#AmigaWorld hardware issu
140 messages in this thread
AmigaWorld is planning an issue on hardware, and we'd like to know
what you want to read about. Here's how our editorial calendar
reads: HARDWARE POWER ISSUE Featuring a "guide to storage" that looks
at hard drives, removables, opticals, and other storage solutions.
We'll help you choose the right solution for your needs _and_ compare
products. We'll also find out what's new in CD-ROM hardware and
software. Any thoughts? Thanks…
That sounds wonderful to me, Barbara. I want to read about all of
those things. I hear about a new 105M 3.5" Syquest, and I'd love to
know more about that. I read about the new equipment that lets
Macintosh and PC owners make their own CD-ROM disks, and which is
selling for about $4000-$5000. Is there anything of that kind in the
works for the Amiga? Can you find out from Commodore if the Amiga
will be able to read PhotoCD disks? Will you cover such things as XA
and XA-compatible, multisession, and that sort of thing? Will we
find a way for Amiga folks to use the better CD-ROM disks coming out
for other platforms? (Can you tell that I've really become
interested in CD-ROM?)
I knew there had been some changes of assignment at AmigaWorld, so
I'm glad to find out your new title. Sounds great!
Thanks for all your questions, Betty! Some of them I'll have to defer
to the the article, but CBM did state at the World of Amiga show in
April that they're aiming to support Photo CD (I guess they're in
negotiations with Kodak now). Thanks again, your comments really
help us. –Barbara
Betty,
I second all that you said about the 3.5" Syquest, CD-Roms and
PhotoCD.
Hopefully AmigaWorld will be able to compare products in a way
similar to MacWorld. Thats what I have been also reading to keep up with
the new 3.5" 128m disks and CD-Rom production.
We need more food for thought.
Laurie Carroll AKL NZ
Longdistance Autopilot
I have been reading the CDROM forum here for quite some time. At first, I
read everything, then just selected topics. I've learned a great deal
there – enough to give a program about CDROM for our local computer group,
at any rate. I bought the Toshiba 3201B drive, and use it with both my
Amiga and my Toshiba computers. It works fine with both, but is not
multisession and is not XA or PhotoCD compatible. I would love to put my
genealogy pictures on a PhotoCD disk and be able to use things like ADPRO
and ImageMaster on some of them.
—Betty
I've heard that Toshiba offers a $99 upgrade kit for the 3301 to turn it
into a 3401, maybe they have a deal for the 3201 also?
Just a thought,
Erik Flom
Erik,
I asked about that. It seems that the 3201 cannot be upgraded, nor can
any other Toshiba drive earlier than the 3301. I suspect that I will sell
the one I have and buy a 3401b sometime soon.
—Betty
Hi, Barbara! Long time no type! 🙂 You might want to look into
Opal Vision, Retina, and some of the other high color boards that are
out now.
Hi-ya Steve! Tim Walsh, who is now our reviews man, has Retina lined
up for review in the July issue and IV-24 2.0 for August. We may be
waiting for OpalVision modules to come out before we cover it
again… Sounds like there are some great changes in the
display-card realm, eh? Hope upoiyou're doing great…I talked with
our buddy Jan Jackson the other day –Barbara
One such change is the pending (very shortly) release of Imagemaster
R/t, which runs directly on, or inside if it's more comfortable to
think of it that way, the OpalVision. Truly a wonderful combination.
Barbara, I would like to see some info on multisync moniitors. Which
ones you can use and what makes one better than any other for the
Amiga. Thanks, Also, something on scanners would be nice.
The June issue of AW has those items.
The current June issue has a column on monitors.
Check out the latest issue of AW… they read your mind.
Well…… I have not received the June issue as yet. Since they can
read my mind do you think they can send the issue through telekinesis
<g>? You would think all the issues would be mailed at the same time
and received at about the same time (sigh). -Rob- P.S. I noticed that
the North Coast BBS is no longer available to the public. Too bad.
Get yourself a copy of this months AmigaWorld (June 93), all your
questions about montitors and scanners will be answered.
Well Roy, I have a subscription to AW, but still have not received the
June issue. Seems like there are *many* subscribers who just seem to
receive AW late. AW of course says they are all mailed at the same
time "Why wouldn't we?" However, I am still waiting form my June AW
and it seems like a lot of people have had it for about a week.
(Sigh) -Rob- P.S. Believe it or not sometimes AW hits the bookstores
before I receive my copy.
Rob, I get my AW mag late sometimes too. I usually get it the first
week of every month but occasionally, it will be late and I will get
one just two weeks after the first. I highly doubt they are all
mailed out at the same time. BTW, I have been a subscriber since
'86, when they were much larger.
Geez,
Down here in NZ I wait up to two months after the cover date. Have
also waited only a month and Then paid $19.95 (NZD1.00= USD 0.54) for the
EARLY availability..
You blokes need more lashes of the wip….:-)
Laurie Carroll AKL NZ
Longdistance Autopilot
Hi Laurie
I got the June issue before may was even started good. There is still a
lot of cheap land here in Oklahoma available, come on over and see us.
;-})
Tom
Tom,
"cheap land here in Oklahoma.."
Hmmmmm……you wouldnt also be offering a really good deal on a Statue in
New York by any chance….(g)
Laurie Carroll AKL NZ
Longdistance Autopilot
Laurie
You cut me to the quick, I would never direct someone to NYC even if he
asked me.
Tom
Tom,
Can't help butting in. Then you'd be missing a lot!! NY is still the
center of everything. The same dirt, crime, booze & dope is here in NC but
not the cultural life.
Gracia
Tom,
Sorry no offence intended, cant even remember what I said. 🙂
RGDS
Laurie Carroll AKL NZ
Longdistance Autopilot
<<Tom,
"cheap land here in Oklahoma.."
