#AMAX Amigas & Macs
47 messages in this thread
I find it interesting and curious to find all this discussion on the
AMAX product. I own an Amiga 1000 that I bought shortly after its
introduction. and also purchased the AMAXII in August of '90 and
good ROMs from Oregon shortly thereafter. My Intent was to use the
system to get my business off the ground with all the supported
software available for the MAC. I am sorry to say that the 1000 now
rests at home and is up for sale. My sons would rather put up with
the noise of my offset press to use my Macs than use the Amiga at
home. Printing their homework out on a laser printer still impresses
the heck out of the teachers.
It is truly unfortunate as I am an admirer and user of great computer
systems. My background has given me expertise on systems as simple as
Z80 machines and C-64's (My first Machine) to UNIX nets, TRS80-Model
1's & 4's, IBM's, Amigas & MACs. Even receiving awards and letters of
commendation for being able to get data moved between these systems
(Thank You CIS for my learning about RS-232 Communication Protocals &
Hardware). I think all of them are great in their areas of best
performance. My 1000 even has an accelerator (14MgHz).
The point of this long message is that I wish I had a real use for
this Machine without spending another $1.5k to get it to be close to
functionality of my LC & Classic, in the context of my business, even
in Mac/AmaxII mode. The Amiga has become a niche machine for DTV in
my view. It has not been well supported by Commodore. I got mine
because it seemed to be the best 68000 machine available at the time
(Macs were just coming onto the scene at the time also) and my C64
had lots & lots of support & software.
If Commodore had done the "right thing" we could have all had "girl
friends" instead of "hamburgers". I had to invest in macs because the
support is here & now from all corners of the earth and my business
(Computer-press interagtion) required that I be productive without
waiting for some dream-ware. My biggest mistake with this machine was
the C-LTD drive which Ready Soft does not support, and no one seems
to be able to write the AMAX driver for.
I am sorry that this sounds anti-Amiga but this is my reality. Apple even
carries the paper on the machines I am making $$$$ with. DON'T GET ME
WRONG! I Still drool at the capabilities and potential of Amiga 3000's
running 32MgHz. Running that Machine with AMAX would be the ticket for
sure, and I may still do that… when I have the bread to put in a toaster.
The video just blows me away. In that arena, the Amiga is still the champ!
The Mac's just got easy DTV less than a year ago and let me tell you, it is
not inexpensive to get. It was interesting to note that the "Toaster" was
or is available with an Amiga mother board to interface with Macs. It even
got mention in one of the Mac Magazines.
Anyway, Just thought I would give my comments on this after watching
this forum since 1985. For a while, I thought I was the only one with
an AMAXII and now it has its own subtopic. WOW! Anyone interested in
my hardware is welcome to respond.
For the price you might pay for a low end Mac, you could get an Amiga with
the AMAX II Plus which support Appletalk, etc… You could hook up your
Amiga to your current Laserprinters and macs….
After using your Amiga as a MAC with virtually 100% compatibility and have
the same functionality, it still costs less than a comparable MAC and you
still have the awesome native Amiga OS !!!
– Jonathan (still not sold on MACS!)
I am sorry to say that it's to late. My MAC was purchased 1.5 years
ago and has brought about $45,000 through my door. I needed to make
$$$, not spend more on a machine that was not and is still not
considered a serious business machine (see my response to SYSOP Jim),
though I have considered starting a DTV editing studio in a
storefront somewhere. With the video craze still going on, allowing
people to sit down and customize their videos at a reasonable rate
still interests me. 3-4 A3000's with VCR's (2 min) at each station
could be the ticket. Individual empowerment "seems" to be what it is
all about.
Do not get me wrong Jonathan, I still think the Amigas are the best
computer out there for the price and performance, it just needs more
support, visibility, and powerful business software written by a
known factor in the industry (Microsoft? Apple? – both excellent
softare companies). Besides, Hardware is now considered a commodity
item, buying decisions these days are based 90% on software
capabilities.
