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.[citation needed]
The STacy has features similar to the Macintosh Portable, a version of Apple's Macintosh computer which contained a built in keyboard and monitor.
The Stacy was a global project, design work was carried out in the Sunnyvale HQ, Cambridge UK, final PCB layouts were produced by Atari in Japan, which is where the first units were manufactured, with final manufacturing occurring in Taiwan.[1]
The distinctive sculptured charcoal-gray case was designed by Ira Velinsky, Atari's chief Industrial Designer.[14]
^ abAtari Stacy, Atari Explorer, it was fast tracked for launch when the ST became increasingly more popular with musicians..A truly global project, design work was carried out in the Sunnyvale HQ, Cambridge UK, and with final board layouts produced by Atari in Japan, which is where the first units were manufactured.
^From Atari's Oval Office:Stacy and the Portfolio, by Mard Naman, START VOL. 4 NO. 2 / SEPTEMBER 1989, START: How many Stacys do you hope to ship? Tramiel: A lot. I have no idea what the marketplace will require. The responses at Hannover and COMDEX were greater than I expected. I was amazed at COMDEX; people went crazy for the Stacy there I've underestimated the laptop market before when we were at Commodore, and maybe I'm underestimating again, but my guess is 5,000 units a month. And if the market wants more, very happy to make more, no problem. START: Will Stacy be made at the same plant in a parallel production line as your other products? Tramiel: Yes, in our factory in Taiwan. We have the capacity to make 35,000 Stacys a month, if the market wants it. That's the tooling that was set up for production.
^Shipping Stacy Dialog Box:Shipping Stacy, START VOL. 4 NO. 12 / JULY 1990, As we reported in the May 1990 issue, Stacys are indeed shipping in the United States, though far below the numbers needed to sate demand. This news comes in spite of reports that Atari's manufacturing facility in Taiwan is operating at full capacity.
^From Atari's Oval Office:Stacy and the Portfolio, by Mard Naman, START VOL. 4 NO. 2 / SEPTEMBER 1989, START: Are Stacys going to be shipping to developers soon? Tramiel: There are no plans. There's nothing really to develop on it that's any different than the 1040ST, because it is a 1040. So we haven't rushed it from a development point of view.
^ST/MIDI Connection: Winter NAMM Show Report, BY JIM PIERSON-PERRY, START VOL. 4 NO. 10 / MAY 1990, Stacy is a reality - at least for musicians. While the FCC has yet to approve it for home use, 2MB and 4MB versions with internal hard drives have been approved for sale as professional equipment. These will be sold exclusively through music stores.
^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" which received an Academy Award nomination for "Best Sound."
^Mark Tinley: Working With Duran Duran(Interview | Engineer), By NIGEL HUMBERSTONE, Published in SOS(Sound On Sound) February 1994, The sequencing system has been in operation since March '93 and is handled by an Atari Stacy 2 laptop computer running C-Lab Creator software and driving a rackmount Kurzweil K2000.
^News, Notes & Quotes, BY STEPHEN MORTIMER, START VOL. 4 NO. 9 / APRIL 1990, The Stacy 2 and Stacy 4 have passed FCC Class A certification. This frees the computer for business/industrial use, although no actual restrictions on sales are made by the FCC. Both systems come with the respective amount of memory and a 40MB Conner hard disk drive. The Stacy 1, floppy-disk version has not yet been approved.
^Introducing Bob Brodie, by Bob Brodie, START VOL. 5 NO. 7 / APRIL/MAY 1991, Some of the models of the Stacy feature a built-in hard disk. For example, the Stacy 4 ships with a 40MB Conner hard disk built in.
