The Atari
800XE
Codename: N/A
Release Date: 1988 (Europe Only)
The Atari
800XE. A deviation from the numbering system used within Atari from
1985-forward when the company was purchased by Tramiel Technologies Limited
from Warner Communications in July of 1984. The system is packaged in the
same case design of the 1985 Atari 130XE. The 800XE in fact is a cost
reduced version of the original 130XE motherboard with only 64K of memory
instead of the 130XE's 128K of memory.
The Atari 800XE was the last of the XE line
of computer systems. Having said this it would be
assumed that such a system would be the most
reliable and well designed system. However the
800XE turned out to be more of exercise of simply
using up existing parts inventories and dumping them
onto the European market. The 800XE is plagued
with issues and poor reliability since its
chipset and some of the semiconductor components
were not within spec or were poor quality
components. One of the most notorious problem
components within the 800XE's were its GTIA chips
which had a high failure rate. While the 800XE was
produced in small numbers and in the European
market, it may be a nice item to add to a
collection, but a 130XE is a better choice to own
since it is a more reliable product.