Now, if you have got a way to get AppleTalk out of one of the Ami's
ports so I don't have to turn off my LaserWriterNT, turn it around,
change by switch to HP mode, replace it and switch it back on… Tell
me how much it costs, what support is provided, and I'll send a check
tomorrow. OH yeah, it must do AppleTalk from the native Amiga OS and
I don't have to buy an A2000 or 3000. The point is, the last thing I
need right now is a 4th computer that is difficult to place on the
current network. Besides, your statement is "You could hook up your
Amiga to your current Laserprinters and macs….". My Amiga is a 1000
and that is what I want to put to good use – in my business!
Ward (not sold totally on any one computer system)
> My Amiga is a 1000 and that is what I want to put to good to good use > –
in my business.
Since the Amiga 1000 isn't made anymore, finding a large number of
options for expandibility will be hard to do. There are solutions
out there, but they'll cost your some money.
It's like taking the original MAC and trying to find expandibility
options for it. They might be out there, but you'll have to spend
the money.
You want to still use the 1000? Hmmm, why don't you use an apple II
instead of a Mac, it would follow your need to stay antiquated.
Now Paul,
-> You want to still use the 1000? Hmmm, why don't you use an apple
-> II instead of a Mac, it would follow your need to stay antiquated.
Let's not go dumping on my Apple ][+! I've turned it on at least twice
this year. It sits next to our Amiga and is still connected to the Amiga
via a null modem for file transfer.
BTW, ours is a 2000HD so we are not quite antiquated. I'm holding on to
the Apple because it is worth more to me for sentimental value as my first
computer, and it still works. It wouldn't bring in much money anyway.
Have a nice Memorial Day weekend!
Sincerely,
(Mr.) Gayle Lee Fairless
'Perfessor Fearless' from the Rocket City!
– via Whap!
Well, OK. I also have an Apple ][+. I just dragged it out after I found a
file that turns your ][+ into a SMPTE generator.
It's now worth something 🙂
–Paul
Whappin' from the Wine Country
Paul–
Can you tell me something more about this SMPTE generator program? I just
chucked a Franklin Ace 1000 Apple ][+ clone, and want to know how hard I
should kick myself.
Jonathan
– via Whap!
I looked a bit for it, can't find it just yet. It was from CEFORUM or
BPFORUM. It's a completely software created sempte generator out of the
Apple's audio thingie.
I will un-archive it and give you the details, as soon as I find it 🙂
–Paul
Whappin' from the Wine Country
Paul,
That must be some file to turn my Apple ][+ into a SMPTE generator from
your place! 😉
BTW, what is a SMPTE generator? Is it toxic!
Very funny 🙂
A SMPTE generator puts little beepy things on video tape so a video editor
can find an exact frame, and or synch to an audio track. They retail for
about $600. I'm going to try it, so keep an eye (or ear) on your Apple and
let me know if it works.
–Paul
Whappin' from the Wine Country
OK, just remember that there is a time difference between here and CA!
Between sleep and work, it's difficult to get all my computer time in!
<@_@>
Thanks for the reply! <^_^>
Sincerely,
(Mr.) Gayle Lee Fairless
'Perfessor Fearless' from the Rocket City.
– via Whap!
Well Paul,
I posted these messages with the hope of getting some type of help or
suggestions to put the machine to use, not kill it or put people down.
(BTW… I also live in the wine country!) Hmmm, Antiquated? Need? Apple II?
Naw, not I.
Now, if you have some real suggestions on how to put this "antique
A1000" to good use in my offset printing business, I am willing to listen.
But by the attitude I have seen on my screen from you, you must be an Ami
Addict. If you had read all the messages I left, you would know that I am
the boss and I don't need to be convinced that the Amiga is a great machine
and performs well in it's niche. Just as the IBM's perform well in number
crunching and Macs in DTP. BTW, the Mac in 1984 didn't dominate the DTP
niche, just as the Amiga didn't dominate DTV. So, the decision to purchase
an Amiga 1000 seemed the right path to take from C-64's and TRS-80's that I
owned at the time. I used it every day at work, aboard ships, in
restaurants and at home. It never missed a step and fires up quickly to
accomodate the limited needs I have of it today.
