I have a 65xe and the keys were very yellow. Did not use chemicals to lighten the keys, just used the sunlight on a hot sunny day and it does the same job. It's not the only system I done that way, and I got a good result every time. Just thought I'd share that information. Many people seem to think that sunlight is the cause of yellowing, that is not the case. My experience tells me that dark spaces or contact with other plastics can yellow plastic. UV and warm air can reverse the colour.
Thanks, i would be inclined to try that but it is sooo unpredictable here (UK / London area) - that makes planning difficult. I will definitely give it a go if i can arrange my schedule around the sun's :) but if its only warmth and UV the issue, then UV lights and some level of artificial heating should also do the same trick. (i am building a UV chamber to create even light conditions... it seems a good idea to experiment a bit... as i would rather skip the headache over the marble effects ... besides i am not a huge fan of my fingers getting always itching after the hydrogen peroxide :) thanks for the comment and idea.
@@RetroPotato I live in Kent. Did not realize you was in England. May to September is the best time of year. If doing the no chemical solution sometimes it take roughly 2 to 3 days for good results. Everyone has their own methods. I always treat the plastic with trim/dashboard restore after a clean and de-yellowing. Adds protection and shine.
You're right it's not sunlight. My 130XE has been in a box since about 1990, but it's gone a horrible shade of yellow-grey. The weird thing is the underside hasn't changed colour. I'm not sure because it was too long ago, but I think it may have happened after it was put in the same box as a 600XL, with the latter against its upper side. The yellowing is too even to be direct contact, so perhaps it was a very slow gasseous transfer, if that's possible. Anyway, I'm going to try putting it in the window & see what happens. Thanks for the suggestion. And I'm in Britain too. :) Derbyshire.
@@eekee6034 not going to hurt putting by window. If you leave cables wrapped around the computer or dataset etc for a long time the cable will deform the plastic case. Cable burn. Looks like it's been slightly melted. The yellowing is a similar thing. Just a reaction in the plastic.
The 65 and 130 boards are similar, however there is one obvious difference - A 65 has one card edge connector for game carts and such. A 130 has TWO edge connectors to provide additional expansion not needed for the 65.
European PAL 65XE's will very often use a 130XE motherboard but only have 64K and are missing two expanded RAM support chips. Some 65XE's in Europe used a 65XE motherboard and did not have the ECI expansion bus.
Atari 800 was not famous in the Europe, it was almost unknown in Europe. Atari 800XE got its name after the Atari 800XL which was very popular in the Eastern Europe. 800XE was using a 130XE board (with ECI connector) but without the extended memory management unit chip, and with only 64kB of RAM. Some 65XE were also using the same board. Later units had a modified board, with ECI port, but without a place for 2nd bank of RAM and EMMU chip. Most if not all 800XEs had a faulty GTIA chip.
yes thats two mistakes i left in the video (did say 800 rather than 800xl and I did not make it clear i meant Eastern Europe. as somefrom that part of Europe i tend to not draw that distinction :) Eastern Europe is Europe in my head - but of course, this makes the video inaccurate. as for the 130xe vs 65xe: i relied on wikipedia’s definiton on that one, which was a mistake to take it on face value. As @Atarimuseum Netherlands also pointed it out. thank you for the further clarification and apologies for the rookie mistakes on my end. i will try to eliminate them in the future. Once again thanks for your comment and help with the topic.
That badge is an aftermarket batch sold on Ebay, so that is not original. But the 800XE has actually a 130XE board in it with just 64k. It was made with left over stock.
Ah, that explains a lot. I foolishly went with the description from Wikipedia which states that the 800XE was a rebadged 65XE (and not the 130XE with half the memory) - Of course doing a bit of a searching NOW i can see that it is incorrect and that the 800XE with reduced memory by default. It is at least much clearer now, thank you for your explanation. It is greatly appreciated. Also : your collection is just WOW!
The Atari 800 and 800XL were all considered top-of-the-line version for their generation. A 800XE should be based on the 130XE since it was the "best" Atari had to offer of the XE generation, since a 65XE would be no different than a stock 800XL. The 800XL is by far the most popular version of the Atari 8bit line of computers. I really wished they did use better names for the XE line, than the seemingly arbitrary 65 and 130 numbers which I guess were supposed to represent how much RAM they have, but rounded up. At least the Commodore 64, had 64k RAM. IF Atari used the names Atari 400XE (XEGS), 600XE (65XE), and 800XE (130XE) would have sold a lot better in the USA market.