Hmmmmm……you wouldnt also be offering a really good deal on a Statue in
New York by any chance….(g)
Laurie Carroll AKL NZ
<< Longdistance Autopilot
>>Laurie
"You cut me to the quick, I would never direct someone to NYC even if he
asked me."
>>Tom
Chris
Tom,
Oh……..now I remember.
My penance will be using the network "PC" at work…. argh. 🙂
Laurie Carroll AKL NZ
Longdistance Autopilot
Rob, Boy, I guess outr r timing is good! AW's June issue, which should be on
newsstands now, has articles on both monitors and scanners. Hope you find them
helpful. Let me know! –Barbara
Barbara, Yesterday, I received my June issue of Amiga World (finally). Thanks
for the good timing. -Rob- P.S. AW's review of Leminings 2 said it was not copy
protected. Pyschnosis has assured me that some type of protection will be in
place though it is suppose to be hard drive installable.
I would like to know what kind of hardware is available to expand the
serial and parallel ports of the computer.
Carl, Do you mean what you can hook up to these ports, or are you talking about
multi-serial port cards and the like? –Barbara
I would like to know about multi-serial port cards and parallel ports on a
expansion card. I would also like to know how compatible these ports are
to modems and printers and how fast they can operate and the amount of
processing time they take. I guess a good example would be how many BBS
lines could my A3000 handle and still let me do other work on my Amiga.
Also, I don't know if this is possible, but could I use my built in
parallel port with Parnet and put my printer on parallel port from an
expansion card?
OK, Carl. Thanks. That sounds like a really good idea. –Barbara
I haven't heard much from multi-port card owners. Too bad, as I'm about to
become one. As far as I know, there are 3 "normal" (serial and/or
parallel) I/O boards available — The Pre'spect Multiface (2S, 2P), The
GVP I/O Extender (2S, 1P), and Commodore's A2232 (7S, no Parallel).
I don't know which has the best compatability, but GVP has a reputation
for fighting with their cards until they work right. The main problem
would be the printer port. Some programs refuse to be redircted. If only
C= had done printer support the way they did serial support. A
"printer.device" would come in handy about now…..
// Brian — Cruising on AutoPilot…..
\X/
Sounds great!
I'd add a section on graphics boards, and accelerators for each kind of
Amiga.
Bob Comer — Cruising the nets on AutoPilot
Bob, I don't know if we'll be able to cover those areas in the same issue if we
stick to our original plans, but we'll definitely put them on the list. If not
this issue, we'll tackle them another time. Thanks for the suggestion!
–Barbara
Barbara,
Would it be possible to use more artwork done on the Amiga instead of the
"painting" type that seems to be in favor these days, eg the raytraced
room as the opener to the raytracing article recently, was really good.
I am sure that you can find people here that can do this kind of work.
As an example of the "painting" type ref March '93 issue P33 Amigas on the
Block.
I admit that this is just my personal opinion/taste but it is
something that I have wondered about.
Laurie Carroll AKL NZ
Longdistance Autopilot
Laurie, I'm glad to hear you say that! I couldn't agree more. In fact, that
was the reason behind the "Attention Amiga Artists" spot we've run in recent
issues. We got good response from it, and you should be seeing more Amiga
artwork in the magazine.
The reason we use non-Amiga artwork in the magazine is that often times the art
director needs to illustrate a concept, as opposed to just running a nice
picture along with the article. Certain times it doesn't matter, but when it
does he needs to rely on a professional commercial artist who's accustomed to
taking direction from an art director.
At any rate, the July issue will feature a gallery of great 3-D images that
came in as a result of our request, and we're looking forward to more.
–Barbara
Barbara,
The June 1993 issue that listed the monitors and display modes of
the Amiga line was quite nice. That is one issue I'm going to keep
track of from my subscription. It seems that it should be quite
useful whenever we manage to upgrade from the 1084S monitor presently
on the system.
Information about the Syquest drives, color boards for the video
slot, and perhaps the use of AREXX with hardware would be interesting
topics. We have an Amiga 2000HD with GVP G-Force 030, A2232
multi-serial card, and bridgeboard. Since the video slot is empty,
cards for that slot would be interesting. Also, a followup on the
June issue about flicker fixers would be interesting.
Sincerely,
(Mr.) Gayle Lee Fairless
'Perfessor Fearless' from the Rocket City!
via AutoPilot 1.03a
I think it may be interesting to explore ways one can share/network
the "storage" between systems. Lately, in the forums, I've noticed
an increase in the amount of discussions along these lines – on
networking and "NFS" capabilities.
With disks getting bigger and several users having more than one
system, this is becoming more and more important. Keeping current
backup of the systems is not a minor issue with larger disks.
We began our "solution hunt" last year, at the time we had two Amiga
3000s, both with 200 meg hard disks. We purchased a Maxtor 1
Gigabyte removable (optical), a 1/2 G on each side. This is shared
full time by the 3000s using ENLAN-DFS. ENLAN-DFS also gives us
access to the other resources on the two systems. (Pratically
complete access of the remote system). We've since added a A1200 to
the family, which we connect up to "our" network with Parnet. We've
invested in two disks. On each we keep one side to back up the 5
disks on the three Amigas and the second side for "online" access.
One of the disk is for offsite backup. Between all this and the
tapestreamer, backups have become extremely easy and "floppyless".
We're probably not done yet, you see, we have our game machine to hook
up to the network – ummmm what do you do about these IBM PC's. So we
keep exploring…..TCP/IP????
Side note, while the above solution is not the cheapest, it has been
rather fun – some of the initial solutions for sharing the 1G drive
proved to be very interesting – not to mention creative.
As a CD-ROM owner, I'd be interested to know about portability of
CD's between platforms. Is there software out there that would allow
a CD developed for an IBM or a MAC to be accessable on the Amiga? Are
there HW differences? It would be nice at least to be able to access
"data" based CD's.
Looking forward to reading the "HARDWARE POWER ISSUE". Good luck!
