The RAM actually goes in separate cartridge ports behind the normal cartridge ports on the 800. The right cartridge port was for sort of add-on cartridges, of which very few were ever made. The cable on the back was for TV only. There was a separate monitor port on the side.
You browsing through those 5.25 floppies reminds me of when i was 8... There were floppies with games, and beside that there were these strange useless ones that contained non-games. ('just programs') :)
BTW, the "not a bad deal" thing is annoying. You seem to have no idea just how much you got for $50. The two computers, the multiple disk drives, the game cartridges, the trackballs... You would have easily paid at least $200 + lots of shipping for all that stuff on eBay. You're so casual and clueless about it when your $50 haul would be an Atari computer fan's wet dream. Not trying to be rude or anything, just saying. Can't stand that stuff like this always happens to guys who don't really care
Great video my fav game for the Atari 800 is Blue Max I could play that game all day long. In fact its one of my all time fav retro games. Also Atarimax made a multi cart for this system, I don't know if you did a review on it but it looks pretty cool.
i had a 400 with a rana disc drive, which was incompatible with many games so i believe i got a 1050. I think i had my 400 upgraded to 64k?? i wish i still had it
To put the Atari 400 into perspective, it's rival would be the Vic-20, now compare the two? The Atari 400 wins hands down with better graphics, etc etc - only let down by the plastic keyboard, although some people did provide upgrades for it, but you had to be a technical wiz to fit it... Down in Australia, New Zealand, sadly the Atari 400/800 were vastly overpriced, because the importing company, put a huge mark up on them - and only a few dedicated people paid the hyped up prices.
@golga14 Its not a dumb question at all. Lets say you bought a ibm 5.25 floppy drive and ribbon cable. then you put it in your desktop. Then you could copy floppy disks that can be read by an ibm machine. If you wanted to copy apple, trs-80 model 4, atari 400/800, commodore 64 disks, the you would have to search the internet for a program that will allow your ibm to read other formats. Downloading an emulator should work too. There is a way to copy disks using an atari computer but i cant rememb
@golga14@golga14 I hacked "Gamestar Football" using a disassembler. The bootloader would read a bad sector on the retail floppy and if it found it, boot the game. Using a disassembler and loading the game to memory, I changed an instruction to continue executing the boot if reading the sector came back as valid -- as it would if from non-retail floppy. After making the mod, I saved it to a blank floppy and made backups from it. Worked like a champ as was a very proud moment for me!
Brings back memories. My dad purchased one in the early 80's and we learned how to copy the games. My friends and I would have video game contests in the basement where we had both the 400 and 800 set up side by side.
@counterclockwise123 Perhaps for history, these machines are extremely full of history. Ive seen some ancient machines (For example the game console Neo-Geo) sell for nearly 2000 dollars on EBay.
@counterclockwise123 Although I personally can't be bothered either,I can understand why people collect this stuff. it's for the same reason people collect old cars, or other antiquities.Old gramophones from the 30's fetch hefty prizes.For me this is all still too fresh, but in 20 years time ,I might think quite differently.
@pufixas Dude ,I've had all my 2600's ,Colecovisions,and still got my old trusty Amiga 500 with its box full of mint boxed games.It's indeed interesting history. I personaly can't be bothered anymore.
That's a dream find for $50!!! I'm practically salivating lol!
I collect the Atari systems and there's nothing more beautiful than an original 800 or a 1200xl. They really designed these things well back in the day.
I just bought an Atari 800 in near perfect condition with all the peripherals in a junk store on the outskirts of town for 10 when I seen one one Ebay for 250. Mine was under a bunch of 90's motherboards and old routers. I love playing Missile Command.
$50...great deal! I grew up with the 400 and eventually got an 800XL. The 400 came with 16K standard (not 8K), I believe. The right port in the 800 was not for RAM expansion, but for utility ROMs, but few were ever made. You can remove the back lid of the 800 to access the plug-in RAM.
Other things: your systems might have the original CTIA graphic chip, or have been upgraded to the much more advanced GTIA. Have fun exploring the disks!
If you haven't already check out this site atarimania it has a page full of free Atari computer and game system books and manuals in PDF form and so far the ones I got are in good readable quality fore the 800 computer
My parents bought an Atari 800 brand new in 1981 with a pair of 5¼" floppy drives and a printer. What a badass machine that was. We were the only family in my neighborhood with a game system, so everybody was always over at out apartment. I miss those days.
nice review thanks for posting, I managed to get an Atari 800 but I can't get my hands on a 400 system. It's funny my 800 when you open the cartridge hatch it skweeks just like yours :) Again nice review man very interesting..
