New Atari
Classic Computer System
David Acklam
uncovers some unbelievable news
I ran into an
interesting bit of information on the web regarding
our classic Atari computer systems. How does
a new classic Atari 520 ST sound to you? A bit
disappointing, the new Atari is based around
a PC Pentium running essentially an emulation
instead of something like a Power PC or ColdFire
processor. Of course, it can also run Windows
XP or even Linux. The computer is encased in
what looks very much like the old 520 STFM or
STE but has several major updates.
The diagonal
function keys are still present but there are
twelve instead of ten. The keyboard is essentially
a standard 102 PC keyboard but retains the integrated
look of our a ST including the numeric
keypad on the right hand side. Instead of the
built in floppy drive there is a slot on the
right hand side that accepts either a floppy
drive, a CD/RW drive or a DVD drive. This appears
similar to a laptop slot.
On the left hand
side remains the two MIDI ports but the cartridge
port has been replaced with PCMI slots, again
similar to a laptop, that support a fax modem,
wireless interface, Ethernet and other standard
PCMI cards. Moving to the rear one finds a standard
PC monitor jack, a serial port, a parallel port
and a multi-port USB hub. The DMA port is gone.
The Classic has
a built in 2.5” hard drive along with 520 MB of
memory which can be upgraded to 1 GB. The emulation
appears similar to the Gemulator in that it
supports TOS versions 1 through 4 and can be
switched to emulate a basic 520ST, Mega STE
or TT. The emulator controls allow you to set
clock speeds so that many of the older Atari
games and programs can be run. The standard
warning is provided that some of the poorly
written games and programs will not work.
The addition
of the USB hub has software provided to allow
one to use newer I/O USB devices with some
Atari applications. These include - but are
not limited to - flat bed scanners, printers
and various digital cameras. The Classic comes
with a standard serial PC mouse that is encased
to look like the original Atari brick mouse.
Of course the system runs the usual Windows
software because it is really a PC hiding in
a classic Atari 520 case... kind of a retro
thing. Prices start at just $595 (US dollars)
which also includes a look-a-like 15” SVGA Atari
monitor.
For more information
check out the web at http://www.aprilfools.com.
Forgive me... I just had to do this.
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