Judi, Yes, yes, yes! Sharing peripherals is becoming more and more
important, I think. We've actually scheduled an article on ParNet
for an upcoming issue (Sept., if I remember). We also want to do
something on the larger topic of networking in general. So your
input is appreciated.
I can't answer your CD questions, but we'll definitely consider them
for this issue. I agree these are important topics… –Barbara
Barbara: Another thing. Please look at switchboxes and products that
add I/O ports to the Amiga.
Switchboxes come in parallel, serial and 15-pin (for monitors)
flavors. Some boxes work, some don't. Some handle up to four devices
but require power and don't seem to like the Amiga. Some are heavily
buffered so you can use 'em on the fly, while switching others while
the system is alive may cause dangerous surges. Or so I'm told.
I just bought a GVP I/O Extender because with a scanner, genlock,
digitizer, MIDI box, modem, two printers and what all else, I'm
getting tired of pulling plugs. Also, with a bridgeboard and a
VGA-equipped stand-alone PC on my desk, plus a flicker fixer in the
Amiga, a monitor switchbox is a necessity.
Seems to me the Amiga has a real advantage in that adding multiple
serial ports isn't limited by the IRQ interrupt problems that plague
PCs. E.g., you can pop as many GVP Phonepak cards into an Amiga as
you have slots, and they'll all work. Try something similar on any
PC! The Amiga ought to be a natural for networking — to other Amigas
or alien platforms. It would also make a great interface between
duller computers and the real world. Some researchers already use
Amigas as front-end terminals for scientific workstations, after all.
Hard drives would be great, but even better would be an article abou
the new boards that have just recently been announced. The Domino,
Merlin, and Retina. That along with older product like Opalvision,
etc…
Jonathan, I'll tell you, the field of graphics boards changes so fast!
We just did a roundup in the Feb. issue…maybe we shouldn't wait
long to do an9other one. The Retina is already on deck for an
individual review, I know, but the Merlin and Domino…? I've never
heard of the Domino. And I'm not so sure about Merlin, either? Can
you tell me anything about these?
Good to hear that the Retina board will be in for individual review.
Regarding the Merlin and Domino board. The Domino board was
advertised in your magazine! It along with the new Tower conversion
for the A500. The Merlin board is from Germany, can't tell you much
more. There are several others as well. Perhaps it's time to get AW
to do some sleuthing of the European Amiga hardware market????
-Jonathan
Hmmm… After flipping through the last couple of issues and not finding the
Domino ad, I walked over to our sales dept. (all on the phone!). Do you
remember who advertised it?
As far as sleuthing the European market, yeah, we do a little bit of that, but
we have a policy of not spotlighting products that are not readily available in
the US. This becomes really important when it comes to support. We cover
European trade shows every once in a while to give an idea of what's going on
over there, but try to keep a US-user slant on it. –Barbara
Barbara,
I understand the reason why the magazine has the policy re
European software/Hardware, however I do think that it should be given
more coverage as that in itself will help the crossfeed between the USA
and Europe. Afterall we have at least one German gent pushing (for want of
a better word) his German software (here on CIS) for the Amiga, with
support directly via CIS. AmigaWorld should be should be fanning the
"flames" for Amiga software not curtailing its possible spread.
In the interests of the magazine and the Amiga I can see only
benefits to both from a more positive approach to this area.
Laurie Carroll AKL NZ
Longdistance Autopilot
Laurie, I'll pass your comment along…that's a good point. –Barbara
Re: encouraging cross pollination of European and Yankee software for
Amiga
Hear, hear! If all american Amiga owners knew the features of the latest
WordsWorth they might raise a hue that reassured the publisher he had a
good market here to convert for. I think that is the case with Frontiers
(sometimes called Elite III), a british cult game eagerly awaited by
millions of fans here. I also have three disks of educational software by
Hokianga Software in NZ that I had to order from the author because it is
not available here, the best our daughter has ever had. I strongly urge
spreading the word on "foreign" offerings everywhere. They may not be
advertisers now, but they will be if the seed takes root.
Tom, Oklahoma City
Tom,
I'd like to know more about the educational software. What age groups?
What subjects? How much? Where to order?
—Betty
Hi Betty,
Great, at last I can say something enthusiastic and positive. The games
are KIM, NIMBLE NUMBERS, AND CLOCKWORKS, all written by
Hokianga Software
P.O. Box 67
Rawene, NZ
They are appropriate for pre-school to early elementary. The charming
thing about KIM, especially, is the unconcious infusion of New Zealand
into the game in subtle ways: the choice of fruits and animals, the native
dances that are shown as a reward, the NZ/British slang in the vocal
rewards for correct answers. My daughter spent hours on it. Even my
"adult" offspring spent hours on it, and my wife too. It is fun.
Kim gets it's title from the Rudyard Kipling novel, and is a popular
english game called Kim's Game, which is a memory imporvement game to test
how many objects you can remember after they are hidden.
The Clockworks has a cuckoo, a railroad clock and a digital clock to teach
children to tell time obviously. Nimble numbers is simple math exercises.
They are written by a one-man Amiga dealer and former teacher who sells
his favorite computer to rural schools and familys in the outback of NZ
according to his very nice letter. I wish I could find it again. If you do
contact him please tell him we still use the games. I forget the price.
Tom
{ Internet: jonest@hfsi.com Fido: 1:147/2020.5 Compuserve 76470,1332 }
Thanks for the description. It is sad that there is so little available
for children to use on the Amiga. I've noticed that we almost never get
educational programs for the libraries here. The dealers have some things
– but not a great choice. I'm glad to hear about the good ones you have
located.
—Betty
Tom,
Ref the Hokianga Software, would you mind Emailing their address to me.
The "game" I want to buy from over there is called Aero Chopper and is an
R/C model flight simulator, so I can learn to fly my R/C models properly.
There is a bloke in the Modelnet Forum that has this prog and is steadily
uploading new "types" of model as you can "programme" the flight
characteristics of a model (ie create new ones) and does some really way
out stuff.
