#A2000 vs A1000
30 messages in this thread
CONVINCE ME!
I have an A1000, external floppy, 2meg expansion,
Smarteam 1200…and a mountains of software.
I wish I had a hard drive…
WHY SHOULD I BUY AN A2000.
1. Can't near the A1000 for all the kids.
2. Woul like to run ORACLE…but it's only XT compatible
3. Can stuff gobs of memory in it without interference
problems
4. Can be excellerated.
BUT…all of this was supposed to be the reasons for buying
an A1000.
I bought on rumours before…to be burned slightly.
You that have both (A2000/A1000)…WHY?!
Don't get me wrong…I'm a systems consultant with
an unmentionable mainframe/mine vendor…I love the
amiga…for what it is now…but more for what it should
be…
Just the other day; one of our sales staff asked how
a particular function could be implimented between
a mini and a micro…he was a little perplexed…it
couldn't be done with a Big Blue clone and our Mini
…He He He!…"my amiga could do it"…Multi-tasking
you see…He didn't think that was funny!
I digress:
Is the A2000 really worth it…NOW I MEAN!
eagerly waiting responses:
michael
Michael, I have a 2000 and kept my 1000 for a couple of reasons – as you stated
about kids – this gives my daughter all the time she wants on the Amiga and I
get to use one too. Also, I couldn't bear to part with it (I still have my
Atari 800 too) – to me the A1000 is and always will be the REAL Amiga. If you
need HAL+1 compatability then that is a good reason, expanding is easier and
cheaper, lots less desk space clutter etc.. Basically, I guess the 2000 is
what the 1000 should have . I think you've convinced yourself – I'm happy with
my decision – but I did think about it for quite awhile.
Marlene
Marlene: It is a real dilemma. I'm not the only being very careful
about plunking down another considerable amount of cash
for another CBM machine… I still remember that eternal wait
for decent software. This time I know it's going to be the
same thing for the hardware! Hardware that was supposed to be
available for the A1000.
I've already seen one price reduction on the A2000. Either
a price reduction or a well priced package. CBM did the
same thing with the A1000. I was one of the first; paying
top dollar.
What do you think will happen with pricing on the A2000.
Bragging about a dual processor machine running essentially
the low end of each processor line is a weak corporate line.
The 'XT' card should have been a bare bones 'AT'. With the
advent of '386' machines the 'xt' is dead! The 'AT' will
drop in price and the A2000 will be yesterday's muscle car.
CBM need to bring out a '68020' card (competitively priced
vs. CSA's) and an 'AT' card for the IBM side.
Then watch out. Noone will hesitate.
And that's my dilemma. What is CBM upto!!
regards: Michael
PS: the kids can wait! daddy's paying for it!
I don't know when they'll be here, but I hear the AT bridge-card is already
available in Europe, at about $200 over the cost of the XT card (list). And
I *think* CSA has lowered their price on the 68020 card for the 2000, to
around $900, but you might ask someone around here for confirmation on that.
-=MC=-
Thanks Michael: Your's was the first message coming in. What a pleasant
surprise. Hope its true.
regards
Michael
Just to make your choice a little more difficult (and to agree with you to
boot!):
I just saw a '286 card for the Mac II by AST and rather reasonable for the
power that it adds. Sounds like CBM is falling behind to the point where it
becomes visible. Where is the '286 board for the Amiga? Then again, why
haven't any hardware vendors come out with either an 8086 or 80286 board for
the Amiga (ASDG, C Ltd., CSA)? If CBM can't keep up…
BTW, I finally saw the TV ad for the A500 that was promised back in August
(September?). Where's the ad for the A2000? And when are they going to start
doing some magazine advertising (Computer Shopper, Byte, Compute, etc.)!?!
David Masterson
Right on!
I would have bought an A2000 the day they came out if it had the
'AT' card…as would so many others.
CBM is falling behind. I hope not too far. They have till about
mid-88. If they haven't cought up by then the A2000 will be
just another excellent oddity. "Interesting…just think what it
could have been".
regards
Michael
If one is going to add a brain damaged CPU to an otherwise good machine, will
it really matter what the degree of lobotomy is? Why go for a '286 at all? They
should, since they seem to be committed to providing compatibility to the IBM
world, go directly to the '386, which is merely brain damaged, as opposed to
the 286, which is rally useless.
Regards, Larry.
Hey! what can I say. You gotta start some where. I just think they started
at the wrong place. First the '286 then the '386.
Not what their up to now.
Michael
Micheal,
WHY
do
all
your
lines
start
over
here?
Jim Vogel
Because Michael has a high cholesterol level and his doctor told him to stay
away from the margin.