I'm wow'ed over by what you got for 50 bucks..I haven't seen an Atari 1050 Disk Drive box in 24 yrs...nearly tears been brought to my eyes seeing that again...I must really thank you for this show case of one of the best Computers designed back in the 80's..make sure you preserve them for many years to come..cheers
@exposed97 yeah companies pretty much had their own OS's for the systems but as time went on everyone decided to just have Windows licensed to their computer (except Apple obviously.) This was done mainly for compatibility, too cheap to hire others to program an OS and did Windows, or too cheap and cloned. I've thought of it too and it would be interesting to see what Amiga or the TRS-80 would be at today's standards.
Atari didn't WANT to get into the computer field, they were forced by their new buy-in sell-out bullshit president! It's because of him that the 7800 was postponed!
Atari didnt WANT to get into the computer business at the time, its because their new buy-out sell-out ceo forced them to! and this POS is why the 7800 was cancelled!
can you help me? i am looking for anyone who has gameplay footage of ali baba and the forty theives for the atari 800 (xl) prefferably. i miss that game so much and would love to watch someone play it on youtube.
Hey gamester, I was wondering if you have an atai 600xl? i have one (UK VERSION) and it plays the same games as these two consoles.... so I was thinking, do you know if the 600xl will play 2600 games? I doubt it, but if you know please respond! Great vid by the way, I love these old thing! >.<
@theheadshot45 The Atari XL (and XE) system will not run any 2600 games, nor any other atari console games. As mentioned in the vid, the XL hardware is comparable to the 5200's hardware, but the adressing has changed, making those systems incompatible with eachother. There have been a lot of ports/conversions of 5200 games for the XL/XE system though. Even the 400/800 are not fully compatible with the XL/XE range. XL/XE has only 2 controller ports and uses a bankswitching technique.
Just picked up an 800, 1050, and tape drive off ebay. Looking forward to gaming memories. I have a question...is there any way to trade,swap, share disk games now?
@helipilot27 If I may suggest something... Try to search for SIO2PC and/or APE on the web. This gadget turns your PC into multiple diskdrives for the atari with a bit of software. It will enable you to use disk images in ATR format, which can be downloaded freely from the web in a myriad of places. Ofcourse you'll also be able to copy those to real disks then.
Amused that you said how it reminded you of a Commodore 64 keyboard when the Atari 800 pre-dated the 64 by a few years! In other words, the C64 keyboard should remind you of the Atari 800 keyboard! lulz...
@eduds6 The 400/800 uses a rom-based operating system, known as Rev A or Rev B among aficionado's. Rev A was slightly buggy, so later models all came with a Rev B chip installed. Most 400's will have Rev A in there though, since that was discontinued soon, after the ram chips became cheap, and people demanded more memory for their applications. As for Disk Operating Systems, Atari actually made several versions, called DOS 1, 2, 3 and 2.5 (in chronological order). Most commonly used is Dos 2.5.
One of my first computers was an Atari 400 and I upgraded the membrane keyboard with an aftermarket 'real' keyboard that replaced it. I also upgraded the memory to 64k following a soldering how-to article in ANALOG magazine. I had some great games like Ball Blazer, Behind Jaggi Lines, Archon and MULE. I had a direct connect 300 and then 1200 baud modem and an amazing Indus GT disk drive so I didn't have to wait forever to load a game by cassette. Nice Job! Great memories!
I found a link fore owners manuals in PDF and another showing monitor pin-outs to mod for composite video its easy to do and it works great no extra circuit boards needed
The system being presented to you by my homie Gamester81 is currently being desiplayed in prestine condition inside San Diego State University's library entrance. It may look primative now, but back then....IT WAS THE SHIZZZZNIT!!!
Both the 400 and 800 weren't actually released until the fall of 1979. They were both announced in late 1978 and first shown in January 1979, but weren't actually available until around November 1979.
LOVE the Atari 400. Fond memories of loading "Ghost Encounters" on cassette and playing in the dark as a kid. My 400 doesn't work anymore but I bought an 800xl and got the SIO card to connect to my unix box and load .atr files. Playing yoomp! (new homebrew title) and star raiders on 52" is so fun
Sweet video john and i really enjoyed hearing about those systems, i quite fancy the atari 800, plus that was an amazing find at the games store, nothing better than playing some old school games on floppy disks.
Great review John!! Never heard of these systems until you showed it here! Wow for 50 bux.. it's a big steal!! I'd like to pop in some of those 5.25 floppies and play some cool retro computer games again!! I had an 8088 system back in the day.. learn alot of stuff from that fine machine..
Damn YOU! Nice pickup on these classic Atari 8-bit computers, games and accessories! There is a guy on my local Craigslist selling an Atari 400 with some good games but for some reason he isn't replying to my emails! I really want to get my hands on that. Even more now that I've seen this! Thanks a lot! No seriously great video of course! Pac man looks a million times better on this than it does the 2600! Man. Now I REALLY want that 400!
@gamesessions Hey thanks so much for watching. Hmm I don't think I did change the title. What was it before? I try to keep it private until the quality improves on the video, but for some reason since I'm a partner it won't let me do that automatically any more. Which kinda sucks.
