When the wreckage was cleared away and the bodies removed, the score at last week's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas was Atari 5, Commodore 2.

"Business is War," says Atari boss Jack Tramiel, and his new-look corporation went for every jugular in sight, as its multiple product launch stopped the show. Commodore hit back, but was beaten for panache, scope and sheer nerve. The rest were nowhere.

The Atari slogan at Las Vegas was "Power without the Price". When the dust settles and the machines get the chance to prove themselves, we'll know about the power; but the prices are amazing. On paper Atari has killed off the Macintosh, the QL, and any number of mid-range micros in one fell swoop.

That's on paper. Coleco made a splash along the same lines at the same show two years ago, and in the end it couldn't deliver. Atari's machines look far more ambitious, but with Tramiel involved anything could happen.

As he'd promised before Christmas, Atari had complete families on show at Las Vegas. The XE line of 8-bit systems are direct descendants of the 800XL; the ST twins break new ground for Atari with Motorola 68000 processors. For good measure there were also new peripherals and some startling software. Members of the Tramiel family were also in evidence.

From the bottom: the 65XE is an 800XL with a face-lift, but the differences aren't all superficial. The XE range has rejigged circuitry, with the result that they are visibly faster than the 800XL and reputedly more reliable. The 65XE will cost about $120.

The 65XEM adds a music synthesiser to the basic design - its price will be under $160. The 65XEP is a luggable version of the 65XE, with a built-in 3.5" floppy drive and a 5" monochrome monitor, for about $300.

At the top of the XE range is the 130XE, with 128K to the 64K of the others. This machine will reach US shops later this year with a price tag of about $200. Like the others, it's driven by a 6502 with a new version of Atari DOS. Owners of the 800XL are promised an upgrade from their DOS 3.0 to the new version, and Atari is claiming compatibility with all 800XL software for the new systems.

The XE range looked good in its own right, but it turned out to be just an appetiser before the main course - the 130ST and the 520ST. Both machines run a 68000 processor with a proprietary operating system that is still called TOS (Tramiel Operating System). Anybody who thought that this might be a temporary name while something more suitable was devised looks like being disappointed. Tramiel seems to be making a bid for immortality in more ways than one.

TOS incorporates Digital Research's GEM. That means mice, windows, icons, handsome graphics, the whole Macintosh kit and caboodle. Wags around Las Vegas were calling the machine Jackintoshes. With 128K and 512K they will cost $399 and $699 respectively.

Apple executives will find it hard to hide the lump in their throats. IBM will refuse to comment, since it never acknowledges competition; if it gets its head out of the sand it may find that Atari has stolen its feathers.

The crucial feature will be software. Atari demonstrated an impressive package called Infinity on the XE range, but applications for the STs will depend on how well software suppliers respond to TOS. Infinity is a combination of spreadsheet, word processor and relational database with on-line help, windows and a shared command structure, described by an observer as 'jazzy'.

GEM (and CP/M-68K) are implemented in ROM on the STs, but for old time's sake Tramiel also launched a disk drive. Like everything else, its price is breaktaking - 500K on a 3.5" drive for $100. It can be hooked up to any of the new systems, EX and ST alike. A 3.5" hard disk is due to follow shortly, offering 10Mb. Shell-shocked industry analysts wouldn't speculate on what the price tag on 10Mb might be.

Atari demonstrated a trio of printers in the $50 to $100 range. There was a thermal colour printer, an impact dot-matrix unit, and a daisywheel. The company said that these devices were compatible with current Apple and IBM machines, and you got the impression that Atari was on the offensive even here.

The other 1,399 or so exhibitors could only look on in awe. Atari's new systems should start appearing in the US in the spring. But Commodore clawed back some of the attention with a couple of releases of its own. At any normal show it might have made the headlines.

The C128 (whose appearance was forecast in last week's PCN) proved to look completely unlike any previous Commodore system, and the company has broken with another tradition by making it compatible with the C64. But, elegant as it was, it paled beside the clumsily named Commodore LCD.

This is a portable in the tradition of the Tandy Model 100; it tips the scales at 3lbs, carries 32K of RAM, and has basic business software built-in. The LCD name refers, of course, to its screen, an 80 by 32 display. Power is from standard batteries or, through an adaptor cord, from the mains. It is expected to cost about $500.

The C128 appeared with a trim half-height 360K disk drive, and the layout on Commodore's vast display area was calculated to appeal to business users as well as home micro fans. The system has the dimensions of an Apple IIc, and a keybaord with clusters of keys all over the place.

Will the C128 put pressure on the Plus/4? Its price is likely to be about $250; its 128K can be 'CP/M-compatibility'. In any other context this would look very attractive; but at CES, with Atari running amok, the Plus/4 looks irrelevant.

Commodore might have stolen some of Atari's thunder if it could have demonstrated the Amiga machine - or it might have risked having the system submerged before it has a chance to make an impact.

In the world's most famous gambling city Jack Tramiel was in his element. The most awe-inspiring feature of Atari's performance at CES is that the new machines are the first to be released under his leadership - it was far from being the last desperate throw of a cornered man. There are more on the way. 32-bit systems due to be demonstrated in the spring.

According to Tramiel, he spent a lot of last year touring Atari's manufacturing plants and building up capacity. If the market responds to his new machines in the way you'd expect the company will need every last inch of production line to meet demand.