My work-space in 1983.....
The Atari800xl
The Atari 800XL was the third version of the Atari 8-bit line of
computers introduced in 1983. The system contained a full 64K of
memory, had all the standard VLSI chips (Antic, GTIA, Pokey, PIA)
and was in a smaller and more compact design. The keyboard was
good, not as good as the 1200XL keyboard, but it had a solid feel
to it. The cartridge port had been move to the top center of the
system and used special metal spring loaded doors to allow the
insertion and removal of ROM cartridges. This system of spring
loaded doors also kept dirt and objects from falling into the
cartridge slot when it was not occupied. Overall the system is
basically a cost reduced Atari 800 with a fuzzier picture. The
system came with built-in diagnostics and a HELP key. The OS
was still slightly incompatible with many original Atari 400/800
software titles, but Atari began to distribute a "Translator" disk
which would load up a 400/800 compatible OS into memory so that the
800XL could support those programs.
The system also included built-in Atari BASIC programming language
which could be disabled by holding down the OPTION key on boot-up.
The other new feature of the 800XL was the new high speed Parallel
Bus Interface (PBI) which would allow the 800XL to connect to the
Atari 1090: XL Expansion System which was an expansion box with 5
slots in it for an assortment of expansion cards.
~ZENassem