@Gamester81 It was "atari 8 bit" according to my email - so in retrospect, the new title is much better - lol! Hope you do an Amiga review some time - I grew up with that computer :)
@Gamester81 i got ibm ps2 selling only for $20 for more information call me on skype joeyyusay@yahoo.com by the way i love your reviews keep up the good work
@Gamester81 i got ibm ps2 1992 selling only for $20 for more information call me on skype joeyyusay@yahoo.com by the way i love your reviews keep up the good work
@Gamester81 hey gamester81 loved your review i got 1992 ibm ps2 im selling it for $20 complete set for more information call me om skype joeyyusay@yahoo.com
Holy shit! You thought we'd think $50 was a lot for all THAT?!?!? What a find man. Congratulations on that one! I'm very jealous. Does that disk drive work for the 400? or what's that for? I've never seen one of those.
@Gamester81 Yeah, the Atari 400 is actually the first computer I think I played. Either that or the C64. I just recently picked on up again 2 weeks ago at the flea market so now I can play it again. Never had that disk drive though.
I have both a Atari 800XL and Atari XEGS systems and i love them! I always tell people to just skip over the 5200 and go for one of the Atari 8-Bit computers....You can get all the games you can get on the 5200 plus more and you can use both 2600 and Sega Genesis controllers which are much better than those 5200 ones.
@ZwienerZ The keyboard is used for programs and software applications. There was a printer that was sold for these computers, and it ran of a MOS system.
@Dant2142 you know what? I am commenting here and I didn't even watch the video. for the past day it is always saying "error" try again later... still not working. O.o
About the cassette games.. I dont know anyone personally who actually owns any cassettes, only the deck/cart if memory serves me right... strange.
@MrDebauch I was referring to the 2600 cassette games, The adapter necessary to use them was a third-party cart that came around the very end of the 2600's life, all of the games were unofficial although there were re-ports of Frogger and Space Invaders that had better graphics and sound thanks to the extra 6K of ram on the adapter itself.
LOL! I remember when owning a C64 in childhood, in Europe neighborhoods always were divided betwen C64 and Atari owners. There was always an honest hatered between them back then as well - it was quite silly but nevertheless it's an interesting part of the past that I like to call - 8bit wars. ^__^
@kad3t That's a great story bro. I think the C64 is probably my favorite vintage computer, though I grew up on the Apple II computers both at home and in school.
And Rob Is My Nickname.
rob8675309ain 4 days ago
I noticed a Happy Warp disc as you were shuffling them. You might want to check those 1050's and see if they have the Happy boards installed.
atari6502 1 week ago
How do you clean a floppy drive, and should you?
chucknorris687 2 weeks ago
The RAM actually goes in separate cartridge ports behind the normal cartridge ports on the 800. The right cartridge port was for sort of add-on cartridges, of which very few were ever made. The cable on the back was for TV only. There was a separate monitor port on the side.
tinabelmont 3 weeks ago
yeah tom morello has got a atari 400 and atari 800,great
pxsico 4 weeks ago
It was released in 1979
stupidcrapcanyonlake 1 month ago
You browsing through those 5.25 floppies reminds me of when i was 8... There were floppies with games, and beside that there were these strange useless ones that contained non-games. ('just programs') :)
battragon 1 month ago
If you take the cards out of the cart. Will it work in a 5200 cart ?
gtb2009b 1 month ago
400s rock.
burnstagger 1 month ago
was the learn basic thing the coding language basic? Since my friend has been learning that lately.
991woot119 2 months ago
BTW, the "not a bad deal" thing is annoying. You seem to have no idea just how much you got for $50. The two computers, the multiple disk drives, the game cartridges, the trackballs... You would have easily paid at least $200 + lots of shipping for all that stuff on eBay. You're so casual and clueless about it when your $50 haul would be an Atari computer fan's wet dream. Not trying to be rude or anything, just saying. Can't stand that stuff like this always happens to guys who don't really care
uzi9millimetuh 2 months ago
@uzi9millimetuh Fuck you.
BoomBoy13 2 months ago
Only the first wave of Atari 400 computers had 8k. Most have 16k built in.
uzi9millimetuh 2 months ago
Great video my fav game for the Atari 800 is Blue Max I could play that game all day long. In fact its one of my all time fav retro games. Also Atarimax made a multi cart for this system, I don't know if you did a review on it but it looks pretty cool.
