A ? about "heavy sixers"..

[scorch56]

I'm thinking about getting an Atari 2600 (I don't have ANY pre-8bit consoles). I noticed one guy advertising a HS on the bay lists his as being manufactured in mid 1977. He shows the underside label and it says it's manufactured in Sunnyvale and gives the version of CX2600.

Another guy is selling a 2600 from 1978 and he says it's a version CX2600 (but doesn't claim it's a HS).

I was wondering.. were all CX2600's made in Sunnyvale or did they NOT change the version when they went overseas?

[wufners]

Someone more knowledgeable can give you better specifics than I, but my understanding is that Atari did produce some non-heavy sixer, 6-switch systems in Sunnyvale before shipping production overseas.

I find the most reliable way to tell is not to check where it was manufactured, but check out the bottom front corners and the trim. The heavy sixer has noticeably rounder corners than a regular sixer and it has a much heavier trim.

[Night Driver]

All models of the 2600, except the Jr., were made in Sunnyvale and overseas. The 2600 Jr. is only known to have been made overseas.

[Sweater Fish Deluxe]

I didn't know that later 2600s were made in Sunnyvale sometimes, too. I guess that does make it harder to be sure if it's a heavy-sixer form an auction. But you should be able to tell from the picture if it's a heavy sixer or not (unless it's a real bad picture, obviously). They're more rounded and and thick looking, like wufners said.

Personally, if you want the nicest looking 2600, I'd say try to find a Sears branded heavy sixer. They're just like the Atari ones, obviously, but instead of the normal woodgrain trim they've got the way cool burled walnut woodgrain. Way cool. I used to have one, but I sold it a few years ago. If I ever buy a 2600 again, I hope I can find another one.


...word is bondage...

[scorch56]

I have the smaller, 2nd versions of almost every console that had a smaller version (Ya' know.. top-loader NES; SMS II; Gen 2;3 & CDX; little SNES; etc) because I like the looks of them and space is an issue with me. So I'm probably gonna' go for a Junior, but the Vader style looks cool to me too. I was just wondering how you told a heavy sixer CX2600 from a non-HS one. I knew what to look for in a heavy sixer.. I just wasn't sure if they had their OWN version/model #. Thenks for the info.

[Snapple]

A Heavy Sixer? Would that be like Allen Iverson on steroids?

[coreycorey2000]

I might have a spare Heavy Sixer! But the reason for getting a heavey sixer is they are more reliable than the others I believe.

[chaoticjelly]

I had a non-heavy sixer which was made in Sunnyvale (PAL version) a few weeks ago.

I thought all Sunnyvales were heavy-sixers, but got explained to about an hour after listing it on eBay by several people.

[Flack]

See if this covers it.

http://www.atariage.com/2600/archives/consoles.html

[scorch56]

That's a BIG help Flack. Thank you.

[Night Driver]

See if this covers it.

http://www.atariage.com/2600/archives/consoles.html
That page needs to be updated. It's inaccurate and perpetuates a misconception about heavy-sixers by calling them the "Sunnyvale Edition" when, in fact, they were produced overseas as well.

[Sweater Fish Deluxe]

So, you're saying that not only were some of the later six-switch 2600s manufactured in Sunnyvale, but also some of the heavy-sixers were made overseas?

By the way, another way to get a very small 2600 is to convert a Colecovision expansion module 1 into a standalone system. This is very easy to do. You just need to identify which pins are what on the connector. Only three of them matter: DC in, composite out and audio out (and grounds). That gives you a really tiny system, which is a little cooler looking than the 2600jr, in my opinion.


...word is bondage...

[scorch56]

By the way, another way to get a very small 2600 is to convert a Colecovision expansion module 1 into a standalone system. This is very easy to do. You just need to identify which pins are what on the connector. Only three of them matter: DC in, composite out and audio out (and grounds). That gives you a really tiny system, which is a little cooler looking than the 2600jr, in my opinion.


...word is bondage...

Just checked one of those out on evilBay.. that WOULD look cool. Couple'a questions?

Are the ports on the front for Atari controllers or colecovision or are the pinouts the same?

One auction says "Adapter included". Did these units need their own power adaptor?

Oh! and one more? How compatible are these things with the majority of 2600 carts out there?

"Only three of them matter: DC in"
.. uhm.. never mind about that power adapter question.

[wufners]

The ports on the front are for Atari joysticks and paddles, but yeah---Colecovision uses the same 9-pin port (so does the Genesis, amongst others.)

They did not need their own power adaptor--they sucked their power from the Colecovision.

I'm not sure about compaibility issues.

[Night Driver]

So, you're saying that not only were some of the later six-switch 2600s manufactured in Sunnyvale, but also some of the heavy-sixers were made overseas?
That is correct. All 2600 models, excluding the Jr., were made in Sunnyvale and overseas.

[Sweater Fish Deluxe]

Oh! and one more? How compatible are these things with the majority of 2600 carts out there?
As far as I know, there are no compatibility issues. I've certainly never seen any incompatibility list and I've never run into any issues myself (with about 200 2600 carts).

If you decide to do this, let us know how it turns out. I've never done it myself, but I realized you could a few years ago when I was looking into modding my Coleco and noticed that the 2600 module's audio and video were just passed straight to to the RF box making it essentially a stand-alone system. I guess I had previously assumed that the module was more integrated into the Coleco's architecture. At the time, I made a note of which pins on the connector were what since I had two 2600 modules and considered converting one of them, but I never did and I don't have the info anymore either. Shouldn't be hard to figure out, though.


...word is bondage...