Laurie Carroll AKL NZ
Longdistance Autopilot
I would like to see a round up of 1200 hardware. Like 68030 accelerators
and SCSI-2 controllers.
Richard -> via the Amiga 1000 AutoPilot
Hi Richard, If all goes according to plan, a roundup of A1200 products
will appear in our the Sept. issue. Some of the stuff that's been
announced is not out quite yet, but we're pretty sure we can OQ pull
it off for that issue (Sept. actually ships to subscribers the last
day of July).
At any rate, I hope the article helps you! –Barbara
Thanks Barbara, I can't decide to upgrade to a 1200 with a 63030 and
SCSI-II or splurge for a 4000. I am hoping a round up will help me decide.
Why don't you wait for the A4000/030 it is already available in the UK so
it can't be too long before you see it in the States. In the UK the price
is exactly half that of the '040 version so this might prove the best of
both worlds.
Greg
I would love to get the 4000/030. It would fit my budget better since I
would be getting a 486 BB to run inside also.
Richard -> via the Amiga 1000 AutoPilot
Sorry I can't give you more information about the release date of the
A4000/030 in the US. It shouldn't be long though.
I've played around with one a little which was running Bars and Pipes Pro
v2.0 and fitted with the "One Stop Music Shop" Zorro card. I have to say
that I noticed no difference in speed between that and my A4000/040. I
have been told that the difference is more noticable when really loading
the work onto the processor eg. Rendering. As the CPU is on a
daughterboard as in the '040 version upgrading to a more powerful chip
would be very easy.
Greg.
What's going on? My local Amiga dealer has had '030 4000s for several
weeks, and has sold out of them already. Aren't they generally
available?
//
-Karl \X/ Amiga and Autopilot: The *only* way to fly!
Karl,
The '030 A4000 is readily available in the UK and probably elsewhere in
Europe but it is not always the case that particular models available over
here are available in the USA. For instance as well as my A4000 I have two
A1500's but the A1500 model I don't think was ever released in the
States.
BTW the A4000/030 seems to be selling well over here too. This is quite
encouraging as the UK market has always been games based A500's or
A600's.
Greg
I'm very glad to hear that a high-end Amiga is finally selling well in
Europe. With the state of the U.S. market these days, that's probably the
best hope for continued software development.
You're right about the 1500, along with the 500+ it was never released
over here. Fortunately the 4000/030 is not in this group!
//
-Karl \X/ Amiga and Autopilot: The *only* way to fly!
Good point Karl, the "state of the US market" is exactly why the 4000/30
should sell well here, as it did in Europe already: it is competitive. It
is already available in the northeast corner of the U.S. and has been
available mailorder for a month, but there is apparently a shortage of
them.
The US model is a 4000/EC030 with a 120mb ide harddrive at $1800. street
price. There may be a possibility to order one with a 68030 and 68882
coprocessor, at least one friend in Canada has one now he was sold as a
68030 with MMU and he is testing it now to confirm that. Let you know.
Tom
I am running a 68030 now, so the speed would be just fine. I don't know
if I would need the 040.
Richard -> via the Amiga 1000 AutoPilot
Greg…
Uh, the A4000/030 has been released in the United States for about 2
months now. I have them in stock, how many would you like? 😉
-mark=
Otto Pilot Engaged..
Right on, Mark, can you order one with a 68030 (with MMU) and 68882 on the
card? What is the price of that configuration?
Tom, Oklahoma City
Tom,
They come standard from Commodore with a 68EC030 and the ones we have
recieved so far have had a surfaced mounted EC chip. You can add a math
coprocessor, and price is based on the speed of the math chip.
List of the A4000/030 is $2399. Street price is around $1899. That
includes 4MB of RAM and a 120MB hard disk.
-mark=
Otto Pilot Engaged..
Its' more complicated than that now Rich! I just heard that GVP are doing
a trade-up from their HD8 hard drive to their A530 hard drive with 40mhz
68030 inside…. I was almost gonna spend 1000 pounds on a 4000/30 but now
I think I'll just accellerate my 500+ and live without AGA for a while
longer!…
Steve
While my 1000 is current except for AGA it's showing it's age. I also have
to replace an aging 286 at the same time. So just adding a BB to
a 4000 is a good way to have one box to both jobs. So the AGA is not my
only concern.
Richard -> via the Amiga 1000 AutoPilot
STEVE,
I have not seen anything about the HD8 to A530 upgrade in the mags here.
Where did you hear that and any info on the price they are asking?
I'm glad they have done this as I thought it was odd they never offered
the option before. Still I guess with so many moving over to the new
machines they had to do something to shift the A530's.
IAIN.
Hi Iain,
I went to the Amiga Format show at Wembly last weekend and the guy on the
GVP stand told me about the upgrade thing, It seems if you bought your
HD8+ from Silica (I did..) they will mail you in a couple of weeks
proposing the full deal, he said they would take the drive out of your
existing machine and put it in a 530 for about 200 – 250 pounds (This
coincides with cutting the price of 530's down to 500 pounds) If you've
got extra Ram onboard he said it would be a 2 for 1 swap thing.. ie 2 megs
of 16 bit Ram would get you one of 32 bit… I bet they charge more for
that though..
I'm gonna do it.. I've got too much stuff strapped to this 500+ to bother
starting again with a 4000/30 (although I nearly cracked and got one a
couple of weeks ago..) How about you? Gonna go AGA or speed up!
I got the impression that even if you didn't get your drive from Silica
you could still take advantage of the deal once its been publicised.
Steve
STEVE,
Just 200-250 pounds? This sounds a really incredible offer from GVP. I
actually bought mine from POWER computing but as you say, it may not make
any difference.
