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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?
    Kin Hell 12:25 6th June 2012
    An old thread, but one I couldn't resist voting on. Any chance one gets to slag off this platform is a temptation I can't ever resist. (LOL rkauer)
    I was gutted when the AGA Machines appeared with cheap Stereo sound & saw the Falcon appear with DSP if I recall correctly. Its been a while, but yeah, as an OS, it sucked more than someone trying to blow you through 40 feet of garden hose. Poor support (hence why the games were cheaper), but used widely as a cheap solution for semi-pro music editing.

    My first choice should really have beeen "The Atari ST was complete crap!" I did answer "It was kind of OK, but inferior in many ways". I wish I'd chosen the first to boost the crap factor on the poll now.
    [Reply]
    Harrison 01:56 7th June 2012


    The Falcon with its DSP audio processor was definitely an interesting addition... sadly never really utilised other than in a few audio apps and some demo productions. Although I seem to remember it's implementation had limitations that restricted its use. The STE was also an interesting update to the STFM, adding a bigger colour palette and stereo audio... basically to bring the ST up to the level of the Amiga A500... but much too late.

    And yeah, why wasn't Paula updated for AGA? That baffled me too. 8 channel 16bit would have been a brilliant update. Even the Acorn Archimedes beat the Amiga in this area, although you can't argue that coders really did get the most out of the Amiga's audio over the years. Really did make ST games sound crap.
    [Reply]
    Kin Hell 13:48 7th June 2012
    Yes Dave, but the thing with C= was cheapness when the AGA machines were released. Hence no upgrade to the sound, SCSI not included unless you had an A4KT & then perhaps the chipset itself should have been AAA at the time of AGA release. Considering what the coders did get out of thte Amiga 8Bit Stereo was quite stunnig to say the least.
    [Reply]
    rkauer 02:20 22nd June 2012
    It was only good to make people pulling the hair off.

    Same multitask capabilities of a food blender, monochromatic windows (got a bit better in later POS, oops! TOS) and little more.

    MIDI interface? The Amiga had lots of plug-and-go MIDI interfaces. LOL, even the C64 had MIDI interfaces.

    High resolution... I will not compare apples and oranges, but high resolution at what speed? The same as a 386 running Myst?
    [Reply]
    protek 14:54 22nd June 2012
    I wanted an ST as a kid as my buddies had STs while I had a C64. I ended up getting an Amstrad PC1512 instead. While that may have been a wiser choice in the long run, it certainly didn't feel that back then with the CGA craphics and beeper. Only after I upgraded to 286 with VGA and Sound Blaster, I was able to give my friends' STs a run for their money. Unfortunately I overlooked the Amiga back then. Another friend had an A500 but back then it didn't appear any more impressive than the ST.

    I later found an STE for 5 € at a recycling center, got a SatanDisk for it and later swapped it for an A2000. I kinda miss that machine and have offered to buy it back but haven't been able to complete the deal. I've burned a set of TOS 2.06 ROMs in case I'll get my STE back. While it was technically inferior to the Amiga, it had few good features like integrated PSU and a hard disk controller, which unfortunately isn't very standard. At the moment, though, I'd be more interested in getting an Atari 800 XL or 130 XE than an ST.
    [Reply]
    Kin Hell 21:16 24th June 2012
    Originally Posted by rkauer:
    It was only good to make people pulling the hair off.

    Same multitask capabilities of a food blender, monochromatic windows (got a bit better in later POS, oops! TOS) and little more.

    MIDI interface? The Amiga had lots of plug-and-go MIDI interfaces. LOL, even the C64 had MIDI interfaces.

    High resolution... I will not compare apples and oranges, but high resolution at what speed? The same as a 386 running Myst?
    PMSL!

    Good to see you still have the same Spirit RE: Atari m8.
    [Reply]
    rkauer 06:00 28th June 2012
    Originally Posted by Kin Hell:
    PMSL!

    Good to see you still have the same Spirit RE: Atari m8.
    What spirit?

    I simply refuse to say the the name. I re-baptised it as Otari (as in portuguese/spanish otario = idiot)
    [Reply]
    Phantom 13:13 28th June 2012
    atari atari atari atari atari atari atari atari roxx!!!


    [Reply]
    Kin Hell 14:22 28th June 2012
    Originally Posted by rkauer:
    Originally Posted by Kin Hell:
    PMSL!

    Good to see you still have the same Spirit RE: Atari m8.
    What spirit?

    I simply refuse to say the the name. I re-baptised it as Otari (as in portuguese/spanish otario = idiot)
    Not being able to speak Portuguese, I never realised how close that is. Nice one.

    Originally Posted by Phantom:
    atari atari atari atari atari atari atari atari roxx!!!

    LMFAO!!
    [Reply]
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