CompuServe Thread

I work in a business which is totally equipped with XT clones. One of my responsibilities is keeping tabs on "graphics" as it applies to potential use by our staff. This not only cover "pure graphics" such as business graphics packages but also graphic user interfaces and specialized applications such as desktop publishing. In practical terms this means I have to keep an eye on whats new and interesting in both hardware and software, and if it looks like it might be of use in our organization then I order it for a hands on evaluation by myself or one of users. My boss recently suggested that we get a "high powered" PC for use as a workstation for testing out these graphic applications. I did some investigation and went into his office to suggest getting a 286 or 386 with PGA , a nice large fast hard disk etc. His response was "Why not an Amiga?". Well after getting up off the floor I agreed to look into it and come up with a proposal. In our office we have a section which is responsible for briefing our staff who are going overseas on long and short term assignments. As part of their operation they do considerable in house video productions as well as preparing the more common audio-visual aids for various presentations. Given the Amiga's video capabilities I thought this would be a good area for testing out the machine's abilities. However in addition to the video work the Amiga would also be used in "average" day to day work which would probably require a bridgeboard to ensure ease of data interchangeability as well as for running some of our prorietary programs. In terms of hardware for the basic system I have settled on a 2000 with an 80286 bridgecard (which I understand will be available late this quarter) and a 68020 co-processor for the Amiga side. For the monitor I would like to get a multi-sync vga compatible unit. For storage the ideal situation would be two good sized and fast hard-disks, one for each side of the machine. However I want to stay away from hardcards so as to preserve the number of slots on the MS-Dos side. We would also need a genlock and digitizer (Supergen, Video Toaster ?). Finally I would also like to get a de-interlacer so as to be able to get high-res non-interlaced output on the Amiga side. As to the hardware/software for the above system, I would be more than pleased to receive any comments, opinions, or recommendations any of you might have. I also have a number of questions which I would hope to be able to get some response on: a) With regards to the monitor I am leaning towards a Mitusbishi….I have heard some good reports on it and it has a composite input which might be useful for video and which a lot of other monitors don't seem to have. Is the lack of a composite input really that significant and would anyone have any other suggestions on a top quality monitor? b) I would like to put a VGA card into the IBM side and then feed the Amiga/IBM signals into a switch box to allow an easy hardware switch for input into the monitor. This is intended to resolve some of the jerky scrolling when the IBM screen is displayed on an Amiga screen. Does anyone know of such a product or would it be that difficult to custom make one? (continued next message)