You must remember, what is being decided without us is that hardware
is becomming a comodity item and the software companies are the
controllers. They decide what gets written for what machines. Not us. I
thought that the Amiga was going to get the best software and gobs of it.
With the machines basic structure and true multitasking capabilities, it
should be able to do anything demanded of it. It is also the only machine
that I know of that will run or emulate other hardware systems. (IBM via
BB, Mac via AMAX, Native OS, I even saw a C-64 emulator.)
[continued in the reply]
[continued]
Paul, if you are willing to discuss this rationally, leave me a private
message and I will give you my phone number and/or business address, if you
think there is a solution to my delemma. I don't want to sell the machine,
I want it to help my business grow and show others that the Amiga can
perform well in any situation.
Ward E. Johnson
CIS'n since '82
Ward,
Although some of the messages did seem to get a little overzealous, there
was sort of a ring of truth to them. In order to be competitive in
performance with the other platforms, you really should consider upgrading
to an accelerated, expandable Amiga that will run Workbench 2.04. You
might consider using such a machine and either ImageMaster or Art
Department Professional as a single machine that could deal with almost any
picture file format. Color scanning might also be a good application for
such a machine. The number crunching that such applications require would
make using the A1000 too slow for them in your business environment.
I thought that the one suggestion to use the A1000 to accept Amiga files
and transfer them to your other equipment was a good one. Do you have a
walk-in counter? Another use for the A1000 might be to add AmigaVision to
it and provide an interactive slide show to your customers, that would
present your capabilities and prices to them. Such a system could also be
used to highlight some of your lesser used options/services and show & tell
your customers how they might benefit from using them.
David
David,
Those suggestions were well noted and taken. The other thing I was
thinking about until I can afford upgrades or a newer machine was using it
as a BBS system in the background while running a display. This would make
it very easy for anyone with a modem to get their file to me without having
to "run to the printer". The potential problem with that is keeping all the
different DTP programs in-house and current, for at least Macs, Amigas and
IBM's. That would be a major cost initially and updates are not cheap or
free anymore.
Do you know what these upgrades/replacements would run me at this time?
The system currently consists of an Base A1000 with an accelerator to 14
Mhz, 1.3 Kickstart roms aboard that w/clock, Starboard with M/F board and 1
Meg Ram for a total of 1.75 Megs (due to Kickstart Roms), 1 external Amiga
floppy drive, and a C-Ltd 50 Meg hard drive & interface. Also the AMAX][
with Roms and a Mac 800K Drive.
Thanks to those that suggested these uses and any more are welcome.
Ward
CIS'n since '82
Ward,
In terms of your list, a stock 25MHz A3000/50 would have all the
accessories that you have on your A1000 built in, with the exception of the
external floppy and the Amax setup, which you should be able to use with
it. Plus, the A3000 would be much faster, comes with WB 2.04, and a lot
more expandable. To answer your question, the upgrade price would be the
price of an A3000/50.
Ward,
I have been following a few messages on this thread, and while there is
some credence to the comments re: Ami Addicts, you should also realize that
the 1000 is NOT the machine you should be using – especially if you want to
show that the Amga can 'perform well in any situation'.
It is basically like trying to take a souped up Mac 128K and trying
to run system 7.0 and then telling everyong about the 'power of Macintosh'.
I have been a netadmin for the last year, and have been using IBMs, Macs,
and other platforms intensively. If you are doing DTP, then use either IBM
or Mac, any other decision is a waste of time.
If you are an artist, and money is no object, buy a Mac. They ARE the best
for the 'average [non-technical]' artist.
If you are serious about using the Amiga in your workplace you should use
nothing less than an 030-25Mhz Amiga w/ STANDARD ZORROII (or higher)
expansion slots. I used to use an A1000 with Micorbotics SCSI controller
and 2.5 MB RAM. The day I got my A3000 (2 years ago [before the handwriting
was on the wall . . .]), it improved my productivity nearly as much as when
I made the transition from a floppy based system to using an HD on my
A1000.
