The computer
Although it was produced in limited quantity for a few months only, the Atari 1200XL is common in the USA. Still, it remains much more difficult to acquire for European collectors like me.
Nowadays, I am still amazed by the timeless modern look of the XL series. An Atari XL (800XL) was recently included in a French auction of 2.000 objects with iconic design, ranging from Dieter RAMS (for Braun) to Le Corbusier (who was credited for a radio).
Made in
I am very lucky – for a European Atari collector – to own several 1200XL, including a early model made in the USA and a later model made in Taiwan.
The connectors
The superb Atari logo on boot up
PEEK identification
Using 'PEEK' commands in BASIC to find out about the OS, Basic and GTIA versions.
For your information, the results are:
PEEK(53268) = 15 [NTSC]
PEEK(65528) = 191 [Not a 400/800]
PEEK(65527) = 10 [XL OS Rev. A, 1982-10-26, 1200XL (most)]
PEEK(43234) = 162 [Atari BASIC Rev. A, in external cartridge]