Look no further than the 520ST (512KB) and 1040ST (1024KB) to understand what the new Atari Corp. (i. e. the company now owned Jack Tramiel, formerly of and founder of Commodore, having bought it from Warner Bros. ) had in mind for their fresh new naming scheme to go with their fresh new look. I’ve even heard that a 260ST and 130ST were contemplated (for Europe). But I was never an ST guy (by the time I was ready for 16/32 bit I’d read about Jay Miner and the Amiga and the connection to the Atari 8bits and so I followed the bloodline, not the corporate name). When I got my 800XL, it was something that I could touch and feel at a local store (Sears I think). Hadn’t seen nor heard of the C64 (it was relatively new honestly and the XL series built on the original 400/800 line). The ONLY place I saw an XE was in Atari-specific magazines - mail order. Never saw them in stores. Okay maybe Electronics Boutique where we bought a 1050 disk drive a year or two later (the XE line should have been out and DOS 2.5 came with the 1050). The only place I saw an ST was at Electronics Boutique. It’s hard to sell a lot of computers that people don’t know are for sale. Atari Corp. got behind the ST and mostly let the XE rot. Too bad the XEGS didn’t come out a year or two earlier. I might have see that one in a toy store (albeit one that sold NES, SMS, Turbo-Gr.16, and I think the even the C64 for a while). Anyway that’s my point of view from my experiences in my part of the world back then, funneled through the mind of a middle aged adult who wasn’t old enough to drive back then.
I also have a marbled Atari case (failed Retr0bright attempt), but mine is much, much worse and probably not recoverable. But in the other hand I don't want to spray-paint it.
agreed, i would also keep it marbled. i’d like to think that the original texture of the plastic is more important and gives authenticity, and character. however i would argue that you could probably soften the effect if not totally cured with a few treatment session. maybe even trying perafractic / Retro Recipes’ sun bathing method (if you live in a place where 8 hours of straight sunlight is possible)
I like the "hooray" clock crystal. I was not aware that there was a manufacturer called "hooray". It makes it sound like the clock is very happy.
It is "jumping" up and down :) It is indeed really cool
I enjoyed watching the build. Lovely ambience with the music. :)
That monochrome Atari 800XE badge is really cool!
Nice job! I love the Atari line of computers!
I have a 65xe and the keys were very yellow. Did not use chemicals to lighten the keys, just used the sunlight on a hot sunny day and it does the same job. It's not the only system I done that way, and I got a good result every time. Just thought I'd share that information. Many people seem to think that sunlight is the cause of yellowing, that is not the case. My experience tells me that dark spaces or contact with other plastics can yellow plastic. UV and warm air can reverse the colour.
Thanks, i would be inclined to try that but it is sooo unpredictable here (UK / London area) - that makes planning difficult. I will definitely give it a go if i can arrange my schedule around the sun's :) but if its only warmth and UV the issue, then UV lights and some level of artificial heating should also do the same trick. (i am building a UV chamber to create even light conditions... it seems a good idea to experiment a bit... as i would rather skip the headache over the marble effects ... besides i am not a huge fan of my fingers getting always itching after the hydrogen peroxide :)
thanks for the comment and idea.
@@RetroPotato I live in Kent. Did not realize you was in England. May to September is the best time of year. If doing the no chemical solution sometimes it take roughly 2 to 3 days for good results. Everyone has their own methods. I always treat the plastic with trim/dashboard restore after a clean and de-yellowing. Adds protection and shine.
You're right it's not sunlight. My 130XE has been in a box since about 1990, but it's gone a horrible shade of yellow-grey. The weird thing is the underside hasn't changed colour. I'm not sure because it was too long ago, but I think it may have happened after it was put in the same box as a 600XL, with the latter against its upper side. The yellowing is too even to be direct contact, so perhaps it was a very slow gasseous transfer, if that's possible. Anyway, I'm going to try putting it in the window & see what happens. Thanks for the suggestion.
And I'm in Britain too. :) Derbyshire.
@@eekee6034 not going to hurt putting by window. If you leave cables wrapped around the computer or dataset etc for a long time the cable will deform the plastic case. Cable burn. Looks like it's been slightly melted. The yellowing is a similar thing. Just a reaction in the plastic.
That was very enjoyable, thanks:) I understand why it's staying, it does look like a lot of fun.
It really is! It was such a sad moment to put it back to create space for the next videos. but its here next to me. so i can bring it back anytime :)
The 65 and 130 boards are similar, however there is one obvious difference - A 65 has one card edge connector for game carts and such. A 130 has TWO edge connectors to provide additional expansion not needed for the 65.
thanks for the explanation. its good that its not just half / double memory size
(i havent seen the 65xe board yet but will do that soon)
European PAL 65XE's will very often use a 130XE motherboard but only have 64K and are missing two expanded RAM support chips. Some 65XE's in Europe used a 65XE motherboard and did not have the ECI expansion bus.