I understand your desire to still use computer you have invested so much
in, but to knock AMAX for not supporting a drive made by some obscure
out-of-business peripheral manufacturer who built a (probably non-standard)
disk interface (is it even SCSI?), is a little out of line. I have used the
AMAX with both my Microbotics and the Amiga 3000 SCSI controllers and have
had no problems in the last 3 years.
If you are set on keeping your 1000, then at least consider the Phoenix
board, which will give you SOME chance of making the 1000 into a machine
worthy of use in a business env.
In closing, I wish you the best of luck trying to achieve your desired
results. I must admit they might be a little unrealistic and possibly even
unachievable.
Erik Flom
Does AMAX have a Microbotics Hardframe SCSI controller driver to access the
drives or are you using another driver? Since the Hardframe driver is in
the chip on the controller.
Thanks
Rico
– via Whap!
ACK! I'd like to answer your question, but I sold my Amiga 1000 when I
got my 3000 a few years ago. In retrospect, I am trying to remember
if I EVER used the HD stuff w/ my Microbotics contoller. I may have
gotten the AMAX upgrade after getting my 3000, I can't remember. I
do remember that it was a Microbotics StarBoardII w/2.5MB Ram, and
optional SCSI interface. It did not use the Rigid Disk Block format
that is standard on my 3000, so I think I would have remembered
trying to get the AMAX partition setup. Try calling ReadySoft at
(416)731-4175. As long as you are a registered user, they will be
very helpful.
Erik,
Thanks for your comments. I've already got Macs and the much mentioned
A1000.
What does "Handwriting on the wall" mean to you? I'm not sure what you
are trying to get across there.
Knock the AMAX? Sorry you took it that way. I have been around long
enough to realize that it is the HD that is the problem, not the AMAX. it
is a case of getting hardware when affordable. If I'ld had a crystal ball,
I'ld have known to not get a C-Ltd drive period. Salesmen sometimes see
commissions and are not concerned about what is happening with the company
that is providing them.
What is the Phoenix board? What does it do? What does it have to enhance
my system? I haven't heard of this as I barely have time to find a copy of
Amiga World … much less read it.
Thanks,
Ward
CIS'n since '82
Ward,
Does your message mean you need the amax driver for the cltd
controller? If so let me know, I have it.
Steven,
Yes, I do mean exactly that. I had even gone so far as to track down
the person that originally wrote the C-Ltd. drivers. I don't even remember
his name but he seemed un-interested in writing a driver for the AMAX. It
would be great to put this machine into some kind of use in my environment,
in a Mac mode.
I'll take one to go.
Ward
CIS'n since '82
Which Cltd controller do you have? Is it the Kronos or the
original? I also have the last versions of the Kronos software. I
also have a Kronos controller (A2000 version). You're welcome to the
software. I have the Amax driver, although I never have used it. Give
me an address and I will send you a disk.
re: "Handwriting on the wall" – I'm not sure myself what I was
referring to in my previous message, but it probably had to do with
the feeling that ALL other platforms are racing ahead with continual
improvements to bothe their hardware platforms and software features,
while Commodor flounders around, trying to figure out how to most
effectively kill off what remains of their sales in North America.
As for my thinking you were knocking the AMAX, my humble apologies. I
was just rallying to the defense of a product that has worked well
for me for years. I understand what it's like buying into hardware
from a company that goes out of business. I didn't even know C Ltd.
had folded. Since I am the proud owner of alot of equipment in
standards that no longer exist, I know it is easy to get swayed by
features and price alone w/o knowing what will happen a few years
down te road.
The Phoenix board is a plug-in replacement for your A1000 motherboard. It
retails for $850 and has the following: 2MB CHIP RAM onboard, SCSI
controller w/ RDB support, switch selectable OS ROMs, A2000 video slot (NOT
Toaster compatible – at last report), 8MB RAM internal exp (optional),
68881/2 socket, ECS Super Denise upgrade also.
