--- title: Atari 65XEP / 65XEM categories: - Computers types: - Home Computer origins: - U.S.A. years: - '1985' cpus: - MOS 6502C params: name: 65XEP / 65XEM image: /media/museum/photos/atari_65xep_system_1.jpg company: /companies/atari company_name: Atari specs: - label: NAME value: 65XEP / 65XEM - label: MANUFACTURER value: Atari - label: TYPE value: Home Computer - label: ORIGIN value: U.S.A. - label: YEAR value: '1985' - label: BUILT IN LANGUAGE value: Atari Basic - label: KEYBOARD value: Full-stroke keyboard, 57 keys + 5 function keys (Help, Start, Select, Option, Reset) - label: CPU value: MOS 6502C - label: SPEED value: 1.79 MHz - label: CO-PROCESSOR value: GTIA (video), POKEY (Sound, I/O), ANTIC (Video), FREDDY (memory) - label: RAM value: 64 Kb - label: ROM value: 24 Kb - label: TEXT MODES value: 'Five text modes, maximum : 40 x 24' - label: GRAPHIC MODES value: '11 graphic modes, maximum : 320 x 192' - label: COLORS value: Monochrome green (65XEP), 16 colors with 15 intensity level each (65XEM) - label: SOUND value: 4 voices, 3.5 octaves (65XEP), 8 voices, 11 octaves (65XEM) - label: SIZE / WEIGHT value: Unknown (65XEP) - label: I/O PORTS value: Composite video output, Cardridge port, Expansion port, SIO peripheral port (tape, disk, printer, modem), 2 x joystick connectors - label: BUILT IN MEDIA value: 360 Kb 3.5'' floppy disk drive (65XEP), none (65XEM) - label: OS value: AtariOS (65XEP) - label: POWER SUPPLY value: Built-in poxer supply unit (65XEP), external power supply unit - 1A, 5v cc (65XEM) - label: PRICE value: Less than $400 (65XEP), less than $200 (65XEM) tabs: - photos - hardware - emulators - links - docs - videos photos: - title: 65XEP LARGER VIEW subtitle: '' text: '' image: /media/museum/photos/atari_65xep_system_2.jpg hardware: - title: INDUS GT subtitle: 5''/14 disk-drive text: The Indus GT Double Density Drive is considered by many the best floppy drive available for the 8-bit Atari's with its digital readouts and smoke plexi cover. image: /media/museum/hardware/atari_800_indus-gt_disk-drive_1.jpg - title: ASTRA 2001 FD UNIT subtitle: Dual 5.25 text: Dual 5.25" FDD unit using single side, single or double density floppy drives image: /media/museum/hardware/atari_800_astra2001fd_1.jpg - title: PERCOM DISC DRIVE subtitle: Advert text: |- March 1983 Advert said: The Percom Data AT-88 offers 88 Kbytes (formatted) in single-density, with plug-in ease of attachment to your Atari. The AT-88 has integral power supply, "no-patch" to Atari DOS and critical constant speed regulation.\ Take advantage of this low introductory price of $488... image: /media/museum/hardware/atari_800_percomad_1.jpg - title: CORVUS SYSTEMS HARD-DRIVE subtitle: 10Mb hard-drive text: |- This is a 10Mb hard-drive. With up to 8 multiplexers with 8 ports each it's possible to connect up to 64 Atari 800's up to a single 10 or even 20 megabyte Atari system. Still in use Today at the Fordham Prepatory School in the Bronx, NY is a 64 Atari 800 computer network hooked up to a single Corvus Hard drive system ! The Corvus hard disk system also sported a unique and innovative back-up system called "The Corvus Mirror" which was a VCR interface system that allowed you to plug a standard Video Cassette Recorder (VCR) up to the Corvus Hard Drive System to save back-ups of the hard disk onto actual Video Tapes!!! image: /media/museum/hardware/atari_atari800_hd-corvus-systems_1.jpg - title: TOUCH TABLET subtitle: '' text: The touch tablet was the best tool for drawing and painting. It shipped with the AtariArtist cartridge. image: /media/museum/hardware/atari_800xl_touchtablet_s1.jpg emulators: - title: SIO2PC url: http://www.cswnet.com/~nkennedy/sio2pc.htm platform: MS DOS text: PC emulates Atari Disk - title: Altirra url: http://www.virtualdub.org/altirra.html platform: Windows text: Altirra, an 8-bit Atari computer emulator - title: Atari800Win url: http://www.concentric.net/~Twist/atari800win/ platform: Windows text: '' - title: Atari800Win Plus url: http://a800win.atari-area.prv.pl/ platform: Windows text: Atari 8 bit emulator for windows - title: WAHCE Home Page