Classicamiga Forum Retro Edition
Poll: How bad was the Atari ST, really?
How bad was the Atari ST, really?
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    Thread: If you are really honest, how bad do you really think the Atari ST was?
    Shoonay 11:57 15th June 2009
    No idea, never had one

    But it was incredibly funny seeing constant complaints from Atari users at all those paper mags where they kept on nagging about "why the @#@#$ don't you review Atari games!"
    And that was since I got me very own precious A600 in 1993.
    [Reply]
    Fern 20:13 1st July 2009
    Built in midi ports, and a vast array of synth editor / sequencer software makes it a WIN. Limited sound and video abilities make it a fail. I suppose it depends what you want from the system
    [Reply]
    woody.cool 09:09 2nd July 2009
    In my opinion, the ST was an 'epic fail' .... the STE should have been the machine to arrive at that stage, in which case, the Amiga would have had some healthy competition.
    [Reply]
    toomanymikes 22:18 4th July 2009
    Originally Posted by Harrison:
    A bit of a shock to some, but I've also recently acquired some Atari hardware too! An Atari 520STFM, identical to the one I used to own years ago. Brings back some memories, but most of all it was quite a shock to actually use on for real again and realise how inferior they really are to the Amiga.

    The one thing I do like about the ST is that it gives the feel of real retro computing. The system wasn't as cutting edge as the Amiga by a long way, but the chip tunes and borders around the screen displays all add to the retro feel from the 8-bit and early 16-bit era and it does create a nice warm feeling of nostalgia. Just not as warm as when using an Amiga!

    Still... it gives me chance to play around with the ST exclusive games, and to explore the ST demo scene in some more detail than I ever did before.

    And I'm after more ST hardware now too! I'm looking for an 1040STE! I wanted one of these at the time when I was originally an ST owner, and it would be nice to get hold of one.
    you gonna start a classic st site now too?
    [Reply]
    v85rawdeal 00:14 5th July 2009
    The Atari STE...

    ...One step up from an STD!!!
    [Reply]
    Cortona 20:47 5th July 2009
    Originally Posted by woody.cool:
    In my opinion, the ST was an 'epic fail' .... the STE should have been the machine to arrive at that stage, in which case, the Amiga would have had some healthy competition.
    Wasn't the ST rushed out in typical Jack Tramiel style? I'm sure he was desperate to beat the Amiga to market. Like other tyrants (yes, you, Steve Jobs) he would enforce impossible deadlines on his workforce and end up with a product first to market but not quite as good as it could have been.
    [Reply]
    Harrison 11:24 6th July 2009
    Yep. Atari lost their attempt to obtain the Amiga to Commodore, so they had to quickly design their own 16-bit computer to compete with Commodore.

    The shortcomings of the ST were due to components needing to be off the shelf to save development time, and to get the system out quickly they didn't have the time to develop their own OS so they purchased the rather dire GEM desktop, which already existed as an OS for the PC.

    In contrast the Amiga as we know was well designed from the ground up with custom hardware chips, and the OS was well designed specifically to take advantage of the custom chipset and hardware design. Making it a long way ahead of the ST.
    [Reply]
    Thunderhawk 16:36 10th July 2009
    i got an c64 then i got amiga 600 because i wanted monkey island 2 lechucks revenge, i never got atari st i liked the advert for it tho it had the song sun shine on the rain again, does anyone remember it
    [Reply]
    Harrison 16:53 10th July 2009
    I don't remember any ST adverts. Maybe you could find the advert on youtube?
    [Reply]
    v85rawdeal 18:24 11th July 2009
    The ad I remember had lost of computery looking icons whizzing around the screen and then flying into the disk drive slot on the ST... (Or maybe I just dreamed it...)
    [Reply]
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