It is available from The Grapevine Group – 1-800-292-7445. I haven't heard
any reviews of the product, so 'caveat emptor'.
Erik Flom
Erik,
Thanks for the information on the Phoenix board. You didn't mention what
flavor of 68xxx it uses.
As for Commodore floundering around with killing north american sales,
I'm not suprised to hear that. I did however have a client come into the
office today and state that his daughter, who is in Europe, say that Amigas
are a very popular machine in that land.
Thanks again for the info. I am going to check out Steven Kapplin's message
about him having an AMAX driver for the C-Ltd controller.
Ward
CIS'n since '82
Ward,
I didn't mention which 68XXX the Phoenix board uses because the ad didn't
say which (Since they weren't touting it, they probably use a 68000 at
14Mhz [maybe 7Mhz]), but I think it is supposed to be compatible with
plug-in accelerators (useful if you already own one, I guess :^).
Rumor has it that the next line of Commodore computers won't even sport the
Amiga name, because of the stigma attached to it.
Just got my AMAXII v2.5 SW/HW and it includes twelve SCSI drivers for
different controllers. I didn't see one that looked like 'cltd.amhd' or
such, but you might want to check out the upgrade package.
Keep On Toastin' Erik Flom
Erik (and Ward);
Buying a board from Cltd. was truly an education for me. I learned that I
had to ditch the thing ASAP, and did so when GVP offered their Series II
tradeup deal a couple years back. I was so happy with the deal that I
wrote them a letter of gratitude, and also asked them to bury my Kronos in
the nearest landfill (so that no one could possible get their hands on that
curse). The techies called me to commend me on my good taste in HD
controllers, and to thank me for the entertaining letter….
There what appears to be an objective review of the Phoenix board in the
new AmigaWorld (has the CDTV drive for the 500 on the cover). Check it
out.
Jonathan
– via Whap!
Jonathan,
I also thank you for your humorous description of your problems. I have
been in seventh heaven since I got my 3000 and was able to foist my
Microbotics StarBoard and SCSI contoller off on someone else.
The Rigid Disk Block format is probably the biggest godsend to amiga users
in a while.
I will try to check out the review, as my uncle (the sucker who bought my
A1000 [at a great price though!]) might be interested.
Keep On Toastin' Erik Flom
Ward,
Yes, I am an Ami addict. You didn't think you would come away unscathed
after a remark like that, did you? 🙂
–Paul
Whappin' from the Wine Country
Paul,
OK, I'll accept it for what it is. I noticed in another thread that
there resides an "old apple core" in your closet. Even you have a us for
some old equipment. If I had my way about it, there would be rainbow
checkmarks everywhere in my office and shop, not rainbow apples with bites
missing from the side. I got two good suggestions so far. One to use it as
a display of services that customers may not know about and the other was
to convert files from people that own amigas to hard laser output or
transfer to lino film services. A great idea BTW because I get the offset
printing 90% of the time from clients like this. they own apples and no
lasers of any kind. The former idea is good too as I used that at my first
location that was in a storefront. It seemed I got more curiosity about the
Amiga than the services being displayed. I did enjoy the heck out of
displaying the Ami's capabilities.
Lets call the "scathings" to an end. Good luck with your SMPTE file
work and let me know if you want to meet in person. BTW, I live in Sonoma
Co. CA and have not heard of any Ami user groups around here. Do you know
of any?
Thanks for the scathing. It is sometimes enjoyable.
Ward
CIS'n since '82
We're getting closer as we speak 🙂
Ever here of a place named Rodent Park. It might be fun to have lunch
together, between elevator emergencies that is. Re-Amiga is the local SIG.
Re as in Redwood Empire.
I'll stay in touch, scathing is only done between 3am-5am 🙂
–Paul
Whappin' from the Wine Country
Just hoppin' in here to give my two cents… Not to knock Amax (especially
since us Canadians are supposed to stick together) but I have my beefs with
it.