Brian6677 2 months ago
The four dislikes probably only have 4k of memory...
mrsqonk 2 months ago
i still have my atari xlmodem
prettylagoon 2 months ago
i had a 400 with a rana disc drive, which was incompatible with many games so i believe i got a 1050. I think i had my 400 upgraded to 64k?? i wish i still had it
prettylagoon 2 months ago
To put the Atari 400 into perspective, it's rival would be the Vic-20, now compare the two? The Atari 400 wins hands down with better graphics, etc etc - only let down by the plastic keyboard, although some people did provide upgrades for it, but you had to be a technical wiz to fit it... Down in Australia, New Zealand, sadly the Atari 400/800 were vastly overpriced, because the importing company, put a huge mark up on them - and only a few dedicated people paid the hyped up prices.
kiwilove007 2 months ago
The Atari 400 was my very first game console. I had Space Invaders on mine :)
Kalatos 3 months ago
sell me one
pufixas 4 months ago
Can u easily make copies of the Floppy Games not to sound stupid?
golga14 4 months ago
@golga14 Its not a dumb question at all. Lets say you bought a ibm 5.25 floppy drive and ribbon cable. then you put it in your desktop. Then you could copy floppy disks that can be read by an ibm machine. If you wanted to copy apple, trs-80 model 4, atari 400/800, commodore 64 disks, the you would have to search the internet for a program that will allow your ibm to read other formats. Downloading an emulator should work too. There is a way to copy disks using an atari computer but i cant rememb
AtariFTW 4 months ago
This has been flagged as spam show
@AtariFTW Thx bro, will check it out mos def
golga14 4 months ago
@golga14 @golga14 I hacked "Gamestar Football" using a disassembler. The bootloader would read a bad sector on the retail floppy and if it found it, boot the game. Using a disassembler and loading the game to memory, I changed an instruction to continue executing the boot if reading the sector came back as valid -- as it would if from non-retail floppy. After making the mod, I saved it to a blank floppy and made backups from it. Worked like a champ as was a very proud moment for me!
dinzdale56 4 months ago
Watching this review makes me want to go play my Atari...
FrogJam95128 5 months ago
Oh, The good old days... Excellent video!
danielrossi 5 months ago
I had a game called TigerHeli.........it was a helicopter game, and it was a cassett, it took like twenty minutes to load.
contact1araya 5 months ago
lol i got a 400 with 3 games 2 controllers and the box for 75 dollars!
im so jelous !
vtgelectronics 5 months ago
well tyvm u helpt me alot need get data hows made atari 400 why its good and stuff formt my teacher
floor425 6 months ago
my fav Vintage computer is the Toshiba satellite
Gamexrakeem 6 months ago
Brings back memories. My dad purchased one in the early 80's and we learned how to copy the games. My friends and I would have video game contests in the basement where we had both the 400 and 800 set up side by side.
chrsbrss 6 months ago
I have a Atari 800 but i want to find the recorder, disk drives, floppy games where could i find some games
Starscream183 6 months ago
is it a computer or game
wagnernathaniel59 7 months ago
@wagnernathaniel59 Computer
musacworld 7 months ago
I don't understand the point in collecting this extremely obsolete technology. What purpose do these machines serve?
counterclockwise123 7 months ago
@counterclockwise123
Fun...?
pufixas 7 months ago
@counterclockwise123 To entertain, fufill ones Nostalgia and for collection pourposes.
SakuraAvalon 7 months ago
@counterclockwise123 Perhaps for history, these machines are extremely full of history. Ive seen some ancient machines (For example the game console Neo-Geo) sell for nearly 2000 dollars on EBay.
MetaTekReviews 6 months ago
@counterclockwise123 Although I personally can't be bothered either,I can understand why people collect this stuff. it's for the same reason people collect old cars, or other antiquities.Old gramophones from the 30's fetch hefty prizes.For me this is all still too fresh, but in 20 years time ,I might think quite differently.
PAULLONDEN 5 months ago
i got a 800XL
MrMatt29999 7 months ago
I have an 800, love it very much
davenewcomb 7 months ago
This has been flagged as spam show
Funny...but my oh my ...nothing but dust collectors.
Who would want to waste his time (unless you were in prison)messing with this outdated crap.（︶︿︶）
Give me an emulator any day. And even then, I would use it only once a year.
PAULLONDEN 7 months ago
@PAULLONDEN
You don't know ANYTHING about technology and computers...
You're just one of those COD kiddies who don't know shit about technology and how to appreciated it.
So GTFO, nobody cares what do you think
pufixas 7 months ago
@pufixas Dude ,I've had all my 2600's ,Colecovisions,and still got my old trusty Amiga 500 with its box full of mint boxed games.It's indeed interesting history. I personaly can't be bothered anymore.
I was a bit crude.Thisis an interesting vid.
PAULLONDEN 7 months ago
@PAULLONDEN
Thank you for understanding...
pufixas 7 months ago
@PAULLONDEN In 20 years ask yourself again. Then you will know.
ihatestupidsignups 5 months ago
that shirt is so cool!
Altitudes11 7 months ago
lol its funny to see that those have 8 kb of ram and i got 4 gigs of ram.. ( yes i know that its becuase it was old)
skateking611 8 months ago
@skateking611
Its not funny at all
pufixas 7 months ago
What an awesome deal. My 1050 cost 300 bucks back in 1984.
OneEyedJack1970 8 months ago
Do the Atari 400/800 cartridges work on 65XE?
dvamateur 8 months ago
@dvamateur Yep.
