• Please review our updated Terms and Rules here

Added an Atari 400

T

tezza

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 1, 2007
Messages
4,731
Location
New Zealand
Hi,

I managed to score a working Atari 400 today. This one popped up from a national e-waste collection day. The organisers keep back from the crusher any which seem to have "vintage value" and put them on our national auction site. I had to beat off some competion but won it in the end.

08-10-20-atari-400-cleaned-up.jpg


It's a lovely machine, and a true classic.

As with all my working models, I've written a short piece on it, for my website.

Tez
 
Nice! Again you have a typo in your text, the Atari VCS was later renamed 2600, not 2006. :-D

Great that the recyclers (?) saves some old electronics and dare to auction it. Over here, one of the reasons why recycled electronics generally are not considered for resale or donation (sometimes not even in the charity shops) is that they can't determine if it is (1) electrically safe and (2) still working. Obviously the first prequisite is the strongest, nobody officially would risk to sell or donate goods that may cause a fire if you plug it in.
 
Lol, trust you to keep me accurate Carlsson :)

Yes, I think it's great they save and auction off the very old gear. They have "spotters" at the various collection centres that look for gear that is considered "collectable". If a spotter sees one, it will be put aside. Once the day is over, these are recorded, a photo taken, and one person nominated to put them all on our Trademe site, with a photo, description of the physical condition, and where exactly they are in the county. They all say "untested" so people know the risk.

The organisers will ship units to winners if they live in a different part of the country (Thankfully this atari was in my home town.) The amount of money collected goes towards paying for the e-day collection and processing.

They don't tend to auction off more recent vintage computers with hard drives, probably due to the privacy issue. It's really just the classic models that are "spotted". When I was collecting this one I saw a Dick Smith System 80 Mk II sitting next to it. It had gone for about $200 ($130 US) and was awaiting collection by its new owner.

Tez
 
I had an Atari 400 way back when they first came out (1978 I think), they were a nice looking machine but were awful to type on, with that tacky 'plip' noise every time you pressed a key on that membrane keyboard. The 800XL was a far better machine all round. Software for the 400 was pretty scarce and finding cartridges for them was a nightmare; I was glad to see the back of it and got a C64 instead.
 
Tez, - Excellent on the acquisition of the Atari 400! Looks good, but maybe a tad yellowish. Perhaps the case is a candidate for the OXY bath, it's awesome just like it is though :)

I've never owed one, but always wanted one. Easy to get here in the U.S. as they are nowhere as near as popular as the Atari 800. The keyboard, or lack thereof, turns people off. But then, even though I'm a 'keyboard' person, I find that particular keyboard desirable, just because it's different. To me the Atari 400 represents a transition in the evolution of computers. It wasn't so much Atari's way of making the machine cheaper, because the rest of it is built like a tank - even has 4 joy ports, it seems it was more or less a way of being different, so to speak.
That brings up a funny thought. I can't imagine trying to tell my wife I had bought this machine because it represents, to me, a transition in the evolution of computers! In fact, like probably many VCF members, I've pretty much run out of reasons/excuses why I simply must add this or that vintage computer to my collection :)
This forum is like the embers that kindle the fire in us all to fully enjoy our hobby - - Oops! I'm getting 'out there' now - I'd better move along.
Anyway, getting back to the Atari 400. I use to see ads for them and all I knew was that I wanted one. I already owned a TRS-80 model 1, but even back then I wanted to have 'all' the different computers to play with. Besides Atari had color! Oh, we had an Atari 2600 and 20 carts I had bought for my two boys to play, but I was only into computers. Combining the computer world of BASIC programming along with color gaming seemed a neat way to go. Since I certainly couldn't afford more than one computer 'and accessories', back in the late 70's, early 80's, I had to content myself with buying just a book; this one -

picture.php


I read this book and longed for an Atari - but kept using my TRS-80. What else could I do? The book, of course, is long gone, and I never bought any Atari computer on through the decades to follow. Now, here in the 2000's, I'm buying those old Atari machines. I have an Atari 600XL, an Atari 800XL, the 1050 disk drive and lots of books and magazines. I have original Atari 2600 joysticks and I even bought that book in the picture above, 'again'.
Nostalgia is a like a creeping vine, and I do get entangled :)
 
Vint said:
I've never owed one, but always wanted one. Easy to get here in the U.S. as they are nowhere as near as popular as the Atari 800. The keyboard, or lack thereof, turns people off. But then, even though I'm a 'keyboard' person, I find that particular keyboard desirable, just because it's different. To me the Atari 400 represents a transition in the evolution of computers. It wasn't so much Atari's way of making the machine cheaper, because the rest of it is built like a tank - even has 4 joy ports, it seems it was more or less a way of being different, so to speak.
Click to expand...

More likely the keyboard is in keeping with the tank-like design strategy. No cheap plastic or moving parts to bust, dust-proof, spill-proof, etc. A quality membrane board does have it's place in the world, even if it's not ideal for word processing, etc. For those who needed a good board for typing on, third-party mechanical replacements were available.

--T
 
carlsson said:
Btw, do you list the computers in the heading in chronological order rather than by brand?
Click to expand...