url: http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Node/4391/ platform: Windows text: '' - title: XFormer url: http://www.emulators.com/xformer.htm platform: Windows text: '' - title: Chris Lam's Website url: http://www.chrislam.co.uk/ platform: Apple text: homepage for Horizon - title: The Atari 800 Emulator for the Mac url: http://www.serve.com/derekl/atari/atari_emu.html platform: Apple text: '' - title: WACKE url: http://www.ctaz.com/~jlfenton/Wacke.html platform: Apple text: '' - title: ACE url: http://www.csh.rit.edu/~shaggy/software.html platform: Unix / Linux text: '' - title: Atari++ url: http://www.math.tu-berlin.de/~thor/atari++/ platform: Unix / Linux text: Unix based emulator of the Atari eight bit computers, namely the Atari 400 and 800, the Atari 400XL, 800XL and 130XE, and the Atari 5200 game console - title: Atari800 url: http://atari800.sourceforge.net/ platform: Multiplatform text: Atari800 is an Atari 800, 800XL, 130XE and 5200 emulator for Unix, Amiga, MS-DOS, Atari TT/Falcon, SDL and WinCE links: - title: 8-bit ATARI Assembly Language url: http://oort.com/turbots/asm.htm text: '' - title: Antic - The Atari Resource url: http://www.atarimagazines.com/ text: '' - title: APE - Atari Peripheral Emulator for DOS and Windows - Home Page url: http://www.nacs.net/~classics/ text: '' - title: Atari 2600-7800 FAQ url: http://www.cs.colostate.edu/~dzubera/2600faq.html text: '' - title: Atari 65XEM AMY sound chip url: http://www2.asw.cz/~kubecj/achamy.htm text: Detailed history of this chip - title: Atari 8-Bit Computers Frequently Asked Questions url: http://www.chez.com/cmpi/paleo/8bits/atari/faq_atar.htm text: '' - title: 'Atari 8-bit computers: 400/800/XL/XE' url: http://www.santellocco.com/ATARI/ text: dedicated website in italian - title: Atari 8-bit New User, Emulator Help FAQ - v2.1 url: http://www.sonic.net/~nbs/new_and_emu.html text: '' - title: Atari 8-bit SpartaDOS Project url: http://www.celebritybase.net/atari8/ text: '' - title: Atari Gaming Headquarters Main Page url: http://www.atarihq.com/ text: '' - title: Atari Magazines url: http://www.atarimagazines.com/ text: Contains the full text of all issues of ANTIC magazine and moste of the STart ones ! - title: Atari XL-XE Games And Demos Page url: http://www.tu-chemnitz.de/~sgl/atari/ text: '' - title: ATARI.ORG url: http://www.atari.org/ text: Looking for something on any Atari machine ? Follow the links ! - title: ATARIARCHIVES.ORG url: http://www.atariarchives.org/ text: Wow! This site is preserving and archiving information about & software for Atari and other classic computers. Everything here is available with the permission of the copyright holders. - title: Dead Hackers Society url: http://www.dhs.nu/ text: Downloads, tools, news and more - title: Homepage Nyman Atari 8 bit url: http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/2741/8bit.html text: '' - title: Ken's Atari 8-bit Page url: http://home.columbus.rr.com/ksiders/atari.htm text: '' - title: Mac-Atari Fusion url: http://www2.bitstream.net/~marksim/atarimac/ text: Atari 8bit Resources for Mac Users - title: MacFalkner's XL Homepage url: http://members.aol.com/MacFalkner/atariindex.htm text: '' - title: Personal Atari Web Page url: http://rjespino.tripod.com/atari.html text: jpeg viewer for the Atari 8-bit and some other tools - title: Polish Atari Wikipedia url: http://atariki.krap.pl text: A lot of info about Atari (in polish) - title: Reminiscing 8-Bit Atari Games url: http://www.qlam.com/atari/atari.html text: '' - title: Satantronic Atari Crew, Atari XL-XE and Falcon 030 url: http://www.napri.sk/web/satantronic/ text: '' - title: The Atari 800 XE Laptop url: http://www.benheck.com/Games/Atari_800/Atari_800_laptop_1.htm text: This guy explain how he made a laptop Atari 800 ! - title: The Atari Historical Society url: http://www.atari-history.com/ text: The complete history of Atari Arcade and Home games and computers. Complete site with pictures, commercials (streaming), and full text articles. Amazing site ! - title: www.ataricave.com url: http://www.ataricave.com text: Atari 8-bit Games