I have been after one of these for a while, and there has been one on a shelf in Retro Bristol (and Retro Gamez HQ in Swindon if you also want one) for a number of weeks now, and finally I cracked and bought it
This is the consolised version of the Atari 65XE (or 800XL) which I already have, it was released in late 1987 and it had an optional keyboard which transformed it into a full computer, unfortunately I did not get the keyboard, which did make this quite cheap as the keyboard is the big money items with these
Without the keyboard it does not boot to BASIC, and can only play games that do not require the keyboard, a bit like the C64 GS
Everything is set at a rather jaunty angle. The function buttons are included which is what most games used, so the lack of keyboard wasn't that much of a problem
You get a large embossed ATARI logo, a power button with indicator, the normal Atari Start, Select, Option, and Reset buttons, and an unprotected cartridge slot
Close-ups of the cartridge slot and pastel coloured buttons
Close-ups of the Atari logo and power button, and embossed XE System branding
The base of the console with model label and angled joystick and keyboard ports which point towards the front of the console
The rear of the console
Composite video, audio, and RF output on the left. And the Atari SIO port and power connection on the right. The SIO port can connect to many different devices and can be daisy chained to connect several devices at the same time, examples are printers, disk drives, and modems
The keyboard connector on the left and the two atari standard joystick ports on the right, I did recently pick up an XEGS joystick, these were like the Atari 2600 CX40 joysticks but in a grey colour to match this system
The PSU is heavy like other systems of the era
PSU model label and plugs
A "new" RF lead was included, the price on the bag is £11, that can't be right, can it?
It did come with a game, Bug Hunt, never played it, no idea what it's like
The game installed in the console
?OVERFLOW ERROR