Potential New Amiga User
15 messages in this thread
Hi, Everyone! I'm not yet a new Amiga user, but I'm seriously thinking
about taking the plunge and buying an Amiga. I have a few questions &
concerns, and I hope some of you here on the Forum can help me out.
1. I currently have a Sony KV-1311CR Analog or Digital RGB monitor. Is it
compatible with the Amiga? Do I need a special cable? The monitor is NOT
multisync. Will that be a serious problem, especially with interlace
flicker? (This is a major concern with my friend, who also has the same
monitor, and is thinking about using an Amiga for CAD applications).
2. Does Workbench 2.0 now come with all Amigas, or only the A3000? If I am
planning on an Amiga system with a hard drive and 2 floppy drives, would it
be worth the extra expense to buy an A3000 vs an A2000?
3. Can you run CAD programs (like X-Cad Professional) on the A500?
4. Is the ECS now standard on all Amigas?
Thanks for your help … I'm sure I'll have more questions later!
—-Dave
Dave,
1. Yes…the KV1311cr will work with the Amiga IF it supports
15.75kHz horizontal sync and 60Hz vertical sync. Yes, you might need a
special cable…but it's not a problem getting one usually.
Interlace flicker is inherent in all monitors used in interlace
mode.
2. 2.0 is currently installed only on the A3000; however, it should
be a free upgrade on all 2000's sold now when 2.0 become available.
3. yes, you can run any program on the A500 you can run on an A2000
presuming you have enough memory.
4. No, ECS is not standard on all models of the Amiga. Full ECS is
not yet available except on the 3000.
Don: Thanks for the reply. The KV-1311 is an NTSC monitor, so it will work
with the Amiga. That's good news. As for the cable, I was browsing around
the DLs here, and came across an upload that explained how to make a cable
for Sony XBR-type monitors, and it seemingly imvolves a bit of pin
switching, not to mention different plugs, but it seems simple enough to
build.
Is the interlace flicker seen on ALL graphic modes? It would seem to me
that the flicker should only be seen if the vertical resolution exceeds
approximately 200 lines, so I suppose that would leave at least SOME Amiga
graphics modes flicker-free. The CAD problem may be rough on my friend, who
also has the same monitor, and is looking to the Amiga as a lower-cost
alternative to an IBM 80286, and the neccessary mutlisync or VGA monitor.
There is only flicker in interlaced modes. There is no flicker in the
other modes.
Yes…flicker only shows up when in interlace (400 line) modes. It
is an artifact of the phosphors in the CRT of your monitor…not a defect
in the Amiga itself. It also only occurs in horizontal lines that are a
high contrast to the next (up or down) horizontal line. Thus, it is
possible to almost eliminate it by choosing the right colors.
If you wished to use a VGA type monitor instead, (or a multi-sync
that included VGA rates)…you can completely eliminate the flicker by
purchasing one of the cards currently available for that purpose. The
cards eliminate the interlace…and refresh all 400 lines at a 60Hz rate,
thus there's no visual phosphor fading between scans.
We hope you will get an Amiga, and join us here.
I'm not sure about your monitor, but I think you will have to have a
flickerfixer or a Commodore 2320 board in order to use it. If it is a VGA
monitor, it runs at the wrong speed for an Amiga without the graphics
cards. You do get a beautiful display with these adapters, though.
I don't know much about the CAD programs, except that there are two or
three that seem to be very good. Someone else will tell you about them,
I'm sure.
Workbench 2.0 and the ECS have not yet been released except on the A3000.
Soon, though, we hope. It is true, though, that Commodore is still working
on it, so it will take a little while longer to put it into ROM, write the
manuals, etc.
Betty: I should have mentioned that the Sony is an NTSC monitor, so
apparently it will work fine with the Amiga. I'm still worried about the
flickering problem, though — I really don't want to look at flickering
lines all the time!
