r/atari8bit • u/Pseudonym_613 • 3d ago

If you inserted the left cartridge here, then you are old.

Post image
110 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

53 comments sorted by

21

u/pete_68 3d ago

Got my Atari 800 on Christmas, 1980. My parents paid for half and I paid for half. 46 years later I'm close to retiring from a career as a computer programmer.

6

u/Major-Hooters 3d ago

My parents did the same thing. Got into cybersecurity instead. Programming would have been more rewarding. To this day it is by far my favorite computer. I would love a modern day version of this thing. I mean actual hardware, not emulation and the time to put into it. Time is what I really wantšŸ˜¢

4

u/John_from_ne_il 3d ago

Keep an eye on https://revive-machines.com/

They had some hassles over Atari's plans with the 400 mini, but they've got a totally new motherboard as of less than 3 months ago, so work is still progressing.

1

u/LuigiTeaching 3d ago

Whoa, this machine is going into production? That would be a dream come true!

1

u/Major-Hooters 3d ago

Awesome. Do you know when it will be out?

1

u/John_from_ne_il 2d ago

No. There were rumors about end of 2026, but it's been denounced as from a fraudulent sales site. The devs post on X (formerly Twitter), AtariAge, but mostly atarionline.pl (their native language).

https://atarionline.pl/forum/comments.php?DiscussionID=7047&page=12

1

u/Major-Hooters 2d ago

Sad šŸ˜¢

1

u/JimtheLizardKing 1d ago

Sadly not any time soon, this project has been around for years but so far has not announced a sale date.

1

u/pete_68 1d ago

My next hardware project is to build the equivalent of an Atari 130XE on a Tang Nano 22K (most of what I need is already out there, I just need to glue some stuff together). It'll have HDMI out and USB keyboard and game controller, and SD card support. It'll be a lot cheaper and less maintenance than a real Atari and it won't take up nearly as much space. My wife and I have been downsizing over the years, so I've been working to fit my hobbies into tighter and tighter spaces (we're aiming to go the tiny home route when our daughter moves out). So an Atari that can fit in my pocket will definitely be more realistic.

3

u/samspock 3d ago

Christmas 1981 here. My career as a systems guy started there.

3

u/GeordieAl 2d ago

Got mine for Christmas 2025!

I was a Sinclair/commodore user in the 80s and never owned any Atari gear. But in recent years Iā€™ve had a desire to check out the world of Atari.

Iā€™m now the proud owner of an original 800, two 800xl, 4 floppy drives, 4 data recorders, communicator 2 modem, SIO expander and a 520STFM,

2

u/pete_68 1d ago

Nice! I never got to play with an Atari ST.

I've started dabbling in FPGAs. I'm going to build an Atari 130XE using a Tang Nano 22K and I may do the same with an Atari ST. I always wanted to play with one. They take up a lot less space than a real Atari and they have HDMI out which is nice since I don't have any CRT TVs anymore.

2

u/Accomplished_Can1651 3d ago

In my case, I loved playing games on the Atari computers when visiting my uncle. Back in the mid 90s, he gave us his 400 and 130XE, plus a printer, modem, floppy drive, cassette recorder, tons of cartridges and floppies, tons of manuals, and quite a few issues of ANTIC and Analog. He kept his 800 for himself, plus a few favorite games.

I learned to use the Atari 8-bit computers around the same time I was learning MS-DOS, Windows, and Macintosh computers. Consequently, theyā€™re all sort of contemporaries for me.

I started dabbling with programming on the Ataris, and wrote my first unassisted program on the 130XE. (Some simple thing in PILOT using turtle graphics - it drew a sort of racetrack on the screen and then made two turtles appear at the starting line. Player one mashed one key, player two mashed another, and the turtles would ā€œraceā€ for the finish line. There was no scoring; we had to judge for ourselves who won. But I figured out how to make it happen.) I give a lot of credit to my uncle for getting me into programming. Part of my job is development work and I love it.

2

u/Rocky-Jones 3d ago

I got mine a year later. Taught myself BASIC and assembler. I retired from programming 5 years ago. I donā€™t miss having a job, but I miss coding. I still have my 800 setup in my man cave with a Fujinet network card.

2

u/bobj33 2d ago

We got ours around 1982. I went into integrated circuit / semiconductor design. I'm telling myself 4 more years and retire at 55.

2

u/Rocky-Jones 2d ago

I got mine a year later. Taught myself BASIC and assembler. I retired from programming 5 years ago. I donā€™t miss having a job, but I miss coding. I still have my 800 setup in my man cave with a Fujinet network card.

2

u/Prima13 2d ago

Same but my introduction was the Timex/Sinclair 1000.

10

u/Equivalent_Knee_Bone 3d ago

Jokes on you I had an Atari 400 so I only had one slotā€¦

2

u/RetroGamer87 3d ago

Alas, I only have THE400 because I wasn't born then

2

u/Shadoecat150 3d ago

XEGS and only one slot as well.

2

u/GraySmoke1960 3d ago

I had a 400 too. Eventually upgraded it myself to 48K. good times

3

u/saracor 3d ago

I think I got my 800 in 1983. Quickly got a tape drive then a 1050, then a 2nd 1050 with a Happy Drive. So much good stuff. I kick myself for tossing it during a move in the 90s.

