Technology | Nostalgia | 1970s | 1980s

Remembering the Atari 400 and 800: Groundbreaking 8-Bit Home Computers

Atari’s 1979 machines were innovative, with plug-and-play peripherals and advanced graphics technology that paved the way for the future of home computing

This is an updated version of an article I wrote for some of my now-defunct blogs.

Atari 800. Photo by Evan-Amos, Public Domain

Maplin Adverts

The Atari 400 and 800 home computers were released in 1979. They were heavily advertised by Maplin in the UK, on the back cover of various electronics magazines in the 1980s. That’s how I first became aware of them.

Although they offered quite a lot for the money, they were way out of my price range. I was still a child back then, and there was no chance my parents could afford to buy me one.

A Maplin advert for Atari computers on the back cover of Everyday Electronics, November 1981. Photo taken by the author

Atari chose the popular 6502 microprocessor for their 8-bit computers and clocked it at about 1.8 MHz.

With ROM cartridge slots and four front-mounted joystick ports, they were clearly designed…