1987/91
- The First MS-DOS Atari system to
ship was the i8088 "PC-1" in 1987. It was housed in a Mega ST style case,
with a 5.25" FDD at the front. It came standard with a Green monochrome
monitor (12"), an ST Mouse and PC style serial keyboard.
Atari also launched the
"ABC" systems and then the PC3, 4 and 5 ranges. Atari models, especially
the second run of ABC systems and PC3's were built to a very high specification.
Where most PC compatibles were housed in generally standard "off the shelf"
cases, Atari had begun to design and build their own. Using high quality
components, relatively speaking for PC's at this time, manufacturing
costs were high, which didn't help sales. From the Intel 8088 to the 386SX, Atari PC systems did relatively
well in Europe, where most of them were sold.*
*DRAM
issues hit Atari PC systems a number of times, and the ST line was always
first in-line for memory, while PC systems were delayed and stuck in Taiwan.
Memory was expensive in the late 80's, and there were only a handful of
manufacturing facilities globally. Atari had even toyed with the
idea of manufacturing RAM chips by building its own facility.
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