Atari 8-bit Family - Peripherals

Peripherals

During the lifetime of their 8-bit series, Atari released a large number of peripherals. These included:

• Several dedicated cassette tape drives. All were similar, and capable of recording at 600 bit/s on a standard audio cassette. (Unlike some computer systems, it was not possible to use a standard cassette deck with the Atari for this purpose.)
• Various 5.25-inch floppy disk drives, including single, enhanced and true double-density models.
• Several printers of various types; dot matrix, thermal, 4-color plotter and letter-quality daisy wheel.
• Modems, including one model with an acoustic coupler and other direct-connect models.
• Other peripherals, including a Centronics/RS-232 expansion system, numeric keypad, memory module, touch tablet and an 80-column display module.

Atari's peripherals used the proprietary Atari SIO port, which allowed them to be daisy chained together into a single string. A primary goal of the Atari computer design was user-friendliness which was assisted by the SIO bus. Since only one kind of connector plug is used for all devices the Atari computer was easy for novice users to expand. Devices on the bus have their own IDs and peripherals can deliver downloadable drivers to the Atari computer during the boot process. However, the additional electronics in these "intelligent" peripherals made them cost more than the equivalent "dumb" devices used by other systems of that era.