I bought my first Mac in 1992 at University in order to learn 68000 assembly language. Some of you may know this. I chose the Mac over the ST or the Amiga because I wanted a hard drive, and because I saw a second hand Mac SE for the same price as a new Amiga or ST. The Mac seemed to be the one to have. And I've been Mac ever since. But I still wondered about the ST and the Amiga, I still slightly hankered after one. And, of the two, I know the Amiga is the better computer - but the ST always had, in my eyes, the better industrial design. But not enough to pay silly money. However, when I saw an 4160STE on sale recently, with SM124 monitor, boxed and complete for £100 I took a punt. What was the worst that could happen? I'd get outbid. No biggie. And I didn't think anything more of it. I didn't even check the end date for the auction.
So imagine my surprise when I woke the next morning to a notification that I was the proud owner of an STE. I picked it up, and it got better. This thing is immaculate. The board looks brand new, the plastics are bright and unfaded, the shielding shows no sign of rust or corrosion. The only (minor) fly in the ointment is that the mouse is more than slightly temperamental and will need to be replaced. Even the floppy drive works. Yes, it'll probably need to be recapped at some point - but right now, it seems to be fine. No bulgy or weepy caps, no odd smells.
That said… Now I have my hands on one… The ST might have good industrial design. And it might be a masterpiece of circuitry to get that much power into such a low price but… Wow. Atari clearly took a day off when it came to assembly and plastics quality. It's a bloody nightmare to get into. So many screws and a frankly bloody lazy approach to its internal layout. I am enjoying this ST (and I will be upgrading it with a newer TOS and an UltraSatan at the very least), but I can see why the Mac was more expensive. Quality doesn't come cheap. And that's before we consider its obviously inferior operating system (compared with any Mac OS, let along its contemporary System 6 - which ran rings around it)
But… any ST perverts out there (I think I can say that, since I'm now an ST pervert too), what should I do with it next?
So imagine my surprise when I woke the next morning to a notification that I was the proud owner of an STE. I picked it up, and it got better. This thing is immaculate. The board looks brand new, the plastics are bright and unfaded, the shielding shows no sign of rust or corrosion. The only (minor) fly in the ointment is that the mouse is more than slightly temperamental and will need to be replaced. Even the floppy drive works. Yes, it'll probably need to be recapped at some point - but right now, it seems to be fine. No bulgy or weepy caps, no odd smells.
That said… Now I have my hands on one… The ST might have good industrial design. And it might be a masterpiece of circuitry to get that much power into such a low price but… Wow. Atari clearly took a day off when it came to assembly and plastics quality. It's a bloody nightmare to get into. So many screws and a frankly bloody lazy approach to its internal layout. I am enjoying this ST (and I will be upgrading it with a newer TOS and an UltraSatan at the very least), but I can see why the Mac was more expensive. Quality doesn't come cheap. And that's before we consider its obviously inferior operating system (compared with any Mac OS, let along its contemporary System 6 - which ran rings around it)
But… any ST perverts out there (I think I can say that, since I'm now an ST pervert too), what should I do with it next?
