Atari 1064 (Atari Memory Module 1064)

Summary

The Atari 600XL is considered an indirect successor to the Atari 400, as it is largely compatible with it. Unfortunately Atari left the memory at 16 KiB, which in 1983, when the computer came on the market for 199 USD, was already too scarce. The memory extension Atari 1064 increases the main memory of the Atari 600XL from 16 KiB to 64 KiB, which made him equal with his brother, the Atari 800XL. The module is coloured in the same cream tone as the computer case, with the prototype still in a darker shade. Those who bought a Atari 600XL late in Canada could save themselves the expansion, because there was a variant with 64 KiB, which a golden sticker drew attention to: “64k Memory. Now with a full 64k of memory built-in.”

Atari designed the module for the 50-pin Parallel Bus Interface (PBI) specifically for the Atari 600XL. Although it physically fits other XL computers, such as the Atari 800XL and 1400XL, it does not work with them. The reason is that the 64 KiB Atari 1064 does not simply extend memory: it disables and replaces the Atari 600XL’s 16 KiB, giving a net increase of 48 KiB. It passes the PBI signals through to a connector on the 1064 itself, allowing further modules to be connected in a daisy chain.

Picture: http://www.atarimuseum.com/computers/8BITS/XL/xlperipherals/1064.html