Rick
<What? Huh? Oh… stay away from the MARGARIN??? <Sigh> Never mind. 8) >
margin
!!!
wahts thst
ohh you mean that thing over
<—–there
Hey, try to think of it this way (you've probably already thought of it
this way). If the Amiga can shoe horn its way into the (traditionally)
IBM-like world, then (perhaps) many (MANY) more people will look at the Amiga
and begin to realize what it can do. As it is now, all those IBM-cloners look
at the Amiga and say "Gee, nice bells and whistles, but can it do the real
things exactly like my PC" (IBM brainwashing strikes again, right!?!) to which
Commodore replies "Sure can, just don't talk to me about speed" and they say
"BYE!". You gotta catch the customer's attention and keep it or you're not
going to be successful. Well, IBM already caught everyone's attention (the
proverbial 9000 lb. gorilla), so everyone else has to play catch up. Come to
think of it, CBM is not only playing catch up to IBM (like everyone else),
they're also playing catch up to the likes of Apple in IBM compatibility (I've
seen a '286 for a Mac-II) and (perhaps) to Atari in advertising (I see Atari
has a TV ad comparing it with a Mac – where's the promising Amiga advertising).
You'll notice that none of this has to do with how good or bad a machine is,
it's a matter of who comes along with (seemingly) the most for the least and
lets everyone know about it. BTW, not only should they have a '386 for the
Amiga, but also a 68030 and "they" don't necessarily have to be Commodore!
Even with all this…
Make mine Amiga,
David Masterson
David,
I do look at it that way. That is to say, the _only_ reason I want the Amiga
to be able to run OBM programs is that more of them will be sold. If more are
sold, it only serves to finance better machines, which is what I am always
looking for (at a reasonable price of course).
As for playing catchup, yes, I agree, but going the '286 route is no way to do
it either. I figure they should bypass that step altogether and go directly to
a chip that mostly works, the '386.
As for the 69030, you must realize that the chip has only been released
within the last few weeks.
Regards, Larry.
8086 — brain-dead
80286 – brain damaged
80386 – idiot savant.
–Ben–
Ben,
I think you have the first 2 swapped… the 8088, while pretty bad, does not
suffer from the numerous bugs appearing in the '286.
Regards, Larry.
How can bugs live in a dead cpu? the 8088 is bad, imho, by virtue of it's being
completely non-orthogonal, segmented, 64k limited, and slow as a bad
commercial. Smegma registers. The 286, although very rarely taken advantadge
of, has far more capability than the 8086 ever did… the 386 almost attains
the ability to address a real memory space. Almost. And it is _very_ fast. And
if CBM doesn't get off it's lethargic butt, will be the only CPU running
computers that are accepted in busnesses… –Ben–
Ben,
While the 8088 can by no stretch of the imagination be caled "good", or even
"fairly good", at least it does work as documented. The 286, on the other claw,
is not only "not good", but is in addition, broken, in that it just doesn't do
what the docs said it should. To me, that makes it worse than the 8088 (must be
the only chip in history to hold that honour).
Regards, Larry.
The 386 is broken too… on some large percentage of the units produced, the
32-bit multiply doesn't work. (Let's see… 2*2 = 5?) the 8088 also had some
clever bugs for the first few years of it's life. For instance, if you set BOTH
the segment override prefix AND the another one (( I forget exactly what else
)) and you got an interupt, it would "forget" the leading override… not very
nice… I wish I didn't know this, but it got me and caused me no end of
headaches until my local intel rep (A beautiful lady — her _only_ redeeming
quality) told me "oh no, that doesn't alway work…" Arghhhh! –Ben–
Michael, I don't think the problem is whether or not CBM or third party
hardware people will bring out the products you mentioned – the problem is
WHEN. As to pricing on the A2000, there will probably be a drop to say $1495
(my guess – not fact) after the Xmas season – maybe lower as time goes on. If
you can live with just the A1000 for now, it may be wise to wait a couple of
months and see what happens with the price. Marlene
Marlene
I think your right. Now if I can only make it through
Christmas without spending too much money.
regards
Michael
I say that every year! hehe Marlene
Michael, although it's not being officially announced at Comdex, CBM is showing
their 68020 board for the A2000.
-John
Interesting…I wonder if it will be at the World of Commodore in Toronto
December 2,3,4
-Michael
I was reading your message which mentionned the World of Commodore show in
Toronto on Dec 2, 3, and 4. Do you know where it is to be held and do you have
any more info on it that you could pass along?
Brad
Brad, I'm not sure but I think the dates for World of Commodore are Dec 3-6
(it'll be a Thursday through Sunday, anyhow)… and it's at the International
Centre, which is right beside the airport. This will be the 5th year it's been
held, and it's usually quite a good show.
Nick
Thanks Nick. I think I can find some reason for the trip on those dates. I work
for a Community College and our goverment ministry is located in TO. I am
ususally there once a month anyways. Maybe a chance to take in the show.
Brad
Great, Brad. If you do make it, stop by the Transactor booth and say hello.
Nick
Michael, Id bet it will. Maybe they will do the actual announcing of the board
at the WC in Toronto, then again maybe at CES.
-John