Date   : Wed, 09 May 1984 15:45:00 PDT
From   : Harris Shiffman <Shiffman%SCH-GODZILLA@MIT-MC.ARPA>
Subject: ATR8000 Corrections

Some comments about Andrew Malis' review of the SWP ATR8000:

    In Atari mode, the ATR (either the 16K or the 64K model) will act as
a printer interface and buffer (using either the serial or the parallel
port on the ATR for the printer) and as a disk controller.  The disk
controller will handle any combination of up to four 5.25 and 8 inch
diskette drives.  It does not support hard disks, although I have
heard that someone has modified one to do so.

    The software support for the serial port is limited to handling a
serial printer.  There is no software support for serial devices while
in Atari mode.  (CP/M does provide such support.)  The ATR's ROM
includes a printer driver (P:), but no RS232 driver.  To use a serial
printer, you run a provided BASIC program which patches the ATR to send
printer text to the serial port, instead of the parallel port.  By the
way, the ATR does NOT boot most of the copy protected disks I have used
to test it, so it doesn't entirely replace the good old 810.

    In CP/M mode, the ATR uses the Atari as a terminal (which is why it
is easy to replace the Atari with a regular terminal).  The 64K system
comes with the terminal emulator for the Atari.  This emulator supports
the BIT3 80-column board as well as the movable window 40-column screen.