Computer History: 1979 Atari 800 - Part 1

Computer History! We talk about 1979 released Atari 800, a very important vintage computer whose architecture endured for almost 13 years.

Atari 800 and Atari 400 (its cheaper version) were released together. The system used initially cartridges but a host of peripherals were added: disk drives (Atari 810), tape drives, interface modules (Atari 850), external keypads, modems, etc.

The processor is the venerable MOS 6502 running at 1.8Mhz. It featured between 8Kb and 48Kb of RAM. For video it could output 24x40 character text mode as well as up to 160x96 graphics resolution with 128 colors.

The Atari 800 had actually 2 cartridge slots (which was unique) but very few games or software use the second (right) slot.

The follower to Atari 400 and 800 was the 800XL which added more memory (64Kb) and featured only one cartridge slot.

[geoffpool]

Great Video! This was the very first personal computer I ever got to use and I still have fond memories of it.

[bjbell]

LOL - my first computer was an Atari 400. I thought I was having problems with it, so I call Atari's tech support. They asked me to reboot the computer and tell them what it said on the screen. When I told them it said "13000 fre" they actually sounded angry at me, demanding to know where I got that machine. They said that machine was NOT available to the public. I almost expected them to tell me to mail it back to them. Anyway, what really happened was a local Sears store was selling them and decided to stop selling them. When I went into the store, all they had left was their demo model of the 400 which DID have 16K in them. So I probably had the first 16K Atari 400 out there.

When I decided to upgrade to an Atari 800, I went to a local computer store only to find out that they decided not to carry the Atari anymore. At the time, the 800 came with 8K (it might have been 16K). I bought their demo model for $500 - it included a cassette, a floppy, and 48K of ram. I lucked out twice ;-)

[gamedoutgamer]

Good video. The echo of the room due to the microphone being far away from you makes it difficult to hear you clearly. The 400 and 800 case is thin and fragile and the plastic is often brittle from improper storage in hot environs like an attic or garage. Treat them very gently, especially the cart door lever. The plastic ribs on the top of the 800 case are known to break. The XL cases are much thicker and sturdier. Atari wanted to compete with the 1977 Apple computer and the 400/800 were the result. In many ways the Atari's are far better but understandable mistakes were made too.

[timlocke]

Good video but the music sections are much louder than your speaking sections.

[jiluan]

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