I am strongly tempted to go for the new machines. I thought about the 1200
as a quick purchase, but when I calculated the cost of adding the hard
drive, the extra 32bit memory and the 68030 accelerator. I'd have been as
well just going straight for the A4000-30 – the A4000-40 is well out of
reach right now but I assume their prices will fall soon enough. I like
the idea of 256 colours or greys on the screen.
I have a flicker-fixer and 6Mb now (2Mb chip) and a GVP 286 emulator along
with the GVP hard drive and doubt that I will be able to get a good price
for it if I sold it anyhow. So I may end up keeping it as it does no harm
to have two Amigas.
I'm still ruminating about it but I checked out the prices below …
UK price 25Mh A4000-30 & 120Mb hard drive = 1026 pounds.
UK price A1200 = 375 pounds
+ 127Mb Drive = 313 pounds
+ 2Mb memory = 115 pounds
+ A1230 (40Mh) Turbo = 375 pounds
TOTAL = 1178 pounds
I think the advantage lies slightly with the A1200 juiced up as it has a
faster processer – but the A4000-30 still has all those Zorro slots
available, which the A1200 has not.
I took the above prices from the latest issue of AMIGA SHOPPER.
IAIN.
I did the same calculation as you regarding a 1200 or a 4000/030 and came
to the same conclusion… I *am* very tempted to get a 4000/030
especially as Hobbytte said they'd give me 275 for my 500+ and HD8 which
brings their 4000/030 price down to about 700 quid…. very tempting!
OTOH I'm pretty happy with my set-up at the mo, I've got 2mb-chip and
4mb-fast same as you, it does all I ask it to… granted slower than I
would like but the A530 would see to that.. how do you find the GVP 286
emulator? I've seen them for 99 pounds recently, worth getting?
What monitor do use with your flicker-fixer? Thats my ambition… running
Autopilot without triggering epilepsy.. <g>
Steve
STEVE,
That is an interesting offer from HOBBYTTE, A500+ & GVP for 275 pounds. It
sounds as though you'd be getting taken advantage of there. I think you'd
possibly be able to sell it for more outside. I would not give them it at
that price – I would expect a lot more. There is the memory expansion as
well to consider. You have 6 megs as well.
I got the GVP286 up and running reasonably OK, though I had a few problems
trying to undestand the high, extended and expanded memory. But then later
I discovered that the software does not allow you to use high density
disks and I think most programmes on PC's use high density drives. I have
an OLIVETTI 1.4Mb drive but was not able to connect it it up so that it
ran. I set up a partition on my GVP for the PC software but honestly found
that I was not using it.
The reason I bought it in the first place was to become knowledgable on
MS-DOS as they were planning to bring computers into my work. But it turns
out they are not doing so after all. Too much money, I think. I'm with the
NHS! I don't think there is anything I cannot do on a PC that I cannot do
on an AMIGA and the AMIGA is a lot more comfortable for me. It can read
MS-DOS files anyway, so that, ihn the end is all I needed!
I have now removed the partition I was using for the PC and the 286 still
resides in my hard drive but is very much unused. I have three floppy
drives so if I ever have an application I want to look at, I figure I can
still do so.
I'm using the COMMODORE 1960 monitor, I was lucky here. I had actually
ordered the 1950 but the company (SILICA) sent me the 1960 instead. The
downside is lack of sound, but the picture quality is well ahead of the
other AMIGA monitor I was using. These things cost a bit but are really
well worth getting hold of. I would never willingly go back to DTP with
the original monitor I had. It is also compatable with the AMIGA new
machines as well.
As for the flicker-fixer – how can you go without one? Using AUTOPILOT
without one would do my head in, doing any interlace without one would do
my head in!
That's the great thing about this machine. You buy the basic unit and move
it in the direction you want to go – I'm not really into music so I have
no music software at all. But I'm interested in text and DTP work so I
have moved my machine in that direction.
IAIN.
Iain,
Yeah, I realise that 275 for the Amiga and hard drive is a poor deal (!)
but its the only way I could afford to get an A4000/030.. have you seen
how many 500's are for sale since the 1200 was launched! <g> no chance of
selling it privately.. might be able to offload the drive but then the
500's worthless as a trade-in.. The more I think about this the more I
vear towards upgrading the HD8+ to an A530 and getting a flicker fixer,
AGA can wait.. If they'd put a DSP in the 4000 it would be a different
story however.
The only program I run interlaced is autopilot, I have my screen colours
set to minimise flicker (11,9,8 – 0,0,0 – 14,14,14 – 0,8,7 with the
contrast and brightness turned down a tad.. go on, try 'em I dare you! in
my defence they match the decor of the room my 'puters in <g>) for DTP I
run Pagestream in a window rather than on a custom screen then I enlarge
the window to the size of my workbench (1280×516) and scroll around using
the mouse..
I'm glad you explained what has happened to your GVP286.. I was going to
use one to dip an emulated toe into the waters of MSDOS.. but figure I'd
give up on it in the same way you have.. don't want a crummy PC.. as an
aside my main Amiga buddy has just jumped ship and abandoned his 030
powered 2000 for a 486 with CD rom etc etc.. can't stop bragging about all
the fabulous software he can run now, admits it doesn't multitask as well
as his Amiga did but is totally unrepentant about deserting.. I hate this!
I hope Commodore do release the mooted CD based console with AGA at 200
odd pounds.. its prolly the only way of getting some cash injected into
this machine I love… which will hopefully revitalise the more serious
end of the Amiga software market.
Heres hoping,
Steve.
Iain: check out the MicroBotics M1230 XA. It should be a good deal more
affordable than the GVP unit, plus it is a true 50MHz 030 with an MMU. It is
available in Britain from various outlets. –Redmond [MicroBotics]
Bernoulli 150 drive is a very popular topic lataely, as are 17" monitors.
What about all those SCSI devices made for the Mac and PC. How
compatible are they with the Amiga and what about the drivers? I
especially think about storage devices (Syquest, Floptical,
Bernouilli, CD-ROM, …) and scanners. What about networking, too.
