# Atari 800

5 Hacker News commenters recommended Atari 800 and 2 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 3 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** People recommend it as a home computer that felt personal and capable in childhood, and some preferred it to the Commodore 64. Critics say Atari used a cheaper build approach.

## Why people recommend it

- Personal computer loved in childhood (2 comments): "If I hadn't been able to sit down at my Atari 800 computer with 48 KB ram, as I pleased after school everyday since the second grade" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47523550)) "having my own personal computer was incredible" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48086075))
- Preferred over Commodore 64 (2 comments): "which I thought was way cooler than the C64" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48882471)) "Atari 800 > Commodore 64." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48318007))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Commodore 64](https://hackerapproved.com/p/commodore-64.md): 121 recommend
- [Commodore Amiga](https://hackerapproved.com/p/amiga.md): 60 recommend
- [ZX Spectrum](https://hackerapproved.com/p/zx-spectrum.md): 31 recommend
- [TI-99/4A](https://hackerapproved.com/p/ti-99-4a.md): 26 recommend
- [Commodore Amiga 500](https://hackerapproved.com/p/amiga-500.md): 20 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Atari+800+8-bit+computer&tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Atari 800", https://hackerapproved.com/p/atari-800/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).