OneEyedJack1970 8 months ago
That's a dream find for $50!!! I'm practically salivating lol!
I collect the Atari systems and there's nothing more beautiful than an original 800 or a 1200xl. They really designed these things well back in the day.
screamengine 9 months ago
I just bought an Atari 800 in near perfect condition with all the peripherals in a junk store on the outskirts of town for 10 when I seen one one Ebay for 250. Mine was under a bunch of 90's motherboards and old routers. I love playing Missile Command.
TheIndustrialrocker 9 months ago
@TheIndustrialrocker so lucky! I want one too :)
WellOiled87 8 months ago
how much do these things run on ebay? plz respond
theamtrakvirus 9 months ago
@CaptainPoovabladoo the 400 is more relaliable cause you only one cartridge.
mexamexo8 9 months ago
What bookman's did you go to?
noodleking456 10 months ago
$50...great deal! I grew up with the 400 and eventually got an 800XL. The 400 came with 16K standard (not 8K), I believe. The right port in the 800 was not for RAM expansion, but for utility ROMs, but few were ever made. You can remove the back lid of the 800 to access the plug-in RAM.
Other things: your systems might have the original CTIA graphic chip, or have been upgraded to the much more advanced GTIA. Have fun exploring the disks!
Muffysb 10 months ago
@CaptainPoovabladoo
Use the 400, the 800 was more a business computer when it came out. And the 800 are more expensive and harder to find then a 400.
cas99f 11 months ago
So my ATARI 400 was actually a computer, I never knew, I just tought it was a game machine motha f
f00tbol 11 months ago
this is amazing, this was the first personal computer LOL
kissdoido 11 months ago
$50 - You robbed the store at that price buddy =), that would have been an early christmas for me even at $200 (if i was still a collecter).
clitmint 1 year ago
@clitmint i would recomend the 400, cause you only one cartridge for each game. however the keyboard is more functional on the 800
mexamexo8 9 months ago
@clitmint I was thinking the same thing. $50 for the 800 and all that stuff that came with it? Insanely cheap!
sparky14624 8 months ago
Atari 400 Computers had 16k ram factory, mine did, and still does!
The 800 was expandable to 64k ram but im not sure what came stock with it from the factory.
DMC12guy 1 year ago
If you haven't already check out this site atarimania it has a page full of free Atari computer and game system books and manuals in PDF form and so far the ones I got are in good readable quality fore the 800 computer
WARPUDDY666 1 year ago
My parents bought an Atari 800 brand new in 1981 with a pair of 5¼" floppy drives and a printer. What a badass machine that was. We were the only family in my neighborhood with a game system, so everybody was always over at out apartment. I miss those days.
EnvyInc 1 year ago
I have an Atari 400. This was my first computer as a kid. The Atari 400 was ahead of its time!
bluegreedo 1 year ago
I have a phone cradle/modem with mine.
thepoliticalstartrek 1 year ago
i got an 800 xl and a atari 410 for $15 total
cartermaneki 1 year ago
Was that King of fighters 2000 for dreamcast in your window in the beginning? I know that game cover anywhere!
TheDemoniusX 1 year ago
Wow...brings back memories...Kids now a days wouldn't know shit bout this...
MrTripplenipple 1 year ago
nice review thanks for posting, I managed to get an Atari 800 but I can't get my hands on a 400 system. It's funny my 800 when you open the cartridge hatch it skweeks just like yours :) Again nice review man very interesting..
amigarule673 1 year ago
how would you compare the 400 vs the XE?
FuyuAkiWorld 1 year ago
I remember playing pacman at Sears as a kid.
Ibringthetruth1 1 year ago
expensive
Ibringthetruth1 1 year ago
I had just got back from a Goodwill and they had an Atari 400 for $12.99, too bad I just spent my last dollars.
rrob78 1 year ago
I'm wow'ed over by what you got for 50 bucks..I haven't seen an Atari 1050 Disk Drive box in 24 yrs...nearly tears been brought to my eyes seeing that again...I must really thank you for this show case of one of the best Computers designed back in the 80's..make sure you preserve them for many years to come..cheers
DDGreyfox 1 year ago
@exposed97 yeah companies pretty much had their own OS's for the systems but as time went on everyone decided to just have Windows licensed to their computer (except Apple obviously.) This was done mainly for compatibility, too cheap to hire others to program an OS and did Windows, or too cheap and cloned. I've thought of it too and it would be interesting to see what Amiga or the TRS-80 would be at today's standards.
Norway2011 1 year ago
This is awesome, especially for $50. I picked up my dad's Atari 800xl and 130xe with 3 disk drives and like, 500 floppies. No carts though..