Speaking of SCSI devices for the clones… I see a lot of SCSI
interfaces for them that connect to the printer port. (Especially for
laptops). Seems like it would be a natural for some Amiga hardware
company to write driver software to allow the Amiga to use them. It
would be a good solution for the 1200, where expansion space is at a
premium.
Just remember how slow the Amiga's parallel port design is; think
turtle, and then think, crippled turtle.
I would like to second Judi Pepp's suggestion for some information on
Amiga networking. Could you have a "project" type story about the
hardware/soft requirements to hook up a couple of Amigas (like most
of us have), in a client server arrangement. Throw in a CDTV and/or
PC hook-up and you would get MY attention!
Well, if it comes down to a choice between 'slow' and 'no', I'll go
with slow. Although, I've been playing with parnet at the store.
Seems to me that a paralell port interface would be faster than
parnet. Parnet is probably fast enough for many people.
What many people don't realize about the Amiga's parallel port
hardware is that it runs at *one* megahertz. Even in the accellerated
machines, unless I seriously miss my guess.
The original 68000 had a special clock output which was divided by
about ten over the master clock frequency; this was so that it would
work with old (read, now obsolete, big time) 6800-family peripherals.
The 6800 is an old-tech 8-bit micro which generally ran at 1 mhz,
which brings us to the 1 mhz peripheral speed. Good idea (the slow
clock output) at the time, but CBM used it to drive the CIA's which
was not exactly a high-performance decision. We got a fair bit of
functionality for it; the CIA's have two timers each, two parallel
ports and some bizzare semi-serial stuff too. But
gaaaaaaaaadddddzzzz are they slow. :^)
That's not even the end of it; I forget the exact specifics, but I
*beleive* that it takes more than one 1-mhz clock for the parallel
port to do anything; read, or write. if it's two, then the max rate
is 500 khz; if 3, 333 kzh, if 4, 250 khz. I used to know all this
when I designed the AVT system, which uses the parallel port hardware
quite thoroughly, but my mind loses stuff like that in self-defense,
I think. :^))
But I agree – if the choice is slow or no, slow is better.
Makes you wonder why they didn't go with a newer Motorola chip. But
then, CBM makes the 8520s themselves, so I suppose it's cheaper.
It's been a while since I've done any hardware hacking, and then it
was Z80s, but I believe that 1/10 clock is the E line. If it is the
CPU clock divided down, wouldn't a 25 mHz 3000 have a 2.5 mHz E? I
could see accellerated 2000's keeping the 1 meg (730kHz?) from the
motherboard 68000. The E line does go into the processor slot though,
so I could see an accellerator card overriding the motherboard
processor. Depends on whether the E goes tristate when the CPU is
halted. I couldn't find that in my 68000 hardware book. I'm curious
now, time to get out the 'scope. 🙂
Anyway, the main reason I suggested using the paralell to scsi
adapters from clones is that it's an off-the-shelf item. Someone
wouldn't need to deal with the Feds. Perhaps it would be best to just
wait for PCMCIA scsi cards to appear. That slot certainly isn't much
use for RAM…
Jim
Good question about E… dunno. Let me know what you find when you
scope it, eh? <grin>
Ok, here's what I found scoping around in a 2000. The E clock is .71 mHz.
Plugging in a 68030 card didn't make any difference, it's still .71 mHz. In
fact,
as far as I can tell, E still comes from the motherboard 68000 even in
accellerated
machines. It looks like the accellerator card just asserts a signal /Boss which
keeps the motherboard cpu from getting buss access. It's still peddaling like
mad
but missed the bus. 🙁 Just as well, since even dropping \Halt doesn't stop the
68000 from generating the E clock.
I didn't scope a 3000, but after a quick look at the prints, it appears the
68030
doesn't deal with those ancient 6800 peripherals. The E clock is generated by
Gary.
Too bad I didn't get curious about this last week, I could have checked an
ADSPEED
14mHz 68000.
Jim
Hey, thanks for going into it… useful to know, generally. .71 mhz… as
Bill the cat would say, "ACK! PFHTT!"
<grin>
–Ben
…via AutoPilot
No problem…. Yeah, the .71 mHz is 'pokey', if you'll pardon the Atari
pun. :/ Sorry about the sloppy formatting on that message. That's what I
get for editing the Autopilot massage file after the fact.
-Jim
> storage guide
One thing I'd find useful is a discussion of mass storage devices and
their use with multiple platforms. For example, which combination of
removable drives and software drivers can be used with both Amigas
and Macs, or SCSI compatibility between Amigas and IBM clones.
Robert,
along with severe warnings about the "SCSI" peripheral available for the PC!
Our local computer paper just ran a long article on the woes of SCSI on the PC.
Seems like most manufacturers take a different slant on the SCSI standard,
resulting in confusion and massive incompatibility. With very low-cost CD-ROM
drives and the likes being constantly advertised in PC-oriented papers, many
Amiga owners might be tempted to buy, not realizing what a mistake they're
making. A well-researched AmigaWorld article would save many of them
considerable teeth-gnashing.
Blaq!
I second the note about multiple-platform CD-ROM. It just became
relevant to me, since I got a shipment from Microsoft for developers,
and the software comes on IBM CD-ROM. Time to go out and get one,
and I want something that works well on the Amiga, too.
There are at least three CD-ROM device drivers available as
commercial packages for the Amiga that will let you access IS0-9660
discs, as well as most stuff written for CDTV to date and audio CDs.
I don't use 'em, so AmigaWorld or another correspondent here will
have to speak to this topic.
Barbara,
How about some in depth coverage on HOW to along with WHAT to hook up
to your Amiga?
Don
Don, Can you give me a better idea of what you mean? It sounds like a
great idea, but I'm not sure how to implement it–given all the
different "whats" out there–and make it both broad-based and helpful
enough. But maybe I'm not on the right track here…. –Barbara
Barbara,
A large number of questions here, and from users in general go
something like this:
"I've got a XXX and want to hook it up to my Amiga…what do I need to
do?"
or
"I've got a So and So SCSI card in my drive and want to add another HD,
how do I set the jumpers."