Does yoop 😮make use of the 1MB memory extension or the 256kb one?
I believe that Yoomp! only needs 64Kb to run - therefore if you have 256Kb of ram you should have no issues running the game.
Atari 800 was not famous in the Europe, it was almost unknown in Europe. Atari 800XE got its name after the Atari 800XL which was very popular in the Eastern Europe.
800XE was using a 130XE board (with ECI connector) but without the extended memory management unit chip, and with only 64kB of RAM. Some 65XE were also using the same board. Later units had a modified board, with ECI port, but without a place for 2nd bank of RAM and EMMU chip. Most if not all 800XEs had a faulty GTIA chip.
yes thats two mistakes i left in the video (did say 800 rather than 800xl and I did not make it clear i meant Eastern Europe. as somefrom that part of Europe i tend to not draw that distinction :) Eastern Europe is Europe in my head - but of course, this makes the video inaccurate.
as for the 130xe vs 65xe: i relied on wikipedia’s definiton on that one, which was a mistake to take it on face value. As @Atarimuseum Netherlands also pointed it out.
thank you for the further clarification and apologies for the rookie mistakes on my end. i will try to eliminate them in the future.
Once again thanks for your comment and help with the topic.
That badge is an aftermarket batch sold on Ebay, so that is not original. But the 800XE has actually a 130XE board in it with just 64k. It was made with left over stock.
Ah, that explains a lot. I foolishly went with the description from Wikipedia which states that the 800XE was a rebadged 65XE (and not the 130XE with half the memory) - Of course doing a bit of a searching NOW i can see that it is incorrect and that the 800XE with reduced memory by default. It is at least much clearer now, thank you for your explanation. It is greatly appreciated.
Also : your collection is just WOW!
@@RetroPotato Thanks for the compliment! Good luck with your channel!
The Atari 800 and 800XL were all considered top-of-the-line version for their generation. A 800XE should be based on the 130XE since it was the "best" Atari had to offer of the XE generation, since a 65XE would be no different than a stock 800XL. The 800XL is by far the most popular version of the Atari 8bit line of computers. I really wished they did use better names for the XE line, than the seemingly arbitrary 65 and 130 numbers which I guess were supposed to represent how much RAM they have, but rounded up. At least the Commodore 64, had 64k RAM. IF Atari used the names Atari 400XE (XEGS), 600XE (65XE), and 800XE (130XE) would have sold a lot better in the USA market.
Look no further than the 520ST (512KB) and 1040ST (1024KB) to understand what the new Atari Corp. (i. e. the company now owned Jack Tramiel, formerly of and founder of Commodore, having bought it from Warner Bros. ) had in mind for their fresh new naming scheme to go with their fresh new look. I’ve even heard that a 260ST and 130ST were contemplated (for Europe). But I was never an ST guy (by the time I was ready for 16/32 bit I’d read about Jay Miner and the Amiga and the connection to the Atari 8bits and so I followed the bloodline, not the corporate name).
When I got my 800XL, it was something that I could touch and feel at a local store (Sears I think). Hadn’t seen nor heard of the C64 (it was relatively new honestly and the XL series built on the original 400/800 line). The ONLY place I saw an XE was in Atari-specific magazines - mail order. Never saw them in stores. Okay maybe Electronics Boutique where we bought a 1050 disk drive a year or two later (the XE line should have been out and DOS 2.5 came with the 1050). The only place I saw an ST was at Electronics Boutique. It’s hard to sell a lot of computers that people don’t know are for sale. Atari Corp. got behind the ST and mostly let the XE rot. Too bad the XEGS didn’t come out a year or two earlier. I might have see that one in a toy store (albeit one that sold NES, SMS, Turbo-Gr.16, and I think the even the C64 for a while). Anyway that’s my point of view from my experiences in my part of the world back then, funneled through the mind of a middle aged adult who wasn’t old enough to drive back then.
I also have a marbled Atari case (failed Retr0bright attempt), but mine is much, much worse and probably not recoverable. But in the other hand I don't want to spray-paint it.
agreed, i would also keep it marbled. i’d like to think that the original texture of the plastic is more important and gives authenticity, and character.
however i would argue that you could probably soften the effect if not totally cured with a few treatment session.
maybe even trying perafractic / Retro Recipes’ sun bathing method (if you live in a place where 8 hours of straight sunlight is possible)
The case has the same styling of the Atari St range
Yes that's quite charming :D a baby ST of sorts
I had an 800XL
that's 10 minutes I will never get back.
a thousand apologies