reviews, original manuals, music, maps and more! - title: XL Search - The Atari 8-bit File Archive Search Engine url: http://www.newbreedsoftware.com/xlsearch/ text: '' - title: Web Wiz CAPTCHA url: http://www.webwizcaptcha.com text: Programming on the Atari computers docs: - title: ATARI SYSTEM REFERENCE MANUAL url: http://www.classiccmp.org/dunfield/atarixe/index.htm cover: /media/museum/docs/couvs/doc_atarirefmanual.jpg text: |- [**ATARI SYSTEM REFERENCE MANUAL**](http://www.classiccmp.org/dunfield/atarixe/index.htm)written by Bob DuHamel (1987)  compiled/archived by Ivo van Poorten\  type of document : PDF\  size : 160 KB\  source : [Daves Old Computers](http://www.classiccmp.org/dunfield) **... READ THE ONLINE VERSION BY CLICKING BELOW :** videos: - title: Atari Home Computer laser disc - Introduction url: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54mvCo1uq5A text: 'Length: 5 min 20 s' - title: Atari Home Computer laser disc - Conclusion url: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQDQWvwZ-2w text: 'Length: 1 min 30 s' comments: - author: Asshat date: Thursday 9th January 2014 text: http://steamwalletcodes.com/ - author: Asshat date: Thursday 9th January 2014 text: http://steamwalletcodes.com/ - author: Asshat date: Thursday 9th January 2014 text: http://steamwalletcodes.com/ - author: Stormtrooper of Death (europe) date: Sunday 5th November 2006 text: Although the 65XEM never made it to mass production, the 800XL and XE systems could be upgraded to Stereo sound, by adding a second POKEY chip to the mainboard. Then you could have 8 channels stereo sound (double as Amiga 4 channels... lol). Some newer games made use of this upgrade and had stereo sound-FX or music. related: - /museum/atari-1200-xl - /museum/atari-1400-xl - /museum/atari-1450-xld - /museum/atari-400 - /museum/atari-600-800-xl - /museum/atari-65-130-xe - /museum/atari-800 - /museum/atari-800xe oc_id: 958 source: url: https://web.archive.org/web/20230202014654/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=958 date: '2023-02-02' --- The **65XEP** was the first portable computer Atari designed. It was first exhibited in 1985, at the CES show. With the 65XEP, Atari intended to compete with the Commodore [SX-64](/museum/commodore-sx-dx-64-executive-computer/) It was actually a portable version of the Atari [65XE](/museum/atari-65-130-xe/) including a 3.5" 360 KB disk drive, a 5" green CRT and a battery pack. The price was fixed at less than $400, but Atari never released this machine. Apparently only one prototype was built. At the same time, Atari announced a second variation of the 65XE, the 65XEM (for XE Music). This version featured a new powerful polyphonic sound chip called AMY with 8 independent sound voices and 64 oscillators. It was able to synthesize voice and any musical instrument sound much better than the [Commodore 64](/museum/commodore-c64/)'s SID chip. However, the AMY chip never reached production, so the 65XEM never passed the prototype stage either. Thanks to [Cyberroach](http://www.cyberroach.com/cyromag/) for the picture. --- **About the AMY soundchip, Malcolm Ramage adds:**\ While the XEM was the only machine announced that (Should have) used the AMY soundchip, early design notes for the Atari ST also mention the chip. Using AMY in the ST, and the XEM were dropped due to a small problem, nobody knew how to program the chip!\ When Jack Trammiel took over Atari, he cut the staff down to around 500, getting rid of the old research and design teams and replacing them with many of the designers he trusted who came with him from Commodore. All the machines already in development were cancelled, including the Sierra project, from which the AMY chip came from. While demo;s of the chip in action were played when the XEM was shown, these were tests done before Atari was sold.\ Without the knowledge to use AMY, this advanced sound system was doomed to stay in the research labs forever.
We need more info about this computer ! If you designed, used, or have more info about this system, please send us pictures or anything you might find useful.