In any event, since you say the whole issue is supposed to be
devoted to hardware, I'd have an article on how to hook up a SCSI HD
giving information on what jumpers need to be set, how to properly
terminate a SCSI bus. You could do it in generic terms…with a few
specifics for the most popular SCSI host adapters (commonly known as
HD controller cards). What do you do if you have no room inside your
Amiga…how do you "bring the SCSI bus" outside or hook up an
external HD or tape drive.
I'd also have an article on how to setup various kinds of
printers, certainly not all printers, but how to figure out which
printer driver to use, how to test your setup out and so forth.
Perhaps an article on what kind of monitors can be used with the
various models of Amiga, and how to set your peferences properly.
And finally, perhaps an article on video add-ons.
While it's nice to know what kinds of hardware is available, with
the dealer network dying, folks need help with not only what to buy,
but what to do with it once they have it.
Don, Thanks for your ideas. I see what you mean, and I think they're good
ones. I misled you if I made you think we would devote the whole issue to
hardware, but any ideas we don't use this issue will come up again when we plan
future ones.
As far as monitors go, please see the new (June) issue. We've got one article
on monitors and another on display modes. And we'll cover both printers and
printer drivers (plus printer utility software) in the Sept. issue.
Good point on the dropoff of dealer networks. I know AmigaWorld can never fill
the gap there, but I hope we can help. Thanks—Barbara
What, you said the dealer network is dying Don? I feel like the guy who
couldn't find the meat in his sandwich and in one bite missed it entirely.
Story of my life, I tell you, there was a network and I missed it.
Tom
Tom,
Right…there never was that much meat in the sandwich, and now even
that seems to be going bye bye.
Don
I think Amiga networking and multi-platform integration would make a
great piece for AW.
Barbara,
How about:
A range of monitors that are compatable with all the display modes of the
A1200 & 4000.
PC emulators.
Mac emulators.
Scanners.
Modems.
Serial and parallel port addition/expansion devices.
Sound Cards.
the future; DSP and Retargetable graphics.
…for starters?
Charlie Badalati
APing from Wurselen,Germany
Charlie, Please see the June issue for monitors and display modes
coverage, and for a roundup of scanners. We've got PC and Mac
emulation covered in the July and August issues (neither is out quite
yet).
We'll definitely add your other suggestions to our list… and we
can't wait to talk about DSP, etc.!
Thanks, –Barbara
I'm interested in sharing removeable media (Syquest or floptical, for
instance) on an Amiga among AmigaDOS and emulators such as AMAX, the
Bridgeboard or Emplant.
How about a write up about the new Emplant? That I think would be a
great benefit to all your readers. Especially if there was a sidebar
describing installation, etc…
I second that; I'd like to read a *detailed* review of the emplant.
–Ben
…via AutoPilot
Yes, the Emplant could potentially be the biggest story of the year.
Watch for a thorough Emplant review in the August issue. Utilities
Unlim. FINALLY got us a board! –Barbara
Great! I can't wait for a review of the Emplant….
-Jonathan
When looking at removable storage, I'd like to see some consideration
of cross-platform compatibility. Many Amiga users also need to use
PCs or Macs sometimes. For instance, if I buy a removable (Syquest,
floptical, Bernoulli, or magneto-optical) drive, I'd like to find one
that can be moved among all 3 platforms… from a company that
_supports_ all 3 platforms (so when I call with a question, they'll
try to answer it, regardless of which of the 3 machines I have it
hooked up to at the time). And I'd also like to know what does and
doesn't work when using these devices to move data between platforms.
For instance, can I hook up the drive to an Amiga, and insert a
cartridge/disk that I was using when I had the device attached to a
PC or Mac, and access tha data from the Amiga? (Assuming, of course,
that the data is in some file format that some Amiga program
understands, ASCII, TIFF, whatever.) ===Scott
Something I'd find useful is a definitive rundown of all the
different CDROM drives -and- formats (and their
compatability/usefulness with the Amiga). Also – some kind of
'informed' article on the state of support for the older (i.e.
non-AGA) machines would be interesting – not just from C='s
perspective, but from some of the bigger players in the market.
Thanks for your interest in our opinions!
Thanks a bunch for your helpful comments. (Please feel free to send
your thoughts, complaints, compliments etc. concerning AW _anytime_!)
Rest assured, just becasue the AGA machines are here, we won't be
ignoring the older Amigas with regard to any of this stuff. –Barbara
I'd know my 500 is suppose to be on it's way out, but I'd really like
to find out more about accelerators for it. Especially the Supra28.
I haven't read anything about it.
Mel, I'm going to have to give Supra a holler. They talked about an
accelerator quite some time ago, and I followed up with them for a
while, but I haven't heard from them in aeons.
The A500 is still a really important model in my estimation–so many
of us use them. We've talked about doing an article on accelerators
for all Amigas, and believe me, we won't exclude the A500 when we do
it. Thanks for your comments. –Barbara
Please be sure to look at accelerators for CDTVs when you do.
Apparently, only fast 68000 devices like the Blizzard Board or the
ICD product will work in it.
I vote for coverage on the 4000/30 machine. Any news or products you
can uncover that tend to upgrade the earlier 3000/2000/500 ECS
machines and give them some abilities of the AGA machines would be of
great interest. I would love to see a good in depth review of Jim
Drew and Emplant Macintosh Emulator. Any chance of a review of the
newest OS from Commodore, 3.1? I also think a story about which
hardware controllers and which software is portable to the 4000 from
the earlier ECS line will be useful to many people making the move.
Tom, Watch for Emplant in the August issue. I don't know exactly how
much we'll do on the A4000/030 because the processor speed is the
only difference , besides price, from the 040 version–at least to my
knowledge.