I run an BBS, and using a non-multitasking product seemed impossible,
and I was actually quite upset, because I needed something to emulate
the Mac, which I use regularily at work. I also was put off by the
black & white aspect. anyway, I was reading this past weeks AM-Report
(found here) and I discovered that a company in Arizona has developed
at MULTITASKING, COLOUR Mac emulator called Emplant. I called them up
and had a heart-to-heart with one of their techies, and decided that,
though it seems too good to be true it might just work. I ordered
one, and should receive it sometime around the begining of August. I
will give you all a full report on it then, but you should probably
read about it anyway, because it might finally provide us nutso Amiga
fanatics with a way to keep the wolf from the door!!
I just got documentation in the mail about the EMPLANT board. Looks
pretty good… I'm gonna wait on a AMAX II Plus purchase until I
hear about the EMPLANT. It has drivers to use the Serial ports on
the Amiga side. That alone might be worth the $250 !!!
Hi folks: I came in late on this thread. Where can I find out about
this Emplant? What "level" of Mac would this thing emulate? Is it
compatible with Amiga accelerator boards? Is one of the company's
honchos on CIS? Any info is appreciated………………………Lee
I talked to the VP of Utilities Unlimited and they are in the production
stage of the Emplant and are actively taking orders. According to there
tests, they are surpassing AMAX's compatibility percentage. They recommend
a n accelerator with MMU otherwise it will be slow, especially in the color
mode. 32 bit quickdraw is handled in a combination of the software
emulator and the ROM-SIMM. 16 colors are supported on the regular Amiga
screens and 256 colors, etc on third party video boards. He did mention
that some color displays for the Amiga will not be the best solution. His
suggestion was to have a high end video board, IE: Rambrandt, FC 24, or
the new GVP EGS. Other color adaptors will work but will be slooooow! The
best thing about the EMPLANT is the option to use the serial ports a
multi-serial port card on the Amiga side (worth the cost of the emulator
already) and the option to MultiTask with the AmigaOS. PhotoShop has been
tested and works on the EMPLANT!
It is supposed to ship in July. I'm going to hold off on any purchase of a
MAC emulator until I see some real reviews of the product. The AMAX II+ is
a fine product, but I'm going to wait and see what the Emplant can offer
me.
As far as Atari ST and 386/486 emulators – those are future options. NOT
on the same board, but on similar EMPLANT boards. The "dbesign" of the
EMPLANT leaves the option open for lot's of different emulation
options…..
I got mail the other day and it's basically the same info that's been
floating around the net, except it has the option to order ahead of
time…..
-Jonathan
Thanks, Jonathan; if it does all it's claiming to it oughta be one heck of
a piece of hardware. I'm looking forward to its debut.
Lee
That sounds like an intriguing product. What impressed you the most
about your talk with the Emplant folks? What do you use the Mac for
at work? I've come real close a few times to buying a used Mac. But
the space it would take makes me cringe.
Huh? Utilities Unlimited is really taking orders for the Emplant
thing? How much did they rip you…er…charge you for their
"product"? (:)) Don't take this the wrong way…I might have my
company order one up for "product evaluation".
Chris, Hmmmm….I hope you didn't get ripped. While I reported what I
have hear about Emplant, I do not have any FIRST HAND knowledge of
the existence of the product. From what I read, it is interesting
but technically I am puzzled.
They say that most of the emulation is done on the Emplant hardware,
though the Amiga's CPU is used. For an Amiga to run both it's own OS
*and* a foreign OS at the same time must be one heck of a strain on
the CPU. The Mac OS is quite complicated and the Amiga's is no
creampuff either.
As for emulating a *color* Mac…I have *serious* doubts. The Mac's
color (if I am not mistaken) is handled by QuickDraw or QuickDraw32.
The fast boards have ROMs with QuickDraw in them, though it is also
available in software (a folder). UU says it has drivers for popular
graphics boards to remap and use them for color. Since Mac color is
usually 640×400 then that leaves DCTV, Colorburst and HAME out of the
picture. The IV-24 board's refresh rate is too slow for anything but
buffered still images. The Firecracker might be able to handle it,
and I have no question about GVP's EGS, the Rambrandt or DMI
Resolver.
