Behold my Portfolio-to-USB adapter stack:
- Portfolio Serial Module
- Gender Changer
- Null Modem adapter
- RS232 to USB adapter
this post was submitted on 13 Jun 2023
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Neat! This is a new one to me. Were these compatible with any of the other Atari 8 bit or 16 bit computers?
I don't know much about Atari. My only other retrocomputer is an RC2014 I soldered together. The Portfolio runs DIPDOS, which is compatible to MSDOS 2.11, but has fewer commands. Storage is extremely limited. Internal (usable) storage is 32kb, and I have a RAMcard with extra 32kb. I've looked into buying an extra romcard from ebay, but prices where 50€+ Afaik, neither the connector for the expansion modules, nor the slot for the memory card catched on, because a similar device, but with the first PCMCIA slot, was released within a month or so after the Portfolio came out.
There is a mod though, which would allow the use of CF cards. I still have to work up the courage to do it, because it involves replacing two logic chips, a direct wire from a processor pin to the card slot, the schematics are from a dead site I had to resurrect from the Internet Archive, and the instructions are in Czech.
Neat! Thanks for the informational write-up. If it runs an MSDOS clone it must be unrelated to those other Atari personal computers.
Damn, these aren’t even that expensive on eBay! https://www.ebay.com/itm/166106474559
Yeah, here in Germany I've seen them for 90€ with modules. I'd stay away from offers without RAMcards and modules, though. The Portfolio is not really usable without them, and they're hard (and expensive) to come by on their own.
Wow I'm jealous. I wish I had a retro computer.
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