Atari 400/800 Computers
Peripherals

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These are some of the peripherals that Atari released for use with the 400/800 line of computers.  Like most other devices of the time from companies like Apple, these devices were big, loud, and not very efficient.   However, people loved them anyway.

Atari 810 Floppy Drive - This was the floppy drive released with the 400/800 line.  It was a single-sided single-density drive.  This drive shipped with Atari DOS 2.0s.  The 810's were big and loud. 

These drives used floppy drive mechanisms from MPI and Tandon.  The unit shown above is using an MPI mechanism.  The MPI drives are identified by the "push-button" eject mechanism under the floppy drive door.   The Tandon machanisms have a large "flip-up" door for ejecting the disk.

The Tandon drives supposedly are suseptible to frequent head mis-alignments.  Apparently, the shock created when the door is flipped up tends to bump the read-write heads around.

Atari 410 Tape Drive - There were two versions of this drive.  The original "A" version shown on the left, wasn't on the market for very long.  Most 410's were the newer Taiwan, or "B" version, which is shown on the right.

According to Atari specifications, these recorders load/save data at roughly 600 baud, and stored approximately 100k bytes on a standard 60 minute audio cassette.  The tape drive also had a three digit tape counter, and a four track record/playback head with a digital (data) channel, and an audio channel.  The audio channel allowed special tapes to play music while loading a program.

Atari 820 Printer - This unit was a pretty basic (and loud) printer.  It didn't require any special software or device handlers, and connected to the computer directly via the SIO bus. Atari reportedly used these printers in-house for printing reports on failed hardware while running diagnostic programs.

This printer had a 5 pin printhead with a 5x7 character matrix.  It printed approximately 40 characters per second, and printed on paper up to 40 columns wide.

It also had an "overheating" feature.  If the printer ran for long periods of time, the printhead would occasionally "stall" for a moment or two which would allow the unit to cool.

Atari 822 Printer - The 822 was a small, compact thermal printer that attached to the 400/800 computers via the SIO bus.  It was quiet, and pretty fast.  Like the Atari 820 printer, this device could be used for printing register receipts.  I also recall one was used on my old Atari Club BBS for logging user activity.

This printer had a 5 pin printhead with a 5x7 character matrix.  It printed approximately 37 characters per second, and printed on paper up to 40 columns wide.  The print head was bidirectional.

It didn't require any special software or device handlers, and connected to the computer directly via the SIO bus.

Atari 825 Printer - The 825 was based on the Centronics 737 printer.  It attached to the Atari 400/800 printers via the Centronics parallel interface on the Atari 850 Interface unit, or several other 3rd party interface devices.   This printer was slow and loud.

It featured single directional printing at approximately 50 characters per second.  It had a 7 pin printhead with a 7x8 character matrix.   It could accept roll paper, fanfold paper, or individual sheets from 80-132 columns wide.  The printhead was adjustable to accomodate different paper thicknesses.

Atari 830 Modem - This is a 300 baud "acoustic" modem.  Instead of connecting a phone line directly into the device, you would place the handset of your phone into the "cups" on the modem.   Of course, the downside is that the modem will pick up background noise in the room, and randomly disconnect the communication session.  This modem required the 850 Interface unit.

This modem was packaged and sold as part of the "Telecommunication Package" which consisted of the Telelink communications cartridge, the 830 modem, and an 850 Interface.

Atari 835 Direct Connect Modem - This was the next step up from the 830 modem.  This was a standard 300 baud modem, that would connect directly to your phone line.

Atari 850 Interface - The Atari 850 (bottom of picture) interface was one of the best peripherals for the Atari 8-bit line.  The 850 Interface allowed the use of standard serial and parallel devices, such as printers and modems. 

The 850 Interface had four RS-232 serial ports, The serial interface ports were a bit different.  Unlike the rest of the computing industry, Atari used female DB-9 connectors instead of male DB-9 connectors.

The 850 Interface also had one Centronics parallel printer port. The printer port is a non-standard DB-15 female connector, which was never used by anyone except Atari.  Any standard Centronics compatible printer could be used with the 850 Interface, as long as the proprietary Atari DB-15 printer cable was used. 

Early, and VERY rare, 850 Interface units (top of photo) were shipped in a black metal case, with white etched lettering.

Atari CX-85 Numeric Keypad - This was an add-on device used in conjunction with the Bookkeeper and Accountant software packages released by Atari.   It would attach to the 400/800 systems via joystick ports.  A special driver was loaded to activate the unit.  It is too bad that a numeric keypad was never a permanent part of an Atari 8-bit keyboard.

Atari CX-70 Light Pen - The Atari CX-70 light pen was the predecessor to the modern day mouse.  It was supposed to be used as a pointing/touching device for on screen buttons, menus, etc.  It was felt that this would be a good device for integrating computers and inventory control systems.   Drawing/drafting applications were possible too.  The light pen was yet another cutting edge technology that Atari made available to the masses.