The statement in the brochure that says the design allows for multiple
emulators to use a single board *at the same time* sounds like pure BS.
Granted, and Amiga, Mac and Atari ST all use the MC680x0 family and the Mac
and ST are technically simple enough to emulate — not at the same time. As
for emulating a PC286 or 386…I don't think so. Not with any sort of
speed. The stripped price on the Emplant ($149? $199?) is too cheap to
have any custom hardware like an 80386, 68030 or RISC processor. Any if it
relies on the Amiga's CPU I will remain skeptical.
Still, if it works it will be a major breakthrough. I wish them the
best and hope to see about getting an evaluation unit. Either way,
when they ship AM-Report will cover it.
>Since Mac color is usually 640×400
The most common Mac color size is 640 x 480. But Mac screen size is not
OS-determined. It can be any size the video circuitry calls for (although
it probably requires a minimum of 512 x 342 – though even that could
probably be mapped "virtually" and wouldn't have to be displayed all at
once). ===Scott
Hmmm, I've seen both figures (640×400 and 640×480). The x480 is probably
correct. Still, it can be mapped to an Amiga screen using overscan and/or
PAL (on SuperDenise machines).
I see what you mean about the 512×342 minimum. Wasn't that the size of the
original Mac screen?
-Chas
Yes, 512 x 342 was the original Mac screen.
You've probably seen the 640 x 400 number in reference to the portables.
That's the resolution of the built-in screen of the Powerbooks. But I've
never seen any stand-alone monitor for the Mac that was designed for 640 x
400.
Apple makes a number of Mac monitors at assorted resolutions. I may be off
a bit on some of these, but as I recall they are: 512 x 384 (12" color),
640 x 480 (12" monochrome, 13" color), 640 x 870 (15" portrait), 832 x 624
(16" color), 1152 x 870 (two page). And the aforementioned built-in 512 x
342 on the little Macs and 640 x 400 on the portables. Many other
resolutions are available with third-party monitors. As I said, the Mac OS
itself doesn't care what these numbers are. The bigger they are, the more
it displays.
Unlike the Amiga, the Mac really has only one video mode. It is based on 72
dpi – that is, 72 pixels on the screen represent one inch of printed
output. So the bigger you make those "resolution" numbers, the more inches
of a page you can see. That also means that if match large numbers with a
small screen, everything will look small. Most manufacturers try to match
the size of the screen to the number of dots so that 72 pixels on screen
will actually be about an inch.
The only other variable is bit depth. Depending on the video circuitry in a
given Mac, you can pick various bit depths up to 24. Normally you'd
probably just leave it set for the highest bit depth your video circuitry
supports, but sometimes you want to run at a lower bit depth to increase
the speed of screen redraws. ===Scott
Chris: When you do receive your Emplant, I'm sure we would all be
interested in a mini-review. I'm holding off ordering one because of the
nasty things I've heard about Utilities Unlimited. But like you said, they
might just be able to pull it off.
John – K7KB (via Whap!)
Trying to compare an A1000 with current MAC is not fair. At that time, the
MAC 512 was the greatest thing around. Update your Amiga to current
standards and it will blow away a MAC (any model)…
-Jonathan
Ward,
What I find remarkable about your comments is that you bought an
Amiga to make money in DTP, or so it seems by your commentary. Why? At
the time you bought the Amiga 1000 the DTP market belonged to the Mac. Why
didn't you buy Macs to start with?
Here's a few ideas to get your A1000 into your business. Connect it to one
of your macs through the serial port using a null modem cable. Then take in
postscript output on Amiga disks transfer it to the macs and send it to the
Laser printers using the Send PS program. That way you could tap into the
small but growing Amiga DTP community. Advertise or mention to people that
you can output Amiga files so Amiga people can find you. There are very few
places that will accept Amiga disks for output and you would probably be
well received.
Another Idea would be to use it for an in store presentation system to
inform and educate your customers about your business and the serv services
you provide. This would utilize the Amigas talents very well.
/ / / //ANDRE