Giving AGA capabilities to earlier machines is probably the biggest
issue in the Amiga realm today. So far we haven't heard of any
developers pursuing that, but we will jump on any that come along. If
you hear any rumblings about such a product, would you please let me
know?
Yeah, the portability issue is important. Thanks for the
suggestion!!! –Barbara
Barbara –
I've heard "rumblings" about an AGA
compatibility/emulation/somesuch board for the A2000/A3000 being
worked on in Europe, I think Germany (so what else is new …?).
Unfortunately, that's all I've heard. I believe the post was over on
Portal, though perhaps one of the CIS folks from over there has heard
something and can expand on it.
I'll see if our Master of the Nets Tim Walsh has heard… Thanks! — BBarbara
Barbara,
I think an article on the network rumors would be real enjoyable. Digg
out the staright poop on them and set the record straight. Easier said
than done but some that come to mind are:
AGA for the 500/2000/3000 by GVP and or DKB or other 3rd party
The straight poop on DSP for the 4000
SCSI card for the PCMIA slot (heard a lot about this but nothing
positive)
CBM Video deinterlacer for the 4000/1200
Is the MPEG card C= showed going to be a production item?
Are the 2000/3000 realy being discontinued and when are the last ones
expected to roll of the assembly line
IS there a CBM 486 Bridgeboard?
IS 3.x going to be released `for the rest of us'
ect., ect.
There are a lot of rumors floating around and if they can be addressed in
a factual manner (instead of Bandito style) it would benifit the entire
community.
…Steve
====>>> Motorola 68030 Inside <<<====
AND….speaking of portability…..another biggie on the the wishlist
of many Amigans is a laptop Amiga. I have always hoped for one and
like many others who travel often can't accept that such a machine is
impossible.
We know the excuses: the ECS and AGA chipset uses too much battery
juice, the amiga "must" have a color LCD screen, etc. Most people I
know file those excuses with cow pasture muffins, but Lew did mention
portables were waiting now on the Cmos AAA chipset so I wonder if
they are working on one now that the AAA is rumored to be finished
(evidenced by the layoffs?)
Sure, rumblings are everywhere that claim GVP is working on a 3000 AGA
option, but who knows? I have to ignore that along with the A5000 spec
sheet dropped on UseNet on April 1st.
The rumor that most intriques ME is the one that says ADOS 3.1 will
support ECS as well as AGA machines. That would be terrific evidence that
RTG will come to the ECS machines one day in 4.1 and that they haven't
been swept out with yesterdays fish wrappers. This could be as important
or *more* important than AGA boards for old machines because, as you
probably know, it would allow Retina, OpalVision, and maybe even the
rumored AGA board to work as universal video output boards in all the
amigas.
Yes, there is an Elite cum Frontiers, thank you god!
Sorry, I am rambling and spilling my water again..
Tom, Oklahoma City.
Barbara,
since we who live in the Amiga world pride ourselves in being different, how
about an article on offbeat hardware, possibly available only on the Amiga?
An example is the 3-D glasses which don't need a computer to work (just use
any VCR), being marketed by the maker of Fractal Pro. (His name eludes me; it
resembles Dr. Daniel Holt) Wouldn't any 3-D devotee salivate at the prospect of
showing off her animations, _in three dimensions_, to anyone by just bringing
the glasses and a videotape?
How about a Mandala update? The Very Vivid group has purposely been keeping a
low profile these past few years, but Mandala is still very much alive and all
the rage at Cyber-events around the world.
I'm sure you've seen extravaganzas where animations and text are painted into
thin air by a computer-controlled laser. Ever wonder _what_ computer drives
them? Why, the Amiga, of course. Its stereo sound output controls the beam's
horizontal and vertical deflection, taking wonderful advantage of the sound
chip's DMA. The Amiga can animate a laser beam without asking its CPU do lift a
finger!
This already has the makings of a wonderful article, don't you think?
Blaq!
Charles, We've actually got an article going into the July issue on stereo 3-D.
Daniel Wolf's (MegageM's) glasses are mentioned in the issue, although we only
found out about them the day before the issue went out the door… (apparently
we were out of the word-of-mouth loop he was relying on). So the article is
done using Haitex's glasses and all the software that now supports them.
Mandala is a really cool product, I agree. As far as I understood, though,
they were selling the product only as part of full systems–not by itself. The
last time I checked on that was about four months ago.
Maybe it's time to cover the laser light thing again…we did a profile on
SeaWorld–which uses Amigas for that purpose– some time ago. We are planning
to do some more of these kinds of things in the future, so thanks for the
input!
–Barbara
The local planetarium uses an A2000 for their laser show. They have some
sort of custom card in there to control the servos. I remember seeing it
when their machine was in my shop for repair.
-Jim
Anybody know where I can get some of the Haitex glases? I was told that they
were discontinued…
Discontinued? Noooooo……….
Paul
(Oh, what's the use anyway.)
James, Unless its a very recent development,Haites has not disconintued
X-Specs. They have had production problems, though… –Barbara
Well, I am glad to hear that! I remember that they had a few ads in Amigaworld
way way back… But I have seen nothing from them at all in the last year or
two. I was told by a dealer that Haitex was no longer making the X-Specs. I
need to get a pair for use with Animatrix modeler… Still, does anyone know
where I can get a pair ?
Barbara,
I endorse the suggestion that was made about switchboxes. I had to send my
3000 to the shop last year; they replaced a screwy video chip. Whether that had
anything to do with some ill-advised plugging and unplugging of peripherals
into the video port, I'll never know, but to this day I'm leery. And now, I'm
experiencing strange problems with my genlock, so I may yet have _another_
video chip problem.
One thing I've considered is buying parallel and DB-23 (RGB port)
switchboxes, but I know all models are not created equal, and I for one would
love to see an article on switchboxes in AmigaWorld.
Blaq!