Unimex Duplicator

Summary

Original modules for the Atari 2600 cost between 89,- and 149,- DM. And so in 1984 the German company UNIMEX brought a copy station to the trade at the introductory price of 198,00 DM.

The Duplicator copies data onto EPROMS, sold by the Horton department store chain in capacities of 4 KiB (model SP-2801) and 8 KiB (SP-2802). A pack of 3 cartridges of 4 KiB costs around 60 DM; an 8 KiB cartridge costs about 27 DM.

Only about 20% of the modules are actually copyable. Copy errors cannot be displayed, and only a later test shows whether the duplicate was successful. Also the size of a game cannot be displayed by the duplicater.

Stephen Finta is the managing director of UNIMEX and imports the equipment from East Asia. Initially UNIMEX has sales rights for Atari products. But Atari wants to prevent the duplicater. Klaus Ollman, the managing director of Atari Germany, sues UNIMEX and UNIMEX loses.