Atari 800XL
Home Computer
My first home computer was one of these excellent machines. Although technically very similar to its predecessor the 800, the 800XL was a much better overall package. The computer was completely re-engineered to make a lightweight, sleek looking machine. The design for home computers was becoming standardised, and the 800 already looked dated in 1982 when the 1200XL appeared on the scene. The 800XL took the 1200XL “look” and combined it with the specification of the 800.
The 800XL used the operating system developed for the 1200XL. You can see this for yourself by running the self-test routine- on the keyboard test you can see that there are function keys that are not present on an 800XL: these are the programmable function keys from the 1200XL. The self-test routines themselves are a new feature for the XL series. For the first time the BASIC programming language was built in, this being Atari BASIC Rev. B. Like the 1200XL, the 800XL also featured an alternative international character set.
NOTE: The compatibility problems found with the 1200XL OS meant that it had to be revised before being implemented in the 800XL.
One of the most exciting new features was the “Parallel bus” interface on the back of the machine. This gave access to the very heart of the computer, and had great potential for adding external hardware to the system. However, the number of devices produced to take advantage of the interface was very low.
The 800XL had 64K of RAM, and combining this with the other technical improvements such as improved sound capability and improved monitor output, the computer represented very good value for money.
The keyboard was responsive and quiet- unlike the noisy 800 keyboard, and the machine in general had the “feel” of quality. Some features of the 800 were dropped from the 800XL. The 800XL only had 2 controller ports where the 800 had 4, and the internal speaker which produced the keyboard “click” and loading noise were removed altogether from the 800XL, these noises now coming from you monitor speaker.
Like its predecessor, the 800XL also had fairly high power requirements. The 800 was supplied by a hefty 9V AC power supply, and had power regulation “under the cover”. In the 800XL, “the brick” supplied power- a monster sized power pack which became the standard for all subsequent Atari 8-bit computers. One advantage of having “the brick” was that there was no need for power regulation inside the computer itself, “the brick” supplied all the power at all the voltages required, eliminating the need for the heavy internal power regulation components.
There were a few compatibility problems with software written for the 800 being used on the 800XL. The new operating system designed for the XL series was not 100% compatible with the old 800 OS, so to enable these programs to be used clever programmers came up with the “XL fixer” (sometimes called the “alpha translator”). This was an OS patch that made the new OS act like the old. This let the old programs run on the new machines. Mostly.
A whole range of new peripherals was released to compliment the XL series. The most important was the 1050 disk drive, a single sided 5 ¼” drive which became the stalwart storage medium for the Atari 8-bit computers for the next ten years. Less well received was the 1010 program recorder, which was extremely unreliable and had the disadvantage of its keys continually breaking. Other popular add-ons were the 1020 pen plotter, 1027 letter quality printer, and 1029 dot matrix printer. Other devices included the “Touch Tablet”, an early graphics tablet and the “Trak Ball”, a controller that suited games like Missile Command and was the forerunner of the mouse.
The 800XL became the best selling of all the Atari 8-bit computers. It had better features than the earlier 800 model, and machines produced later were basically revisions of THIS design.
Atari never had the same market share as Commodore or Sinclair, but they never came closer than when the 800XL was in its heyday.