Somehow I’ve been working on this since June. It was a commissioned project that took forever. There were a lot of bugs to work out but I believe I’ve squashed them all.
It looks similar to my original Atari 800 laptop but was actually designed from scratch. It’s still built from an original Atari XEGS computer. Several things are different, such as the keyboard and the hinge, which might explain the delays. It also is “back in black” (and silver) so it resembles the XL line. Has the latest MyIDE custom OS, Compact Flash disk drive, SIO port, plus a “New for O-Six” cartridge add-on slot.
“The stylish 2006 Atari laptop will be the hit of the presentation!” – ANALOG Computing, were it still around.
For a lot more pics and the usual “making of” tour click the link below. I’m sure many of you are wondering when I’ll do something with the *other* 8-bit computer – I guess only time will tell, because I sure won’t.
Article Links:
Ben’s Atari 800 Laptop – Revision 2.0 “Making Of”
Is it possible to use a smaller motherboard and still support 4 joystick ports? Or are the only boards that support the 4 ports the large 400/800 boards? I just can’t imagine playing my friends at M.U.L.E. with a laptop that only allows 2 player games.
Wow, brings back so many memories of 48K of RAM, single-button joysticks, and BASIC programs copied out of computer magazines. 🙂 I’d love to get one made for myself, but I wish I could afford it first. Seeing this makes me want to break out the old Atari 800 and fire it up once more.
awesome! i want see how you build that!..