AT-Once
7 messages in this thread
I am considering buying one of the IBM hardware emulators (the AT-Once or
the Supra Product), and was looking for a few comments. How well do t they
work, how fast, is one much better than the other? Maybe someone knows if
they have been reviewed. Thanks for your help and comments.
>SteveC
Steve… I use the ATonce with a B2000 and SupraRAM 2000. It recognizes
all 3 meg of memory, and multitasks beautifully. I have heard horror
stories from my local (almost) dealer about ATonce and the 2000, but I have
had no problem. The only think that I don't like is that it will not
function whatsoever if installed in a zorro slot when I have my gvp 68030
combo installed.
ERIC
– via Whap!
Eric, Thanks for you comments. I didn't realize the ATonce mulitasks. I
thought it took over the Amiga. Are there provisions for moving data
between the ATonce and Amigados? Also, this will be installed in an Amiga
500, do you suppose that would decrease the usefullness?
>>SteveC
Yes, the ATonce takes the background screen on the Amiga. There are
utilities to move information from MS-DOS and AmigaDOS, but not directly
through RAM. I suppose utilities could be written to look at the portion
of RAM that the ATonce uses and vice-versa, but I don't see any usefulness
in this, except maybe cut and paste for text. The ATonce works identically
in the 2000 as it does in the 500. Actually, it is designed for the 500,
and will not physically fit correctly in the 2000, so an adapter board to
mount it vertically and in a Zorro slot is sold. There are no instructions
for RAM configuration on the 2000, and having RAM setupslike I have (2 meg
26 Bt SupraRAM and 1 meg 32 Bit GVP) get hairy. I seem to be one of the
lucky few who has one working with no problems in the 2000.
– via Whap!
I just bought an ATonce and have had a fair amount of trouble with it,
primarily due to problems arising from incompatiblity with my HD(a GVP
series II 52 meg w/2 meg memory). It does a pretty good job as long as I
don't run anything that requires much memory; it seems to work fairly well
running my workhorse MSDOS programs, like MSWord and Quicken, although it
frequently "hangs" on me and I have to reboot. Support on the product is
nil; the company is based in Germany and appears to have no
English-speaking liason here. Reports of a compuserve UID (in their ad)
appear to be exaggerated; I have had no response to multiple inquiries.
In short, buy the Supra product! I wish it had come out sooner!
Don, You sound pretty convinced that the Supra product is better. Do you
know of anyone using it yet? Also, not knowing how the Norton SI
performance rating of 6.1 relates to the real world, how well (speedwise)
does the ATonce work?
Thanks for your help. >>SteveC
Steve,
if I sound convinced of the Supra unit's superiority, it is purely an
emotional reaction to the difficulties I've had with my ATonce, since I
have no knowledge of the user-satisfaction level with Supra, and they
haven't shipped any product yet that I know of (I wanted to order one!).
One hopes that, whatever difficulties may arise with the Supra beastie, the
availability of US-based product support will make resolution of those
difficulties much easier than with Vortex.
My ATonce seems to run at about the clock speed of the A500, MUCH slower
than my 386!
cordially,
DD