🚀 go-pugleaf

Hello.  A few weeks ago I asked some newsgroups about a computer to buy
for my 3-year old.  After doing a lot of research, I finally decided on
the Atari 800 XL.

A few days ago, I got the machine, showed my son how to play a few games...
And guess what?  For a guy who loves Cray XMP-48s, Suns, and Macintoshes,
I LIKE THE ATARI MYSELF!!  In fact, I'm quite taken by it!  At $1 a 
kilobyte, and with nice graphics, it's really a pleasant machine (much better
than a C164 or one of those terrible PCjrs).  However, I have a few questions,
and would appreciate it if some people could set me straight on a few
points....

1.  What fun stuff can technical types do with their machines?  Are all
    these Rambo XLs really something neat?  Are their books around showing
    neat hardware things one can do?  What types of fun software is there
    around (note:  for serious stuff I am still married to my Mac....)

2.  Is the public domain software good enough to justify buying a disk
    drive?  What's the best one to buy?

3.  What mail-order places is it best to avoid?  What are the best games
    to play for a child?  Does the monitor cable really improve the image
    over the antenna?  Where can I find out about how to make an RGB
    input/output?

4.  Is it fun taking the thing apart?  (Hell, for $69, I can buy three of
    them!)

Thanks in advance for any replies.  By the way, I could not resend mail to
some of you last time; thanks for your comments, it really helped.
--

bill peter             

Los Alamos National Laboratory             ihnp4!lanl!wkp
University of New Mexico                   ihnp4!lanl!unm-la!peter