Atari 8-bit computer peripherals

Atari's peripherals were named after the machines they were intended to be used with, so in general they have names like "410" and "1050". All of them used the proprietary SIO port, which allowed them to be daisy chained together into a single string; a method also used in Commodore's home computers from the VIC-20 onwards. These "intelligent" peripherals were more expensive than the standard IBM PC devices, which did not need the added SIO electronics.

400/800 series

• 410 tape drive, 600 bit/s on cassettes
• 810 5¼" floppy disk, single-density single-sided, 90 KiB
• 815 dual 5¼" floppy disks, double-density single-sided, 180 KiB (only small numbers produced)
• 820 printer, 40-column dot matrix on adding machine paper
• 822 printer, 40-column thermal on slightly wider paper
• 825 printer, 80-column dot matrix (Centronics 737)
• 830 300-baud modem, using an acoustic coupler, used RS-232 so required an 850 (Novation CAT)
• 835 300-baud modem, direct connect, basic Hayes compatible with SIO interface
• 850 expansion system, included four RS-232 ports and one Centronics parallel port
• CX-85 Numerical Keypad, external keypad that plugs into the joystick ports.

XL series

1020 4-color Plotter

• 1010 tape drive, a smaller replacement for the 410
• 1020 color printer, 40-column plotter with 4 pens
• 1025 printer, 80-column dot matrix (Okidata ML-80)
• 1027 printer, 80-column letter quality that printed with a 5-wheels-on-a-drum system kept inked by a top-mounted roller (Mannesmann Tally Riteman LQ)
• 1029 printer, 80-column lower-quality 7-pin dot matrix sold in Europe (Seikosha mechanism)
• 1030 300 baud modem, direct connect
• 1050 5¼" floppy disk, "enhanced density" format single-sided, 130 KiB
• 1064 memory module, 64 KiB memory expansion for 600XL
• CX77 touch tablet

XE series

XC12 tape drive

• XEP80 80-column display module, parallel port
• XC11 tape drive
• XC12 tape drive (small model like the 1010, sold worldwide). Similar models were released, mainly in Eastern Europe. These included:-
  • XCA12 (same case as XC12)
  • CA12 (same case as XC12)
  • XL12 tape drive (an XC12 with minor changes)
  • XC13 - "T2000 ready" version of XC12
• XF551 5¼" floppy disk, double-density double-sided, 360 KiB
• XMM801 printer, 80-column dot matrix
• XDM121 printer, 80-column letter quality daisy wheel
• XM301 300 baud modem
• SX212 1200 baud modem (also included RS-232 for use on Atari ST computers)

In addition to the list above, Atari failed to release a huge selection of machines and peripherals that were otherwise completed. See the externally linked FAQ below for details.

External links

• Atari 8-Bit Computers: Frequently Asked Questions- includes information on unreleased peripherals.