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From: nicki@hpsmo100.rose.hp.com (Nick Ingegneri)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.8bit
Subject: Old Atari Trivia
Message-ID: <2970002@hpsmo100.rose.hp.com>
Date: 29 May 91 01:40:36 GMT
Organization: HP Support Materials Organization
Lines: 22

Here's a real old bit of ATARI trivia...  Does anyone remember the Atari 815
dual disc drive?  It looked like a tall 810 and had two drives mounted 
inside of the case.  They never shipped, but I saw some at an early 80's 
CES show.  Rumor had it that some units had found their way into the hands
of some users for testing.  If you found one now, it might be a real 
conversation piece.

Another product that never made it was the Atari lightpen that was announced
with the inital release of the Atari 400/800.  Atari's legal department 
stopped them from ever shipping due to fear of lawsuits.  They weren't to
keen on the idea of kids poking at the picture tube with a pointy wand.

The famous (or infamous) Atari 410 cassette recorder was produced in no less
than three different versions.  All it really was was a conventional tape
deck with the audio portion removed and some interface circuitry to tie it
to the computer.  I saw at least three different versions, all with the
410 model number.  The only think they had in common was that they were
all beige.

I remember the excitement I felt way back in late '79, (or was it early '80)
when I bought my Atari 800 with 8k of ram, a 410 tape drive, and a Star
Raiders cartridge.  As I recall it cost about $1100 back then.