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[ Retro Scan of the Week ] The Atari 520ST

February 18th, 2013 by Benj Edwards

Atari ST Atari 520ST Rip-Off Advertisement 1985“There’s only one word for these prices: rip-off.”

[ From Compute!, November 1985, p.9 ]

Discussion Topic of the Week: Which was the better machine: the IBM PC AT, Atari 520ST, Mac 512K, or Amiga 1000?


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6 Responses to “[ Retro Scan of the Week ] The Atari 520ST”

  1. Josh Renaud Says:
    February 18th, 2013 at 3:49 pm

    When the ST premiered, I think you could make a strong argument for it being the better machine, given its low price and its capabilities.

    Unfortunately, Atari didn’t bring out significant updates soon enough. The ST line gained a Blitter, but not much else over the next five years.

    But in my heart, I will always be an Atarian.

  2. SirPaul Says:
    February 18th, 2013 at 7:21 pm

    Honestly, while I am a major fan of the Amiga, I’d say that the AT was the better machine, as it had eight ISA slots, which meant far more expansion opportunity. Then again, each machine had its own niche: The ST was great for music with its built-in MIDI ports, the Amiga was awesome for video editing due to its genlock capabilities, the Macintosh had a lot of good desktop publishing tools, and the AT was a good well-rounded machine with all of its expansion opportunities.

  3. Space Harrier Says:
    February 19th, 2013 at 6:19 am

    As an off the shelf product the Amiga could not be beaten. It was only through expansion that the PC could compete, adding sound/graphics cards. When price came into it though both the ST and Amiga were far cheaper than the PC.

  4. Retrocosm Says:
    February 20th, 2013 at 5:46 am

    I have to agree, out of the box the Amiga was on another level. I distinctly remember several PC owning friends having to lift their chins off of the floor after they saw my A500 in action.

    Happy days.

  5. jarson Says:
    February 23rd, 2013 at 11:46 am

    Definitely the Amiga. It was the next step in computing at that time.

  6. Daniel Says:
    March 21st, 2013 at 3:53 am

    For desktop publishing and musicians the Atari ST was the better value. For multitasking, gaming and everything else, the Amiga was the better system. The AT was too bulky, too expensive, albeit a lot of professional programs were available for it (WordPerfect, Lotus 1-2-3, dBase, Turbo Pascal, etc…) which is why it was popular in the business world.

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