CompuServe Messages

Khalid's evaluation of the GVP 030 as a speedup is accurate — it is definitely worth it. As for the hard disk controller on the 030, the software is now ready. In fact, have one installed on my machine. It is fast and seems reliable, although I have only been using it for a few weeks so I will have to wait and see. A couple of problems, though. First, GVP seems to have significant quality control problems with the 030 boards. The 2 dealers that carry them in New York have both reported that they have had to return boards that were either DOA or failed early on. My first 030 died after a week and had to be replaced. Second, the drive controller on the 030 board and the GVP Impact SCSI controller can have incompatibilities if you don't have the most recent ROMS on the Impact. The Amiga can hang, looking between the controllers and wondering where to boot from. I had this problem, but the new ROMs seem to have solved it. (I say 'seems' because they were only installed yesterday.) I highly recommend the GVP 030, but I would suggest that you buy it through a dealer, NOT mail order, so you have some leverage if you get bitten by the QC problem.