Editing Atari 600XL (section)

== History ==
The 600XL was developed under the internal codename '''"Surely"''' as part of Atari's effort to replace the ageing [[Atari 400]] and [[Atari 800]] with a more cost-effective product line. Announced at the Summer Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in June 1983, the 600XL was positioned against the Commodore VIC-20 and Sinclair ZX Spectrum in the low-end market, while the 800XL targeted the Commodore 64.

At a retail price of US$199, the 600XL was significantly cheaper than the $299 800XL. However, its 16 KB RAM limitation proved to be a critical shortcoming — many Atari 8-bit programs required 48 KB or more to run, making the 600XL unable to use much of the existing software library without a memory upgrade.

Production of the 600XL was discontinued in 1984 after Jack Tramiel's acquisition of Atari, as the model was deemed unprofitable. Total production of both the 600XL and 800XL in 1983 was approximately 400,000 units combined.