daryl@ihlpe.ATT.COM (Daryl Monge) (05/05/87)
I wanted to share some of my thoughts on where the 8 vs 16 bit atari machines is going. I have owned an atari 8 bit machine since 1980 and have loved every minute of it. I am now at a crossroads, however, in upgrading. As background, I have an 130XE, 810 drive, monitor, and an MX80 printer. Consider the following data (near best price from magazines): Upgrading the XE: ATARI ST (new): SpartaDOS 3.2 $40 1040ST/mono $820 RTIME8 (clock) $50 Clock/cal $50 MIO (1meg) +20Meg HD $970 (ATARI) 20 Meg HD $650 MIDI (Hybrid Arts) $200 (midi built in) ----- ----- $1360 $1520 (Mono ST vs. Color XE is not totally fair, but read on) I simply cannot bring myself to spending like that on a dead end machine. However, after giving it some thought, I concluded that the 8 bit machines ARE NOT DEAD. Why? They still do many things very well. Also I have noticed that a lot of 8 bit software is VERY CHEAP! So here is where I think things are going based on my needs as a model (ha) Keep the 8 bit machine. Let my child use it sometimes (he is currently 3). I went out and bought a second disk drive for it (a $130 1050) to eliminate the disk swapping head aches. I will continue to buy software for it since that is usually priced below the new machines. For example, recently I got ARCHON II <$10 Miner 2049 <$5 Millipede $2.50 Can't beat that. Get an ST. I intend on using it for synthesizer control and a genealogy data base project. If ATARI gets its TT act together, who knows? A sun (near) equivalent machine at home! I leave you with this summary. The 8 bit machines are NOT dead, but the future holds limited interest and growth. The machine prices are getting so low that you cannot significantly expand an 8 bit for much less than an ST. Comments are indeed welcome. I am not spending any money on these things yet until I have a chance to think about this for a while. 8 bits forever, 16 bits for the future too. Daryl Monge UUCP: ...!ihnp4!iheds!dlm AT&T CIS: 72717,65 Bell Labs, Naperville, Ill AT&T 312-979-3603