RazzleSnazzle1 1 year ago
Some Brazilian programmers of my country started programming in the Atari 800 BASIC...
eduds6 1 year ago
Atari didn't WANT to get into the computer field, they were forced by their new buy-in sell-out bullshit president! It's because of him that the 7800 was postponed!
matthewami 1 year ago
Atari didnt WANT to get into the computer business at the time, its because their new buy-out sell-out ceo forced them to! and this POS is why the 7800 was cancelled!
matthewami 1 year ago
can you help me? i am looking for anyone who has gameplay footage of ali baba and the forty theives for the atari 800 (xl) prefferably. i miss that game so much and would love to watch someone play it on youtube.
xviciousxrottenx 1 year ago
Hey gamester, I was wondering if you have an atai 600xl? i have one (UK VERSION) and it plays the same games as these two consoles.... so I was thinking, do you know if the 600xl will play 2600 games? I doubt it, but if you know please respond! Great vid by the way, I love these old thing! >.<
theheadshot45 1 year ago
@theheadshot45 The Atari XL (and XE) system will not run any 2600 games, nor any other atari console games. As mentioned in the vid, the XL hardware is comparable to the 5200's hardware, but the adressing has changed, making those systems incompatible with eachother. There have been a lot of ports/conversions of 5200 games for the XL/XE system though. Even the 400/800 are not fully compatible with the XL/XE range. XL/XE has only 2 controller ports and uses a bankswitching technique.
Alphasys 1 year ago
Sorry, but mine was sold with 4kb RAM. I got it in August 1979.
mthai66 1 year ago
This has been flagged as spam show
thats sick
You Are Amesome!!!!!!
Dmcygan 1 year ago
kinda funny that 48 kb was a lot of ram back then, especially considering the computer i'm watching this vid on has 4 gb XD. but great review.
HylianMailMan 1 year ago
Just picked up an 800, 1050, and tape drive off ebay. Looking forward to gaming memories. I have a question...is there any way to trade,swap, share disk games now?
helipilot27 1 year ago
@helipilot27 If I may suggest something... Try to search for SIO2PC and/or APE on the web. This gadget turns your PC into multiple diskdrives for the atari with a bit of software. It will enable you to use disk images in ATR format, which can be downloaded freely from the web in a myriad of places. Ofcourse you'll also be able to copy those to real disks then.
Alphasys 1 year ago
Amused that you said how it reminded you of a Commodore 64 keyboard when the Atari 800 pre-dated the 64 by a few years! In other words, the C64 keyboard should remind you of the Atari 800 keyboard! lulz...
Ogma01 1 year ago
Hi Gamester. Great video. Your purchase was a total bargain!!
I too have a Trakball and mine has its box in perfect condition and still sealed!!
Also have my 130XE sat beside me which i still play. Grew up with Atari as a kid and just can't beat it.
djmat56 1 year ago
The Atari 8-bit is awsome. They're my most favorite retro systems.
RPKGameVids 1 year ago
This computer uses what OS?
eduds6 1 year ago
@eduds6 The 400/800 uses a rom-based operating system, known as Rev A or Rev B among aficionado's. Rev A was slightly buggy, so later models all came with a Rev B chip installed. Most 400's will have Rev A in there though, since that was discontinued soon, after the ram chips became cheap, and people demanded more memory for their applications. As for Disk Operating Systems, Atari actually made several versions, called DOS 1, 2, 3 and 2.5 (in chronological order). Most commonly used is Dos 2.5.
Alphasys 1 year ago
I had an atari 800 with a Percom Data Disk drive. My favorite games were Blue Max and Choplifter nice memories!
cyberzonie 1 year ago
One of my first computers was an Atari 400 and I upgraded the membrane keyboard with an aftermarket 'real' keyboard that replaced it. I also upgraded the memory to 64k following a soldering how-to article in ANALOG magazine. I had some great games like Ball Blazer, Behind Jaggi Lines, Archon and MULE. I had a direct connect 300 and then 1200 baud modem and an amazing Indus GT disk drive so I didn't have to wait forever to load a game by cassette. Nice Job! Great memories!
CareyHolzman 1 year ago
very very very good video
50$ 4 all that you are lucky
i am faving and subing
very very good
keep it up!
113dsc 1 year ago
I just posted a vid on the Atari 800
I found a link fore owners manuals in PDF and another showing monitor pin-outs to mod for composite video its easy to do and it works great no extra circuit boards needed
just as easy as the Sega genesis
WARPUDDY666 1 year ago
that connector on the 800 looked like a DIN connector.
if it is that should work on a TV.
i use a DIN to SCART cable for my model 1 megadrive as its the only way to get a colour picture when playing a game in 60hz on a modded PAL console
OhNoNotMyPenis 1 year ago
The system being presented to you by my homie Gamester81 is currently being desiplayed in prestine condition inside San Diego State University's library entrance. It may look primative now, but back then....IT WAS THE SHIZZZZNIT!!!
maxsterling619 1 year ago
I like membrane keyboard better
MixerVM 1 year ago
i love my atari 400, its so tough and graphically superior to the 2600. Pacman, for example, doesnt suck.
