XE Generation - 800XE, 65XE, 130XE, XEGS Atari Home Computers

{Preserved from a now-defunct Atari board}

XE Generation - 800XE, 65XE, 130XE, XEGS

Model: 65XE

Release Date: May 1985
Spec: CPU: 6502 1.79mhz / Ram: 64kb
Display: 24 X 40 text

Initial Sale Price: $199

Information: XE was abbreviation of XL-Expanded. Launched in 1985, in sync with the first Atari ST computers - they were aesthetically alike. Were to be called Atari 900XLF (XL-Freddie). Hardware-wise was the same as 800XL but lacked PBI. Subsequent releases included the ECI port of the 130XE.​

Model: 130XE

Release Date: May 1985
Spec: CPU: 6502 1.79mhz / Ram: 128kb
Display: 24 X 40 text

Initial Sale Price: $299

Information: Design and feel much the same as 65XE, with two obvious enhancements. Having 128 KB of bank-selectable memory and an Enhanced Cartridge Interface - compatible with the PBI, but smaller in size. ECI peripherals would plug into both the standard Cartridge Interface and the ECI.​

Model: XE Games System

Release Date: May 1987
Spec: CPU: 6502 1.79mhz / Ram: 64kb
Display: 24 X 40 text

Initial Sale Price: $199

Information: For all intents and purposes this was a re-badged, re-modelled, re-cased 65XE, being compatible with most of the pre-existing hardware and software. The XE Game System was came with a detachable keyboard, a joystick and a light gun, and two game cartridges - Bug Hunt and Flight Simulator II.​

Model: 800XE

Release Date: 1987
Spec: CPU: 6502 1.79mhz / Ram: 64kb
Display: 24 X 40 text

Initial Sale Price: Dm 379

Information: Very similar hardware as the 800XL with a look and feel of the 130XE. The Freddie chip allowed for better memory-management of graphics, and addressing of 128Kb of ram, giving Antic better access to shared ram. Memory upgrades were affordable - a simple two-chip upgrade would expand the 800XE to 128Kb. I/O design was identical to 130XE - including the ECI port. Being only sold in Eastern Europe - East Germany, Czechoslovakia and Poland, in the main - this resulted in a shorter shelf-life, of just under one year. Badged as 800XE in its sales territories, to make maximum gains from the success of the original 800XL.​

Note:

Not all XE Ataris have an ECI (enhanced cartridge interface) - the NTSC 65xe, for example. However, it's worth noting the "enhancements" this port brings:-

The ECI is an upgrade of XL PBI. Some lines - CAS, CasInh, RAS and RDY, were abandoned and replaced with +5V, D1xx and Halt - thus providing PBI capability.​