The STacy is a

portable computer A portable computer is a computer designed to be easily moved from one place to another and included a display and keyboard together, with a single plug, much like later desktop computers called '' all-in-ones'' (AIO), that integrate the sy ...

version of the

Atari ST The Atari ST is a line of personal computers from Atari Corporation and the successor to the Atari 8-bit family. The initial model, the Atari 520ST, had limited release in April–June 1985 and was widely available in July. It was the first pers ...

. The computer was originally designed to operate on 12 standard C cell flashlight batteries for portability. When Atari realized how quickly the machine would use up a set of batteries (especially when rechargeable batteries of the time supplied insufficient power compared to the intended alkalines), they simply glued the lid of the battery compartment shut. The STacy has features similar to the

Macintosh Portable Macintosh Portable is a laptop designed, manufactured, and sold by Apple Computer, Inc. from September 1989 to October 1991. It is the first battery-powered Macintosh, which garnered significant excitement from critics, but sales to customers ...

, a version of Apple's Macintosh computer which contained a built in keyboard and monitor. With built-in MIDI, the STacy enjoyed success for running music-sequencer software and as a

controller Controller may refer to: Occupations * Controller or financial controller, or in government accounting comptroller, a senior accounting position * Controller, someone who performs agent handling in espionage * Air traffic controller, a person ...

musical instrument A musical instrument is a device created or adapted to make musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can be considered a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. A person who pl ...

s among both amateurs and well-known musicians.Time Capsule: The Atari Report - Spring 1990
by Sam Tramiel, Date: Mon, 23 Apr 1990, ''We're excited about the rapidly growing MIDI business and the enthusiasm being generated for the Stacy laptop computer among professionals in the music industry. Just recently we've learned that Atari computers were used to produce the sound track in the hit film, "

Born on the Fourth of July ''Born on the Fourth of July'', published in 1976, is the best-selling autobiography by Ron Kovic, a paralyzed Vietnam War veteran who became an anti-war activist. Kovic was born on July 4, 1946, and his book's ironic title echoed a famous line ...

" which received an Academy Award nomination for "Best Sound."''

History

The Stacy was a global project, design work was carried out in the Sunnyvale HQ, Cambridge UK, final

PCB PCB may refer to: Science and technology * Polychlorinated biphenyl, an organic chlorine compound, now recognized as an environmental toxin and classified as a persistent organic pollutant * Printed circuit board, a board used in electronics * ...

layouts were produced by Atari in Japan, which is where the first units were manufactured, with final manufacturing occurring in Taiwan. The distinctive sculptured charcoal-gray case was designed by Ira Velinsky, Atari's chief Industrial Designer.

Models

There are 4 STacy Models * Stacy : 1 MB Ram, 1× 3.5" internal Floppy (Model code: LST-1141) * Stacy 2: 2 MB Ram, 1× 3.5" internal Floppy, 20 MB HD (Model code: LST-2144) * Stacy 2: 2 MB Ram, 2× 3.5" internal Floppy (Model code: LST-2124) * Stacy 4: 4 MB Ram, 1× 3.5" internal Floppy, 40 MB HD (Model code: LST-4144)

Specifications

Atari TOS TOS (The Operating System) is the operating system of the Atari ST range of computers. This range includes the 520ST and 1040ST, their STF/M/FM and STE variants and the Mega ST/STE. Later, 32-bit machines ( TT, Falcon030) were developed using a ...

1.04 *

Blitter A blitter is a circuit, sometimes as a coprocessor or a logic block on a microprocessor, dedicated to the rapid movement and modification of data within a computer's memory. A blitter can copy large quantities of data from one memory area to anot ...

* Character set:

Atari ST character set The Atari ST character set is the character set of the Atari ST personal computer family including the Atari STE, TT and Falcon. It is based on code page 437, the original character set of the IBM PC, and like that set includes ASCII codes 3 ...

(based on

codepage 437 Code page 437 (CCSID 437) is the character set of the original IBM PC (personal computer). It is also known as CP437, OEM-US, OEM 437, PC-8, or DOS Latin US. The set includes all printable ASCII characters as well as some accented letters (diacr ...

) *

Real-time clock A real-time clock (RTC) is an electronic device (most often in the form of an integrated circuit) that measures the passage of time. Although the term often refers to the devices in personal computers, servers and embedded systems, RTCs are pr ...

lithium battery *

Hard disk A hard disk drive (HDD), hard disk, hard drive, or fixed disk is an electro-mechanical data storage device that stores and retrieves digital data using magnetic storage with one or more rigid rapidly rotating platters coated with magnet ...

: ACSI-SCSI 20-40 MB *

Floppy disk A floppy disk or floppy diskette (casually referred to as a floppy, or a diskette) is an obsolescent type of disk storage composed of a thin and flexible disk of a magnetic storage medium in a square or nearly square plastic enclosure lined w ...

* ACSI, ACSI internal (same as in Mega STE) *

Trackball A trackball is a pointing device consisting of a ball held by a socket containing sensors to detect a rotation of the ball about two axes—like an upside-down ball mouse with an exposed protruding ball. Users roll the ball to position the o ...

Ports

* Parallel: 1 port * Serial: 1 port * FDD: 1 port * MIDI: 2 ports

Optional

Modem A modulator-demodulator or modem is a computer hardware device that converts data from a digital format into a format suitable for an analog transmission medium such as telephone or radio. A modem transmits data by Modulation#Digital modulati ...

In pop culture

The STacy appears in the 1991 films '' Nothing but Trouble'' and ''

Delusion A delusion is a false fixed belief that is not amenable to change in light of conflicting evidence. As a pathology, it is distinct from a belief based on false or incomplete information, confabulation, dogma, illusion, hallucination, or some o ...

''.Atari STacy
Starring the Computer

Gallery

Atari-stacy-002.jpg Atari-stacy-003.jpg Atari-stacy-004.jpg Atari-stacy-005.jpg Atari-stacy-006.jpg Atari-stacy-007.jpg Atari-stacy-008.jpg Atari-stacy-009.jpg

References

External links

Overview, screen captures, photos.
STacy Owners Manual - Addendum(1990)
* {{Atari hardware Products introduced in 1989 Atari ST Portable computers