Myriagonvaltorix 1 year ago
Both the 400 and 800 weren't actually released until the fall of 1979. They were both announced in late 1978 and first shown in January 1979, but weren't actually available until around November 1979.
ApolloBoy 1 year ago
wow the 2600 port pacman looks like hes having a siezure
2ooPnYz 1 year ago
Hello live in Arizona and I would buy those from you for $100
mrb1272 1 year ago
great review I had one of the atari 400s when i was about 9 yrs old this really took me back.
creamywhip 1 year ago
Classic,Atari Was Cool In Many Ways.
daddyjankie 1 year ago
Love your review - thanks heaps
jimmyclerk 1 year ago
LOVE the Atari 400. Fond memories of loading "Ghost Encounters" on cassette and playing in the dark as a kid. My 400 doesn't work anymore but I bought an 800xl and got the SIO card to connect to my unix box and load .atr files. Playing yoomp! (new homebrew title) and star raiders on 52" is so fun
sonick808 1 year ago
Haha 8kb of ram? Funny how I run 8GB of ram nowadays :P
larlar752000 1 year ago
i like beer and i don't smoke!
marcusnns 1 year ago
Sweet video john and i really enjoyed hearing about those systems, i quite fancy the atari 800, plus that was an amazing find at the games store, nothing better than playing some old school games on floppy disks.
Chipsturs 1 year ago
I envy you SO MUCH!!!
MrGoomba909 1 year ago
what a great review mate....I love the ol' computers as I see them for what they were way back then..Bloody amazing...Cheers geezer...
loco6607 1 year ago
win lines from google auto caption thing:
I was arrested for wednesday to press its thats a lie
ill stick with a look at President Clinton's the day that the huge why
i doupt very much if he had a great deal and with the Clintons here
and at the head of the religious beliefs as a kind of a the top ally in computers at that
qqw52 1 year ago
I have old 400 games from donkey kong to word processing
ProjectReality64 1 year ago
1:34 Lower right corner of screen, second from the right, bottom row of keys... I wish I had one of those "Atari symbol" keys!
nightmathzombieethan 1 year ago
Just a side note, those trackballs work awesome for playing Decathlon on the 2600.
estufadeldolor 1 year ago
Nice, I saw an 800 in a pawn shop, should have bought it!!
ElectricIndica420 1 year ago
Great review John!! Never heard of these systems until you showed it here! Wow for 50 bux.. it's a big steal!! I'd like to pop in some of those 5.25 floppies and play some cool retro computer games again!! I had an 8088 system back in the day.. learn alot of stuff from that fine machine..
PhatPhunk 1 year ago
I go to Bookman's all the time. You have to be there at the right time and be quick, because the good stuff just flies off the shelves.
bb1televator 1 year ago
Damn YOU! Nice pickup on these classic Atari 8-bit computers, games and accessories! There is a guy on my local Craigslist selling an Atari 400 with some good games but for some reason he isn't replying to my emails! I really want to get my hands on that. Even more now that I've seen this! Thanks a lot! No seriously great video of course! Pac man looks a million times better on this than it does the 2600! Man. Now I REALLY want that 400!
MN12BIRD 1 year ago
I have an Atari 400 .. it doesn't work. son of a bitch.
DiabolusExMakina 1 year ago
I Seen someone smash a atari 400 on youtube berfore. have you seen that video?
rescuehero942 1 year ago
oh didnt knew that,
oh well its just a funny media to put games on, what if you could get games on an LP that would be something.
EvilPoet85 1 year ago
Hey gamester - great review of these systems, I could have watched that all day - really like the vintage computer reviews :)
keep up the good work - oh and why did you change the title of the video?
gamesessions 1 year ago
@gamesessions Hey thanks so much for watching. Hmm I don't think I did change the title. What was it before? I try to keep it private until the quality improves on the video, but for some reason since I'm a partner it won't let me do that automatically any more. Which kinda sucks.
Gamester81 1 year ago
@Gamester81 It was "atari 8 bit" according to my email - so in retrospect, the new title is much better - lol! Hope you do an Amiga review some time - I grew up with that computer :)
gamesessions 1 year ago
@Gamester81 i got ibm ps2 selling only for $20 for more information call me on skype joeyyusay@yahoo.com by the way i love your reviews keep up the good work
joeyanthony123456789 10 months ago
@Gamester81 i got ibm ps2 1992 selling only for $20 for more information call me on skype joeyyusay@yahoo.com by the way i love your reviews keep up the good work
joeyanthony123456789 10 months ago
@Gamester81 hey gamester81 loved your review i got 1992 ibm ps2 im selling it for $20 complete set for more information call me om skype joeyyusay@yahoo.com
joeyanthony123456789 10 months ago
Holy shit! You thought we'd think $50 was a lot for all THAT?!?!? What a find man. Congratulations on that one! I'm very jealous. Does that disk drive work for the 400? or what's that for? I've never seen one of those.
