Atari 8-bit Computers
Unreleased Prototypes and Vaporware

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You know, I have never figured out why Atari had so many unreleased products.  It boggles the mind to think about all of the great ideas that never made it out the door.  Some say that Atari was ahead of it's time with some of these devices.  Many people feel that management was incompetent.   Whatever the reason, many products never made it off the drawing board.  Here are a few.......

 
Photos courtesy of AtariHQ/World of Atari '98

Atari 1055 Floppy Drive/Atari XF351 Floppy Drive - Atari did make a few attempts at using 3 1/2 inch disks on the 8-bit like.  A prototype for the XL line (1055) and the XE line (XF351) are shown above.

The XF351 model was a single sided drive, like the SF354 drive for the Atari ST computers.  The XF351 and the SF354 drives looked identical, except for the connectors on the back.

Both of these devices were never released.

Atari 1053 Floppy Drive - Shortly before the takeover by the Tramiel family, Atari was working on a double-sided double-density floppy drive for the XL like.  Dubbed the 1053, this unit also used a Tandon floppy drive mechanism like the 1050 drive.  The drive was identical in appearance to the existing 1050 drive.

This drive was never released. 

Atari XC-1411 Monitor - Atari announced the new Atari XE line of computers in 1985.  Some of their pre-release advertising featured a color monitor, which was strange because Atari had been avoiding manufacturing their own monitors.  Take a look at the packing box for the 130XE.   The XC1411 is pictured right on the back.

The XC1411 color monitor was a basic composite monitor.  I actually own one of these, and let me tell you; the screen quality is very good!!!  My model says "SAMPLE" on the back.  There is no serial number, model number, or any other markings on the back.  There are two female RCA connectors for attaching the video cable.

This device was never released.

Photo courtesy of AtariHQ/World of Atari '98

Atari 65XEP - The 65XEP was a portable version of the Atari 65XE.  It featured a built in monitor, 3 1/2 inch floppy drive, and a detached keyboard.  This device was never released.

Atari 65XEM - The 65XEM was an Atari 8-bit computer with the new "Amy" chip, which was supposed to provide enhanced music and sound capabilities.  Atari could not get the chip to function properly in the system.

This system was planned to have 8 independant voices, up from 4 in a standard XL/XE system.  Enhanced music capabilities including sound duration, pitch frequency, and attack/delay attributes were planned. 

This device was never released.

Photo Not Available

Atari 800 Computer with "Colette" Motherboard - The original Atari 800 computer was made up of seven different boards.   Near the end of the 800's product life, Atari went to work on a new 800 design that would reduce production costs.  The result was the "Colette" motherboard, which combined all seven existing boards down to one individual board.

It is believed that the "Colette" design was complete, however they were never used in any Atari 800's

Photo courtesy of AtariHQ/World of Atari '98

Atari XE Thermal Printers - The Atari XTM201 was a monochrome 80 column thermal printer for the Atari XE line of computer systems.  The unit is small, light and simple to use.

An Atari XTC201 was mentioned in Atari Corp's 1985 XE Line flyer.  It was a color 80 column thermal printer for the Atari XE line of computer systems.

An interesting feature of these printers is the interfacing system. Atari designed these printers so that they could accept various interface modules such as Atari 8-bit SIO, Parallel and Serial. These modules snapped into a swappable port on the back of the printer.

These devices were never released.

Photo Not Available

Atari 800 64k Memory Board - Most Atari 800 computers shipped with 48k of RAM.  The 800 computer had four expansion slots -- the first held the ROM board, and the remaining three slots were each filled with a 16k RAM card, giving you a total of 48k of RAM.  Atari developed a single 64k memory board, which was meant to replace the three memory boards.  That would free up two expansion slots inside the system, which could be used for other devices. 

The design of this board was completed, but it was never released. 

Atari XC-11 Tape Drive Prototypes - Disk drive technology had improved significantly by the time the XE computers hit the market.  The costs had dropped enough that Atari did not release a tape drive for the XE series in the US.

Like the previous 410 and 1010 recorders, both of these devices load/save data at roughly 600 baud, and store approximately 100k bytes on a standard 60 minute audio cassette.   The tape drive also had a three digit 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.

The XC-11 drive was a prototype that was never released.  

Atari 815 Dual Floppy Drive - This device was on the market briefly.  It combined two 360k floppy drives into one unit.  These drives were notorious for their poor reliability.  They were built by hand, and the costs for manufacturing were sky high. 

It is estimated at around 400-500 of these were made.  Most of them were recalled.

Photo courtesy of AtariHQ/World of Atari '98

Atari CP/M Module - This device was meant to add CP/M compatibility to the XL series of computers.  It appears to use the same case as a 1050 disk drive.

This device was never released.  It would have functioned on any Atari 8-bit system via the SIO port.  Atari abandoned the project when development work started on the 1090 Expansion System.  That device also had a CP/M module.

Atari Expansion System - This device was to be released with the XL computers.  It would allow the use of PC style expansion cards in the XL systems.   The device itself was complete.  Three expansion cards were also complete.   They included a CP/M module, an 80 column upgrade, and a memory upgrade.

It is rumored that a modem card and a hard disk interface were under development for this unit, but I have found no facts to back up that claim.

It would attach to the XL series systems via the Parallel Bus Interface.  The PBI cable came out of the lower right corner on the front of the unit.  You can see where the cable connector is in the photo above.   The cable was very short.  Too short, in fact, to put this unit off to the side, or under a desk.

This innovative device was canned by the Tramiel's shortly after their takeover of Atari.

This device was never released.

Atari 1400XL - This device was to be the replacement for the 1200XL.  The system featured the improved XL operating system, a built in voice synthesizer, and a built in 300 baud modem.  The 1200XL would have been a big hit if it had been released in this form.

This device was never released.

Atari 1450XLD - This was one MEAN looking system.   This machine would have been the flagship of the Atari 8-bit line.

Like the 1400XL, it featured the improved XL operating system, a built in voice synthesizer, and a built in 300 baud modem.  It also included a built in floppy disk drive, and an empty drive bay so another could be added.  Atari reportedly had a hard time making the new floppy drive work properly.  It used the PBI interface instead of the SIO interface used by the existing Atari drives.

It is estimated that approximately 150 of the prototypes were built.  The 1450XLD was never released.

Photos Not Available

Other Atari XLD Systems - Old memos from Atari reference three other "XLD" systems:

The 800XLD would have been a stock 800XL with a built in disk drive.

The 1650XLD is believed to be an Atari 8-bit computer with a second processor for IBM XT compatibility.

The 1850XLD would have been based around the Motorola 68000 processor and feature a detached keyboard. 

None of these devices made it past the drawing board.

Atari 1027+ Printer - This would have been the follow-up to the 1027 printer that featured a number of improvements.  It would have used a daisy wheel printing method instead of the existing impact method.  Like the 1027, this printer was based around an Alps printer mechanism.

This device was never released.