3.95.971102...@fissure.scar>, Alan
>Christie <94ch...@scar.utoronto.ca> wrote:
>
>>On 3 Nov 1997, PBjurman wrote:
>
>>> 2) Will the 800xl run most of my 400 carts and disks?
>>The 800XL will run 90-95% of your 400 carts and disks, I think Michael
>>Current created a list of 400/800 only 8bit programs.
>
>Here's that list, still looking to make any additions/corrections.
>
<list snipped>
Patrick Mulvey
Andre Bullock wrote:
>
> den...@uss.net wrote:
> >
> > I am confused of how the 800 and 800xl are camparative.
> >
> >
> > I understand the 800xl was released after the 800. Is the 800xl a
> > superior machine?
>
> In the 800XL the functionality is there, but without the card slots,
> making it cheaper to produce. This was a big deal after the Commodore 64
> came along. The 800XL does everything the 800 did except:
>
> Play 4 player games, I don't remember any.
> that went in there anyway.
>
> 800xl, which followed the 1200xl was released in 83. The other reason to
> get the xl not mentioned in the prior posts is the GTIA v's CTIA video
> chip. The GTIA (256 color pallate) was released only in the last 800's
> and all 1200/800XL's. So buying a 800 you may be getting a CTIA (128
> color pallate) machine.
>
> For a while in the early 80's you could buy an GTIA chip to retrofit old
> 800/400 machines. I doubt anything like this exists now.
>
> There were a number of projects to bring a 800xl up to 256K or RAM (used
> as a RAM disk as devices D6:,D7:. The most popular was called RamboXL,
> and worked with a patched version of Dos2.5. I built one into an 800XL
> at that time.
>
joystick ports but allowed 4 players also.
Tim Irvin
> Don't any programs on that list work with the Translator? Or doesn't
> that count?
Sure, something like "FIX-XL" will work for most games that won't
"normally" run on the 800XL, but if there is anything which looks
for something in the second cartridge slot (very unusual, and in fact
I don't know of any examples), or if it is a game that requires
input from four joysticks (or at least actively polls for input from
four joysticks), it still may not work on the 800XL even if a
translator helps it to boot on the XL.
--
Tim Irvin, zig...@netgate.net ::::: http://www.netgate.net/~ziggy29
"Trouble no one about their religion; respect others in their view, and
demand that they respect yours...Abuse no one and nothing, for abuse
turns the wise ones to fools and robs the spirit of its vision."
-- Tecumseh (1768-1813), Shawnee chief and statesman
Tim Irvin
In article <3462B5...@worldnet.att.net>, Andre Bullock
<AVB...@worldnet.att.net> wrote:
> In the 800XL the functionality is there, but without the card slots,
> making it cheaper to produce. This was a big deal after the Commodore 64
> came along. The 800XL does everything the 800 did except:
>
> Play 4 player games, I don't remember any.
Well, there's a very obvious 4-player game, arguably the best
8-bit game ever and to this day still ranked by CGW magazine as one
of the five best games ever: M.U.L.E.
The FIX-XL program will get past the complaint about what it finds
in ROM (as when you usually boot it up on an 800XL), but when the
program tries to poll for input from four joystick ports, everything
messes up.
This, in fact, is the only reason I can't exclusively rely on
my 800XL for what I do.
David Leaver
>> Allow for a second cart. for the right slot, don't remember anything
>> that went in there anyway.
There was at least one right slot cartridge - the Monkey Wrench -
which adds a set of tools, like auto- and re-number, to Atari Basic.
I still have the blighter somewhere.
David
David Leaver
10 Goodparla St,
Hawker, ACT 2614
Australia
e-mail lea...@netinfo.com.au
Kenneth Jennings
On Mon, 17 Nov 1997 09:38:20 GMT, Gnu <gnub...@bellsouth.net> wrote:
>dkl...@iwaynet.net wrote:
>> A new technique of mixing 2 of the GTIA modes gives you 160x200x30 monochrome.
>> That is,30 shades of grey.Yet another GTIA hybrid mode gives you a
>> (flickering) 80x200 16-level RGB (4096 total colours/lumnas) and 160x200
>> 4-level RGB (64 total).
>What? Could someone point me in the direction of some info on these techniques?
>I'm terribly interested in 160x200 GTIA, even if it's monochrome. Does it involve
>faeiries, pixie dust, or plugging a toaster into the parallel port?
Don't get too excited. These aren't "new" graphics modes. They
are all produced by flipping between two (or more) different
screens/modes each vertical blank. They aren't very practical
except in very limited circumstances (demos).
Kenneth Jennings -- SyntheToonz -- Miami, FL
kenneth at daffy dot aatech dot com
ken at ntalr dot aatech dot com
KWBurgess
From: r...@co.umist.ac.uk (Raphael James
>Espino)
Date: 16 Nov 1997 15:13:55 GMT
In article
><mcurrent-071...@macmcurrent.library.carleton.edu>
>mcur...@carleton.edu (Michael Current) writes:
> Oh, since I'm posting,
>somebody without a reply address told me in e-mail
> that Micro Illustrator
>(by Chalkboard) and Zaxxon (DataSoft) do run on an
> 800XL, without a
>translator. Any confermations? He didn't mention which
> version of Zaxxon,
>16K or 32K, was used.
I've played Zaxxon 16K (cassette version) and 32K (disk
>version) on an XL/XE
machine (either 800XL, 65XE or modified 130XE - or maybe
>even all 3, anyway
it was an OS C machine) without any problems. Maybe
>there's more than one
version of the games (old OS B versions, and newer OS C
>versions?). anyone?
I've personally seen the 32k version of Zaxxon played on all three
version of the
Atari 8 bit os. Rev a, b, &c.