Something I've been thinking about on and off for some time is the possibility of implementing something along the lines of an Atari 400 with an 8052 instead of the 6502 which were actually used.

My first computer was an Atari 400 (16k RAM), then an Atari 800XL (64k RAM, I believe), later an Atari 130XE (128k RAM). Thereafter I left the 6502 architecture for Atari 16-bits and finally PC compatibles. But the original Atari 8-bit line is something I still remember fondly.

What is amazing is that these were pretty capable computers, having a Disk Operating System, relatively advanced graphics, and 4-channel sound even with just the 16k available on the Atari 400. The graphics, at 160x80, were pretty impressive at the time (though retrospectively speaking that's less than a Palm these days!).

Anyway, something I've been thinking about is putting together a full-blown 8-bit computer based on an 8052 part. I'm not talking about an SBC, I'm talking about a full computer along the lines of the original Atari with video-out that would hook to a monitor or a TV and a disk operating system that would interface with an IDE hard drive. Perhaps use FAT32 to be compatible with existing formatted drives. I'm also not talking about making it Atari-compatible, but I think an 8052 computer ought to rival or exceed the capabilities of those machines.

This would just be for the sake of doing it, for the challenge--not because I perceive any real use for such a thing.

Does anyone have any thoughts on such a project? Any interest in participating in hardware design or software development?

Regards,
Craig Steiner