Atari 8-bit
Atari 8-bit | |
Released: | 1979-11-?? |
Discontinued: | 1992-01-01 |
Developer: | Atari |
Type: | Hardware |
The Atari 8-bit computer is a family of 8-bit computers developed and sold by Atari. The line began in 1979 with the simultaneous release of the 400 and 800. The 400 had weaker specs and was sold as a gaming computer while the more powerful 800 was marketed as an office computer. Later models followed including the XL series and XE series. Although each new computer was an update to the previous, software for the computers is mostly backward-compatible and the vast majority of the software library will work on the Atari 400.
Contents
Models
The Atari 8-bit series released several models.
Release Date | Model | Picture | Description |
---|---|---|---|
1979-11-?? | 400 | Used a membrane keyboard and had one cartridge slot. | |
1979-11-?? | 800 | Used a mechanical keyboard and had two cartridge slots. | |
1983-??-?? | 1200XL | ||
1983-??-?? | 600XL | ||
1983-??-?? | 800XL | ||
1985-10-?? | 65XE | ||
1985-??-?? | 130XE | ||
1987-??-?? | XEGS | A fully compatible videogame console based on the 65XE. |
Games
In the 12 years the 8-bit family was in production, over a thousand games were released for the platform.
Music and Sound
Each of the Atari 8-bit computers had an on-board C012294 chip, known as the POKEY (Pot Keyboard). This chip handled the computers I/O including the keyboard and paddle controllers, but also housed the computer's audio processing unit (APU). The POKEY featured 4 square wave channels, each could produce and independent frequency, volume, and noise level.
Links
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari_8-bit_family - Wikipedia.
- mobygames.com/browse/games/atari-8-bit - Moby Games.