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Here's an alternative that's bigger than the OEM trackball:
 
 
 

Yep, my CH Flightstick is analog also.  But seriously...
The CX-53 is too big (strike one)  -- I cannot modify the laws of spatial geometry.
The CX-53 is too expensive (strike two) -- I'm not going to pay more for a trackball than I did the main unit.
Only a few games I'd play occasionally use it (strike three). -- Price to benefit ratio is illogical.
 

Okay, you authors of Bosconian for Atari 5200, you guys really take the cake.  I played with this game in the hopes of doing a video, but you know what?  I played with this game, and played with this game, and played with this game.  In the end... I never got around to making the video!  Soooooo, it'll be another week or two because I've spent nearly all my free time playing this freakingly addictive game and I have so much other stuff to catch up with now.  So thanks guys, didn't anyone ever tell you not to make games too good?  Really good games keep people from doing really important things.  I'm just lucky I had the day off!

Okay, you authors of Bosconian for Atari 5200, you guys really take the cake.  I played with this game in the hopes of doing a video, but you know what?  I played with this game, and played with this game, and played with this game.  In the end... I never got around to making the video!  Soooooo, it'll be another week or two because I've spent nearly all my free time playing this freakingly addictive game and I have so much other stuff to catch up with now.  So thanks guys, didn't anyone ever tell you not to make games too good?  Really good games keep people from doing really important things.  I'm just lucky I had the day off!

Okay, you authors of Bosconian for Atari 5200, you guys really take the cake.  I played with this game in the hopes of doing a video, but you know what?  I played with this game, and played with this game, and played with this game.  In the end... I never got around to making the video!  Soooooo, it'll be another week or two because I've spent nearly all my free time playing this freakingly addictive game and I have so much other stuff to catch up with now.  So thanks guys, didn't anyone ever tell you not to make games too good?  Really good games keep people from doing really important things.  I'm just lucky I had the day off!

I have a rebuilt 5200 joystick, but I really never liked the 5200 non-centering stick myself.  I use mine with a Y-Cable adapter so I can use START, PAUSE and RESET and the numbers if necessary, but I use seperate joystick for game play.

I have a rebuilt 5200 joystick, but I really never liked the 5200 non-centering stick myself.  I use mine with a Y-Cable adapter so I can use START, PAUSE and RESET and the numbers if necessary, but I use seperate joystick for game play.

Since there is no "Modern Computing Discussion Forum" here (yet) on the site, I thought I'd post my question here.
The setup to the question:  I rotate two Western Digital 25A3 8TB hard drives between my PC and the RPi 4 I have running KODI in another room.  I use two drives in case something happens to one drive I will not lose all my videos.  I also have a rather dog slow Passport 259F that's only 3TB for program, documentation and still photo backups.  Now here's the problem, the Internal drives on the PC, the main drive is a Toshiba Xg5 NVMe PCIe M.2 that is fast as hell, but two small to cram a lot of programs on, so I'm using a rather small Seagate Barracuda 7200.14 2TB drive for programs that I don't use on a daily basis, but I want to augment the internal storage with something fast and of a decent size... to grow into.
<< THIS HARD DRIVE >> seems like a viable option, but knowing that some of you guys here are true experts, I thought I'd ask for some advice/input/alternative(s).  Thanks.

Well I have mentioned it in places where shipping systems comes up or someone else complains of having received broken consoles in shipping from time to time yes but I've only really spoke and shown examples of it from my clients twice over the past 3 years. Most of my clients are pretty meticulous in how they ship their systems. But even shipping carefully, things can still happen. I did have another 5200 that was sent just before this one and it was in an oversized box with plenty of padding around it and even bubble wrapped along the front to back and side to side. 
But yet, it still arrived with one small corner chipped out and one of the hinges on the controller cover broken in two. I was able to use some epoxy to at least put those pieces back together. But I had also advised to only send in the bottom shell and main board for me to work on. 
Really the point is that providing proper shipping protection isn't perfect, but providing little to none will only provide regret like what is shown at the top of this thread.

To play in Altirra I find I have to use the rom marked as just Bosc5200. It is a 512k sized rom and requires choosing the 512k bankswitched option when the cartridge types come up. The ones specific for the Max I've not been able to get working on Altirra.
 

Oh yeah!  This is awesome!  It works great on my 5200, but for video making purposes, what are the proper setting for it to work under Altirra?

I looked through my files, Bosconian is one I don't have.

Homebrews and conversions, got it.  Makes sense, it's a less traveled path.

http://www.indieretronews.com/2019/12/bosconian-ultimate-1980s-multi.html?m=1
 

I saw this on FB.  The Intelli-phone! 

Muppets are retro. 

I spent some time on the 5200 today and then seen this post.  I still say the 5200 holds its own in the mix of things...and it survived the famous game crash along with other consoles.  I brought out games I had but never spent any quality time on.  Playing these games I was able to discover a side of the 5200 I had never seen before.  Games I played were Pengo, Zone Ranger, Blue Print, Realsports Baseball (finally found one), RS Tennis, Soccer, and Football, Popeye (although I had this one many moons ago), Zaxxon, and Jungle Hunt.
Zone Ranger was a bit difficult for me but I had fun with it and enjoyed the graphics.  It looked like an arcade game.  Very nice. I liked the voice in RS Baseball.  Nicely done game.  I enjoy sports games when it's about the sports instead of the team rosters.  Soccer was a bit sluggish but playable.  Tennis was hard even on the novice setting.  you have to use the keypad buttons to direct the ball which became cumbersome.  
As much as I love the 5200 I have to say that the controllers were easier to use with my 8 year old hands than they are with my 47 year old hands.  I can't spend as much time on the system as I would love to these days.  Those controllers just cause hand cramps after a while.  Not as bad as the 7800 controllers do, though.  Still, the 5200 remains my go-to for some classic arcade fun.  And while others will suggest controller alternatives I like to keep things original so I will continue to deal with the originals.
 

That image is my 5200 using just RF on a 17" LCD TV.  Doesn't look half bad actually.
The 5200 does have a lot offer to those willing to take the time to actually learn the system...by its rules...not everyone else's rules.  Harness the system's controls, then learn the games it has.  If one can sit and give it and themselves quality time to learn the curve one might be impressed with the 5200's offerings.  It's what I did when I received one when they came out and that way of approaching a 5200 for the first time still holds true to this day.  It's a very misunderstood console.  The controllers, as much as I hate to admit to it, are the system's short comings, but as long as they are working then by all means give them a long overdue exercise and play some 5200 games!
Yea...but they look pretty good all lined up on a shelf 😉 

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. 

I should have mentioned in the video that the price of the Atarimax is considerably less than the shipping alone would be on a dozen or so separate cartridge purchases.  Oh yeah and all those cartridges take up a lot of space.  Yes, the Homebrews and Conversions add quite a few titles into the mix.  With those two items, three if you need the HDMI converter, one will have everything necessary to bring it up-to-date for maximum enjoyment.

Yeah, combined, the postal service made a cool Benjamin off of us.  Removing the top might save a few buck in shipping too as the top half is HUGE.