DlNKYDANA 1 year ago
@DlNKYDANA Yeah the floppy drive does work on the 400 computer too. Do you have that computer?
Gamester81 1 year ago
@Gamester81 Yeah, the Atari 400 is actually the first computer I think I played. Either that or the C64. I just recently picked on up again 2 weeks ago at the flea market so now I can play it again. Never had that disk drive though.
DlNKYDANA 1 year ago
would you be interested in selling one of the Atari Track balls? Or working out a trade ?
wingnut4427 1 year ago
@wingnut4427 Sure send me a PM. Thanks.
Gamester81 1 year ago
were they originally this yellowish color or beige? i wonder if the plastic aged in color like the super nes system decks
scir91 1 year ago
@scir91 I believe they were originally this color, though you're right some systems change over time. One of my SNES is all discolored now. lol
Gamester81 1 year ago
did you say they we're sold up until 1992 or 82? @ the 0:40 mark.
wingnut4427 1 year ago
@wingnut4427 Sold up to 1992, though with the XE models not these same ones.
Gamester81 1 year ago
@Gamester81 WOW !! I didn't know that ! 0_o
wingnut4427 1 year ago
I have both a Atari 800XL and Atari XEGS systems and i love them! I always tell people to just skip over the 5200 and go for one of the Atari 8-Bit computers....You can get all the games you can get on the 5200 plus more and you can use both 2600 and Sega Genesis controllers which are much better than those 5200 ones.
jboypacman 1 year ago
Wow, that Pac-Man game looks almost identical to the arcade version. Having that system would have been the shit back in the day.
Nedspodos 1 year ago
How in the world did you explain what is Pac Man?
aragorn85katamail 1 year ago
what is the point of the keyboard???
ZwienerZ 1 year ago
@ZwienerZ The keyboard is used for programs and software applications. There was a printer that was sold for these computers, and it ran of a MOS system.
Gamester81 1 year ago
50 buck for a "not bad" deal, Thats a fucking awesome deal!
Ultimaflims 1 year ago
good deal ya got there
ArcadeReviews 1 year ago
where can i buy those system
Carlos2006ful 1 year ago
@Carlos2006ful hmm Goodwill, or try ebay. =)
Gamester81 1 year ago
I don't know what the hidden game is but it's on the windowsill.
DrStrongBad 1 year ago
@DrStrongBad Yeah I was wondering if people could see it. It's actually King of Fighters 2000 for the Japanese DC.
Gamester81 1 year ago
I have an 800, got it, the floppy disk drive and a bunch of games for free. :3. Quite a deal I say.
PsychoKittyNet 1 year ago
@PsychoKittyNet Can't be free. Awesome find.
Gamester81 1 year ago
@Gamester81 It was a great find, probably my best yet lol.
PsychoKittyNet 1 year ago
theres is an Atari button, funny. Hey I remember the Commodore and Amiga home computers had games on cassete tapes, do you own any of those?
EvilPoet85 1 year ago
@EvilPoet85
The Amiga never used cassette tapes.
laffer35 1 year ago
@laffer35
I believe your right, atari did though... even the 2600 had a few cassette games.
MrDebauch 1 year ago
@MrDebauch Albeit, unofficial though.
Dant2142 1 year ago
@Dant2142 you know what? I am commenting here and I didn't even watch the video. for the past day it is always saying "error" try again later... still not working. O.o
About the cassette games.. I dont know anyone personally who actually owns any cassettes, only the deck/cart if memory serves me right... strange.
MrDebauch 1 year ago
@MrDebauch I was referring to the 2600 cassette games, The adapter necessary to use them was a third-party cart that came around the very end of the 2600's life, all of the games were unofficial although there were re-ports of Frogger and Space Invaders that had better graphics and sound thanks to the extra 6K of ram on the adapter itself.
Dant2142 1 year ago
Robman world FTW
MrMMO97 1 year ago
Really good review John.
lotsofgames 1 year ago
you got a great deal on that lot
and your lucky to get games with them, they seem to be pretty close to arcade quality on them even the Atari 400
just wish I had some for my 800 it's the only one I got working
but got more junk shops and thrift shops opening up here in Hell-Kingman AZ so I might get lucky
keep up with the great vids
WARPUDDY666 1 year ago
This is a great review!!
DesolateMinds 1 year ago
Now that is a great haul! That's awesome that you went back and they were willing to sell it to you.
KevinLieber 1 year ago
We had an 800.
schizrade 1 year ago
nice pick up bro.
gateway123456778900 1 year ago
LOL! I remember when owning a C64 in childhood, in Europe neighborhoods always were divided betwen C64 and Atari owners. There was always an honest hatered between them back then as well - it was quite silly but nevertheless it's an interesting part of the past that I like to call - 8bit wars. ^__^
kad3t 1 year ago 8
@kad3t That's a great story bro. I think the C64 is probably my favorite vintage computer, though I grew up on the Apple II computers both at home and in school.
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