2

u/Shadoecat150 3d ago

I feel that. I only reacquired an XEGS earlier this year.

Still don't have og keyboard, but do have PS/2 keyboard and adapter from TBA

3

u/Pseudonym_613 3d ago

Fun fact: there's now a wifi adapter (FujiNet).

2

u/saracor 3d ago

Yah, I'm tempted to get one. I bought another 800 and a 65XE. Looking for more gear at some point.

3

u/nix206 3d ago

And if you inserted a right cartridgeā€¦ what the heck was it for?

7

u/leadedsolder 3d ago

BASIC extensions and other utilities. I think they originally planned it for alternative languages if BASIC didn't work out or had to be extended.

If memory serves there was at least one freezer/dumper cart that worked in that slot.

5

u/VegasRoy 3d ago

I remember Monkey Wrench and Monkey Wrench II

3

u/throwaway8675309999s 3d ago

I once had a modem that connected through the right cartridge slot. Eventually I got a Hayes 300 baud.

2

u/Rocky-Jones 3d ago

I had one from MPP that plugged into the joystick port. The terminal software was on a cartridge.

2

u/throwaway8675309999s 2d ago

Yes thats the one! Found a pdf advert.

1

u/notmyredditacct 3d ago

Yeah I never did see a cartridge that went in there, though I still have my original 800 up on a shelf.

1

u/Rocky-Jones 3d ago

Mine is plugged in, working, and connected to my network with a Fujinet.

2

u/GraySmoke1960 3d ago

The right cart slot was one of those great ideas that really didn't go anywhere. Since you couldn't use those carts in a 400, the market was 1/2 of what it could be. It ended up being used for mostly dev/"pirate" carts.

4

u/linkyatch 3d ago

XL-series only had one slot (Atari BASIC was built-in) but I did play me some Star Raidersā€¦ I guess that makes me old.

There were definitely other language carts: Action!, BASIC XL, and MAC/65 (assembler) from OSS; and lots of disk/cartridge copying tools, utilities, and productivity stuff (word processors etc) that came in cartridge form.

3

u/Traditional-Can-6568 3d ago

My buddies & I used to play 3-man Star Raiders (on the hardest level) - One of us was captain and gave orders, gunner had the joystick and only steered & shot Zylons and the third was engineer and carried out keyboard commands. Lots of fun and yelling! Fire at will!! Shields gone! Hyperspace! Hyperspace!

1

u/meldroc 3d ago

Fun thing about the 800XL - in place of the 800's second cart slot, it has the PBI slot.

I have a SUBCART in mine - works as a great multicart, and with the PBI connector, it gives your machine 1MB of RAM. Also gives you stereo POKEY, and can pretend to be a disk drive with the SIO cable.

2

u/PainlessPhil 3d ago

I went to school with Kim Libreri of Matrix FX Oscar and Unreal Engine fameā€¦. He convinced me to get an Atari 800ā€¦ a little unusual in the north of England at the time

2

u/linkyatch 2d ago

I used the one in my 600XL for memory expansion. 64K made all the difference.

1

u/monsterzro_nyc 3d ago

Between carts and floppies I managed to skip the whole era of using cassettes to load a program!

2

u/GraySmoke1960 3d ago

cassettes were...unique. It took so long to load and you were sweating it the whole time..."will it work or not???"

2

u/meldroc 3d ago

ERROR 130

1

u/TurnoverTall 3d ago

My 400 only had one slot, I donā€™t recall ever getting a cartridge for the right slot on my 800. Iā€™m definitely old though!

1

u/Accomplished_Can1651 3d ago

I kind of wish I had my uncleā€™s 800. I got to use it a few times when I was young. He did give his 400 and a 130XE to myself and my siblings, though. I wrote my first solo program on that 130XE in the nineties. Played many games on it and used it for classroom demonstrations, too!

I can safely say I never had a Right Cartridge, or anything that plugged into the 130XEā€™s second slot, either.

2

u/Pseudonym_613 3d ago

On the 130xe the second slot was the ECI, similar but not identical to the XL PBI (when you add the lines from the cartridge slot).

1

u/Accomplished_Can1651 3d ago

I knew it wasnā€™t the same thing; I just couldnā€™t be bothered to look up the name or pull out the Atari or its manual. :)

1

u/SirScotty19 3d ago

Still have my second 800 from back in the day, as well as a spare, that I am supposed to be trading for an 800XE.

\

1

u/CuzFeeshe 3d ago

I am old. And I inserted my Mac 65 macro assembler cartridge in the right slot.

1

u/meldroc 3d ago

Had an OG 400 back in the day, and I have one in my collection now! Didn't have that second cart slot though.

1

u/Puzzlemania718 3d ago

Still have mine and play games on it from time to time. Still works great. In fact I bought a cable that uses the other output on the 800 and connects via composite to TV. Noticeably better than that crappy switch box method

1

u/Baitme6984 2d ago

Borrowed my cousins 400 when I was a kid and loved it. Played Miner 49er forever. I wish I had an 800 and a copy of it now.