https://www.goto10retro.com/p/looking-at-the-atari-400-part-1

[https]

Goto 10: The Newsletter for Atari Enthusiasts

Subscribe
Sign in
Share this post
[https]

Looking at the Atari 400 Part 1

www.goto10retro.com
Copy link
Facebook
Email
Note
Other

Looking at the Atari 400 Part 1

My first computer

[https]
Paul Lefebvre
Mar 22, 2024
5
Share this post
[https]

Looking at the Atari 400 Part 1

www.goto10retro.com
Copy link
Facebook
Email
Note
Other
 
5
 
Share

I consider the Atari 400 my first computer. My Atari journey started
with the Atari 2600, which pretty much everyone had at the time, but
I quickly found myself getting bored with the games.

 
Atari 400 (1979) | Oldcomputr.com

But I also knew nothing of computers at that time. I believe it was
in 1982 when my Dad had a friend come over with his Atari 800 to
demonstrate it. He fired up BASIC and wrote a short program on it:

10 PRINT "PAUL"
20 GOTO 10

When my name scrolled down the screen, I was hooked. I bugged my
parents regularly after that for us to get a computer.

 
Show full-size image of 1980 Ad Atari 400 Personal Computer You Don't
Have To Be A Genius To Use It
An early Atari 400 ad

It probably took a year or so but in late 1983 my Dad came home with
an Atari 400. Although I'm not exactly sure and my Dad doesn't recall
, I think he got it on clearance at Service Merchandise. Atari had
announced the 600XL and 800XL at the summer 1983 CES and by the
second half of 1983, prices on the 400 and 800 were dropping fast,
due to both the new computer announcement and the Commodore 64.

This ad from Creative Computing (October 1983) shows the Atari 400
for just $79 (about $246 in 2024)! And apparently there was also a
$50 rebate making it only $29 after that.

 
[https]
Computer Mail Order ad from Creative Computing, October 1983

This certainly made the Atari 400 an irresistable first computer. It
had much better graphics than the Atari 2600, so playing games on it
would be significantly better. Plus it had 16K of RAM, making it a
bit more useful than the Commodore VIC-20 which had only 5K of RAM.

Unlike other computers of that era, the Atari 400 did not have
built-in BASIC. You had to purchase it separately as a cartridge and
plug it in as if it were a game. So although we did have a computer
and could type on it using the built-in Memo Pad feature, you really
could not use it as a computer out of the box.

We did eventually get BASIC, which meant I could start typing in
programs from magazines. There were just two problems with that.

The first problem is that the Atari 400 was saddled with a terrible
keyboard. It's not the worst keyboard ever put on a home computer
(that is the one on the Sinclair ZX-81 in my opinion), but it is
certainly one of the worst.

If you've never typed on one of these keyboards, consider yourself
lucky. You have to press rather hard on each key to get it to
register. Your fingers literally ached after typing in a program
listing from a magazine. It really was torture. It also would take
forever

The second problem is that I didn't yet have a way to save anything I
typed in. A cassette drive was yet another purchase that would not
happen until early 1984. I would keep that Atari 400 on for days to
keep using a game I typed in (probably from ANALOG) longer.

I hope you found these Atari 400 memories interesting. In Part 2,
available on Monday, I will look at some of the more technical
aspects of the Atari 400 and talk about the upcoming Atari 400 mini
which is expected to be released at the end of March 2024.

5
Share this post
[https]

Looking at the Atari 400 Part 1

www.goto10retro.com
Copy link
Facebook
Email
Note
Other
 
5
 
Share
Previous
Next
5 Comments
[https]
[                    ]
Share this discussion
[https]

Looking at the Atari 400 Part 1

www.goto10retro.com
Copy link
Facebook
Email
Note
Other

         
        Cecil
        Mar 22*edited Mar 22Liked by Paul Lefebvre

        The Atari 400 was my first computer as well - that $50 rebate
        was why my parents were wiling to buy it for me. They'd have
        never paid the price for the Apple // I was using at school.
 
[https] I ended up getting an 800 XL a few years later, and still
        have both the 400 and the 800XL, although when I use the
        8-bit line, I'm doing so on a 65XE for now...Atari 400 mini
        is due to arrive in a week, I think?

        Expand full comment
        Reply
        Share

         
        Shawn Jewell
        22 hrs agoLiked by Paul Lefebvre

        I did recall seeing a 400 at high school. one of the students
        brought it in for the computer open day. I was most impressed
        with the styling, the keyboard looked futuristic, and I
        really liked it. I think not long after (in 1983), dad got me
[https] the 800XL, and I never saw another 400 in the wild, until I
        bought one off Ebay about 2yrs ago. Which just happened to be
        NTSC and I live in Australia, luckily it's got the RAM
        upgrade now and decent PAL video.

        Expand full comment
        Reply
        Share

3 more comments...
Top
New
Community

No posts

Ready for more?

[                    ]
Subscribe
(c) 2024 Paul Lefebvre
Privacy [?] Terms [?] Collection notice
 Start WritingGet the app
Substack is the home for great writing
This site requires JavaScript to run correctly. Please turn on
JavaScript or unblock scripts