RickR

I suggest some of the homebrews that are available for download. Bosconian, for example. The best reviews are the ones that make the viewer want to try it themselves. And if there's no cost involved, that makes it even easier.

I agree with you @Atari 5200 Guy, and the Atari 2600 is the worst offender in this category. For whatever reason, the 2600 doesn't work well -- like it's not quite the exact "Channel 3" tuning...it's a little off and modern TV's don't quite work with a variant signal. Thus, I have zero issue doing a composite or more mod on them. UAV on 2600 or 7800 seems like a really good idea, and I might pursue that one.

"color artifacts" -- those were the words I was looking for. THANK YOU!

I agree. It looks better than "half bad" if you ask me. I play my 5200 on a small LCD screen too. Maybe that's the key...once you move to a big screen, the upgrade is more necessary as the defects become more pronounced.

My concern with that crisp and beautiful SVIDEO output is that you lose some of the intended color effects that were meant to be there. Pixels of different colors next to each other could produce more colors. Yes it's fuzzy. But it was meant to be there. Emulation of most machines on your PC look as crisp and sharp as the SVIDEO output, but are missing some of the intended color effects. I know Stella includes the ability to emulate the scan line effects, and that's what makes it look more original. For text, the crisper output is a clear upgrade. But for games, I think it misses a little something. I'm just throwing this out there not as any complaint or criticism. Just pointing out that crisper output may be removing some intended color effects.

I thought your part was excellent. The text on Rescue on Fractalus is a really good example.

$%&*@! That's horrible. Even packing stuff well, it can sometimes get damaged if they drop the box or something. It makes good sense to take that fragile top half off and leave it at home. One think I've noticed is that it's really hard to find a box big enough for the behemoth 5200, leaving space on all sides for bubble wrap. And if you do, the cost to ship a giant box is pretty high. Don't cheap out! Pack it well!! Question for @CrossBow(although I should probably look it up myself)...what are the options for SVIDEO out for an 800XL? Is it just getting the write AV cable for it?

As per your #2, I also highly recommend the Atarimax multicart solutions. The 5200 library is small enough to fit everything on one SD card (including tons of homebrews and XL conversions). They cost about $130 new, and 100% worth every penny. I just sold one. So looking for one used is also an option.

Don't toss it! I can almost guarantee the bulbs are replaceable. It's just a matter of taking it apart carefully, finding the bulb, and then finding something similar on-line (or in my toolbox 🙂 ) How cool would it be to replace the bulbs with LED's? I've done that in a car (dash lights) and it's a really nice upgrade. Good luck with the house closing. Not an easy thing to do. Take care of yourself.

Maybe this video will help. It isn't your exact power meter, but it does show how the bulbs are mounted in most of the old meters like that.

Right? Nothing beats walking into Autozone with the part in your hand. They sometimes have bad info in their computer system, and it's so helpful to know right away if it isn't quite right.

On old equipment, the only way to find the correct part is to take it apart and take out the old bulb as a reference. Of course, you have to decide first if it's worth the effort and risk (of damaging the unit).

The in-game narration sounds more like Ronald Reagan than Clint Eastwood. 😁

I remember it being kind of like Afterburner...with mainly the background being laserdisc footage from the movie. A lot more video-game based than Dragon's Lair IMO.

Did you notice who the bad guy is in that first DH movie? It's a very young Andrew Robinson, who plays Garak an Star Trek Deep Space 9!

Do you remember the Atari arcade laserdisc game based on the movie? I remember it being pretty fun, but also not quite fun enough to justify the full 4 quarters it cost to play.

My garage is a mess at the moment with PS3 parts strewn about. I'm expecting delivery of the new Bluray drive today, so I can clean up soon. In any case, you are always welcome.

I have an Atari 8-bit cartridge of the game "M.U.L.E." It's very old, I think I got it 15-20 years ago. I know making limited runs of carts is easier these days, but back then, this was a big deal. It's one of my favorite items in the collection. I can take a picture later if anyone is interested. It's upstairs in a box with all my other 8-bit carts.

RE: Resale value: I doubt it will impact the resale value. First of all, they aren't worth a lot to begin with. As long as you can show that it works, you'll get top value if you sell. Many sales are done "as-is" or "untested", and that's what really would hurt your value. This is all only my opinion of course.

That's awesome @TrekMD I can tell by @Atari Creep's video that he also pressed A because he's scoring 1 point at a time on that first level.

Blast! I just scored 2.1 million but pressed a button before I could take a picture. Oh well, I'll try again later

You have to start on the more difficult version -- press "B" to start instead of "A".