--- title: Atari 400 categories: - Computers types: - Home Computer origins: - U.S.A. years: - '1979' cpus: - '6502' params: name: '400' image: /media/museum/photos/atari_400_system_s1.jpg logo: /media/museum/logos/atari-400_logo.gif company: /companies/atari company_name: Atari specs: - label: NAME value: '400' - label: MANUFACTURER value: Atari - label: TYPE value: Home Computer - label: ORIGIN value: U.S.A. - label: YEAR value: '1979' - label: END OF PRODUCTION value: '1982' - label: KEYBOARD value: |- QWERTY membrane keyboard, 61 keys\ 4 function keys (Reset, Option, Select, Start) - label: CPU value: '6502' - label: SPEED value: 1.79 Mhz - label: CO-PROCESSOR value: ANTIC (Scrolling, Sprites, Video), CTIA / GTIA (Color, Sprites, Collisions), POKEY (timers, sound, keyboard, serial I/O), PIA 6810 (I/O, including the 4 joystick ports) - label: RAM value: 8 KB or 16 KB (newer models) - label: ROM value: 10 KB - label: TEXT MODES value: 40 x 25 - label: GRAPHIC MODES value: 'several graphic modes, maximum : 320 x 192' - label: COLORS value: |- 16 (each color can have 8 luminances) = 128 colors maximum in the lowest graphic mode (requiring display list interruption to have them simultaneously)\ and up to 256 colors in some specific modes for machines having the GTIA chip instead of the CTIA - label: SOUND value: 4 voices, 3.5 octaves - label: SIZE / WEIGHT value: Unknown - label: I/O PORTS value: Monitor RGB output, RF TV video output, 1 cartridge slot, Atari Serial Input/Ouput (SIO) port, 4 controller jacks - label: OS value: 400/800 OS in ROM - label: POWER SUPPLY value: External power supply - label: PRICE value: $500 (US) tabs: - photos - adverts - hardware - emulators - links - docs - videos forum_thread: 91 photos: - title: ATARI 400 subtitle: '' text: '' image: /media/museum/photos/atari_400_2_hr.jpg - title: THE FLOPPY DISK UNIT ATARI 810 subtitle: '' text: it uses 5.25" floppy disks and can store about 86 KB / disk. image: /media/museum/photos/disk_xl.jpg - title: THE ATARI JOYSTICK subtitle: '' text: it is the same used with Atari VCS 2600 console. image: /media/museum/photos/xl_joy.jpg - title: THE ATARI TAPE RECORDER subtitle: '' text: (600 bauds transfer rate) image: /media/museum/photos/xl_k7.jpg adverts: - title: ADVERT subtitle: '' text: Picture courtesy of [Steve Browning, www.sbrowning.com/vintage](http://www.sbrowning.com/vintage). image: /media/museum/pubs/atari_400-800_pub_1.jpg - title: 'US ADVERT #2 (1979)' subtitle: '' text: |- Advert said: Compare the built-in features of leading microcomputers with the Atari personal computers. And go ahead, compare apples and oranges. Their most expensive against our least expensive: the Atari 400... image: /media/museum/pubs/atari_400-800_pub_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 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 400 OWNER'S GUIDE url: http://www.trailingedge.com/atari8/ cover: /media/museum/docs/couvs/atari_400_owner-guide.jpg text: |- [**ATARI 400 OWNER'S GUIDE**](http://www.trailingedge.com/atari8/)written by Atari  compiled/archived by David Williams\  type of document : PDF\  source : [www.trailingedge.com](http://www.trailingedge.com/) - 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 400 commercial url: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sr28fygmOQ text: 'Length: 28 s' - 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' related: - /museum/atari-1200-xl - /museum/atari-1400-xl - /museum/atari-1450-xld - /museum/atari-600-800-xl - /museum/atari-65-130-xe - /museum/atari-65xep-65xem - /museum/atari-800 - /museum/atari-800xe oc_id: 76 source: url: https://web.archive.org/web/20230607051808/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=76 date: '2023-06-07' --- The Atari 400 and [800](/museum/atari-800/) were the first home computers to use custom coprocessors and the first to use "sprites" and special video interruptions like display lists, features that will be implemented later on the Commodore [64](/museum/commodore-c64/) and [Amiga](/museum/commodore-amiga-1000/) (Atari 400/800 and Amiga were designed by Jay Miner). It offered high graphic resolution, lots of colors and great sound capabilities, more than other computers could do then ! The two models had same characteristics, the 400 is the low-cost version, it has only 16 KB (instead of 48 KB), one cartridge port (two for the [800](/museum/atari-800/)) and a membrane keyboard (a typewriter style keyboard one for the 800). Originally, the 400 was sold with 8 KB RAM, but later most 400s were shipped with 16 KB. The 800 was expandable to 48 KB by adding cartridges, as the case opened upwards to reveal 3 slots behind the program cartridge slots. The expansion in the 400 (which had an identical motherboard) was only available by removal of the top half of the case, as it did not open past the (single) program cartridge slot, and was only possible through a registered Atari dealer. The Atari 400 was known inside Atari as code name "Candy". --- **Tristan Smith** adds:\ The keyboard was very much disliked on this thing. There were several replacement keyboards on the market. Some connected via cable to one of the ports (and required a TSR program be loaded). Others required you open the system up and replace the actual keyboard. One that I remember was adhesive! It had all the keys on it with "eraser" type rubber things on the underside. You peeled off the backing and attached it over the membrane keyboard. When you pressed a key, the eraser would press the membrane key. As unresponsive as that was, it was still better than the original.\ Not too many people realized that the Joystick ports were true I/O and could be used to control devices. There were a bunch of items that used the joystick ports. I remember building a phone dialer with them.... **Adin Seskin** reports:\ The sound on these computers was particularly impressive. Apart from 4 square-wave generators, you could covert them to 2 voices with a far greater frequency range, and the voice generator could also produce general video-game noises very easily - explosions, machine noises etc.\ At one point a surprisingly good software-based speech synthesizer was developed, to exploit the sound chip. It had to disable all interrupts, especially video DMA, in order to generate the sounds, which rather limited its use.\ Not many people know that the same sound generator was also used for data encoding when saving programs or data to the cassette or disk systems.