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A8 Quick Beginners Reference Guide


Paul

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400 - With 48k ram card, it's great! Retro look and small footprint. Membrane Keyboard sucks, but we don't use it for typing, now do we? Has SIO port. NO monitor out port, RF unless modded. Easy repairs.

 

800 - It's a beast, but built very well and repairs are easy, but time consuming. Keyboard has a great feel. Has monitor out port, so use that to get a superior picture. Getting harder to find.

 

1200xl - Recessed cart port, no PBI port, SIO ( +5 volts can be restored to it by resistor removal, so so SIO to SD card reader can be used ) Monitor out ( video can be cleaned up by similar resistor removal ). Large footprint, but you can fit lots of upgrades in it. Keyboard is great when they are repaired. Weird OS with SOME compataibility problems.

 

600xl - THEY ARE ALL SOCKETED, because they were all made in Hong Kong. Built well. PBI port. SIO. Internal 64k ram upgrade Is super easy. 600xl is RF ONLY, but all the holes are there so you can put in a monitor port ( time consuming ) With said upgrades, it has the smallest footprint of all 64k machines. Some keyboards are better than others. I HAVE put stereo in one..

 

800xl - Best all around A8. Earlier Mobo revisions need a resistor removed for improved video. Hong Versions are socketed. SIO, PBI. Even soldered mobo's are easy to work on because they are built well.

 

XE Roundup - XEGS - Cart port on top, removable KB, great composite video out, SIO, NO PBI, 64k ram. Some have cheap ram that acts as static ram, switches are cheap, mobo's cheap and hard to work on. 65XE - Same cheapness as XEGS, BUT cart port on back. 130XE - 128k ram, cart port on back. For some reason, these had better ram than previous XE's. ECI port. ALL XE keyboards have a 'mushy' feel, but some versions can be upgraded with best electronics XE TOUCH mod. All That being said, I DO like the quirkiness of the XEGS and the XE line style, in general.

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