They are "roughly" in the order of release moving from left to right and top to bottom. I say roughly as I haven't been too pedantic on this. For example as far as I'm aware the TRS-80 M1 came out before the OS Challenger 1P but the unit I have is a later one, as seen from the inclusion of a numeric keypad...so I've put it after the OS 1P.

Tez
 
The spill-proof aspect of the Atari 400 computer keyboard was a good selling point for the Atari 400, although obviously not the primary one. When you have young kids (or clumsy adults) around a computer, the benefits become obvious when you tip over that can of soda pop where its contents go all over your computer keyboard.

Me personally I am a bit of a klutz. An Atari 400 makes plenty of sense to me ... not to mention being able to kill some time playing a few games of "Star Raiders" ;)
 
Terry Yager said:
More likely the keyboard is in keeping with the tank-like design strategy. No cheap plastic or moving parts to bust, dust-proof, spill-proof, etc. A quality membrane board does have it's place in the world, even if it's not ideal for word processing, etc. For those who needed a good board for typing on, third-party mechanical replacements were available.

--T
Click to expand...

Yes. I'm usually the first to slag off less-than-adequate keyboards but not this one. The 400 was always intended to be a plug-and-play arcade games machine the kids could knock around, but perhaps learn a bit of BASIC on too. If you wanted an Atari Micro for serious use, you bought the 800.

What I do distain is the way some companies had trumpeted their micros as for "professional use", but had cut costs with crappy keyboards (the QL comes to mind). Excluding machines like the Atari 400 (most would just plug in a cartridge and joystick and go), the keyboard is the main way a user will interface with a micro. It's got to feel good.

This membrane keyboard amazes me with it's resilence. Given my experiences (and from what I'd read) about other membrane keyboards (e.g. Sinclair), my expectations were low.

This Atari 400 really is built like a tank.

Tez
 
Just for a reference point, here are the two types of Atari 400 keyboards.

picture.php


I know I'd be torn between function and authenticity here so I'll need to consider 'someday' in having both of these versions in my collection.
 
Yes the 400 with the membrane keyboard, was Atari's, and the mod to a 'keys' keyboard was 3rd party. Sorry, I never thought to mention that.
 
Vint said:
I know I'd be torn between function and authenticity here so I'll need to consider 'someday' in having both of these versions in my collection.
Click to expand...

Yes. Personally even if 3rd party mods make life a little easier, I'll always go with authenticity as far as vintage computers are concerned :)
 
carlsson said:
.. says he who owns a C64C with a brown keyboard :p
But why not have one of both if you have the space?
Click to expand...

...that's because it was given to me and authentic or not, I usually say yes :). Also I didn't know white was the authentic colour.

Actually I have a old brown breadbox one for parts with a white keyboard?? Looks like someone might have made that swap in reverse. Maybe I'll put that in the C64C at some stage as it probably belongs with that model.

But if you have room, sure collect whatever interests you.

Tez
 
Vint said:
Just for a reference point, here are the two types of Atari 400 keyboards.
Click to expand...

Just out of interest, were those keyboard mods common in the U.S. Vint? I guess they were of interest to people who wanted to upgrade, but didn't want to ditch the 400 and buy a new 800?

Tez
 
Not to stray too far off topic, but quite some time ago I swapped out one of my keyboards for the TI-99/4A that I primarily use - I didn't care for the feel of the keyboard for the "classic" black/silver model, so I swapped out one of the keyboards from the newer beige model because the feel of the keyboard is much better. Cosmetically it doesn't look as good, but the original classic TI-99/4A doesn't have the software lockout on certain cartridges that certain beige models had.
 
tezza said:
Just out of interest, were those keyboard mods common in the U.S. Vint? I guess they were of interest to people who wanted to upgrade, but didn't want to ditch the 400 and buy a new 800?
Tez
Click to expand...

I'm not sure whereabouts the keys type keyboard became available for the 400. I first noticed them watching eBay Atari auctions the past couple of years. Every once in a while one would pop up with the keys keyboard. They always seemed to bring a better price than the standard 400's.
I believe that's exactly right, Tez, 'upgrade rather than buy the 800'. I think many a time this is the case.
After I bought a Commodore 64 in 1984, I was, so to speak, stuck with it. I would dearly have loved to have half a dozen different computers to play around with but who could afford that back then. So I would modify. When the new style C64C model came out to replace the VIC-20 style original C64 case, I found a company that sold just the new C64C case and I pulled out the guts of my trusty C64 and stuck them in the newer style case with nicer keyboard. I dug out an old - 'somewhere in the late 80's picture of my modded Commodore.

picture.php

Here I had an old C64, with new style case. Two 1541 drives. I think that was a 1702 Commodore monitor, but not sure now. Memory is failing me. Also I think that printer in the picture is a MPS1200 or 1250, something like that. The old dot matrix tractor feed type. I was running GEOS, hence the cool Commodore mouse on the table there. I got very 'into' GEOS back then and had a lot of money in GEOS software.
I have and can still run GEOS today, 20 years later, on my newly acquired C-128 vintage machine, which pleases me to no end :)
Sorry, I got so 'off-track' here. I get nostalgic now and then.
I do agree with you though, in the collecting - if given authentic vs. updated, authentic comes first.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top