I've read a bit about Workbench 2.0, and I like it a lot, vs. the older
version. I thought that by now 2.0 would be standard on the whole Amiga
line. It takes a bit to sort out what I really need in a computer, and how
much I'm willing to spend. It's clear that, although my present computer
serves me rather well, that it has reached pretty much its peak of
expandibility, and it's time to upgrade. I currently use a Tandy CoCo 3
with 512K, 2 5-1/4 drives, and the Sony RGB monitor, along with a daisy
wheel printer & a 300 baud modem. Clearly, the Amiga would be a big step up
for me. I like the Amiga mainly due to the Motorola processor, as well as
AmigaDOS which I seem to understand much easier than MS-DOS, because of its
similarity with the CoCo 3's 6809-based OS-9 Level II with Multi-Vue.
Workbench 2.0 will quickly become the standard for all Amigas once it is
released. Commodore had hoped to have it out last September, but they kept
adding things to it for a long time, and they are now testing it thoroughly
and fixing everything any of the testers can find wrong with it. They have
also, I think, given the software houses time to get their software ready
for 2.0. It should be available before many more weeks, and once it
becomes available, I'm sure we will all move to it as soon as we can afford
the upgrade. Of course, all machines sold NOW will get the upgrade free,
or so I am told.
For the flickering – Commodore is now making a board that prevents it. I
THINK the board is numbered A2320, but I could have forgotten the number.
ANyway, I saw it advertised for $250 this week. It would be WELL worth
that amount! Not only does it stop the flicker, but all of your displays
will be more crisp and sharp.
Betty: You told Dave that the CBM A2320 board will eliminate interlace
flicker… but won't he have to use that board with a multisync monitor?
Sure will. Did I leave that out? Sorry.
The number of the Commodore Display Enhancer board is A2320, but it is for
A2000 machines. It will not work in the A500 machines. ICD's new product,
Flicker Free Video, will work in an A500 and allow you to use an
appropriate monitor without interlace flicker.
I have a Sony KV-1311CR, and it works fine with the Amiga. You'll have to
buy a special cable for it though….you can buy one from Redmond Cable.
There will be flicker in interlace mode, but if you adjust the colors of
the screen, it's tolerable. Might be a bit much if you'd doing CAD though.
WB 2.0 is currently only available on the A3000. The A3000 is a 68030
based system vs. the A2000 which is a 68000 based system. If I had to make
the decision and I had the money to spend, I'd get the 3000.
Thanks for the reply, Steve. That's great news about the monitor. I found
an upload in the DL about the Sony monitor also — and it gives pin numbers
to build your own cable, so I may even be able to do that. The interlace
doesn't bother me unless you see it ALL the time — I hope not! I would
think you'd see it only in graphics modes with vertical resolutions greater
than 200 lines. As far as CAD, a friend of mine is going to school for
industrial engineering, and he's also interested in the Amiga for its CAD
applications (and also its lower costs vs. an IBM-clone 80286). He probably
won't like the flicker, but I don't think he wants to spring for a new
monitor, either.
From what I've read about Workbench 2.0, it seems a BIG improvement over
the older version, and I thought that it had become standard in the whole
Amiga line by now. Money is a key factor, because I've got to weigh exactly
what I want in a new computer, vs. the costs. A 3000 will run me a good
chunk of change, and I don't think I'm willing to go for it. I've heard of
software incompatibility problems with the 3000. I would definitely want a
hard drive, though. So maybe I'll settle for a 2000 with a hard drive. BTW,
what's the difference between a 2000 and a 2500??
The software imcompatibility stems from the early release of the OS that
went out with the 3000 and software packages that didn't follow all the
rules that CBM laid out. Most of the software pa,-W^Y.h:hat don't work
correctly are games, and most of the commercial packages I'm aware of are
either already 2.0 compatiable or offer upgrades to make it compatiable.
The 2500 comes with a hard disk and an 030 card in the CPU slot. A
barebones 2000 has neither of those.
Keep a couple of thoughts in mind while considering your first Amiga
a) flicker occurs only in the interlace video mode
b) the amiga is a wonderful, forgiving, flexible computer
c) look into purchasing a 'previously owned' 2000 with a Hard drive
this could save you some serious $$… see the classifieds
in this section
d) the amiga is a wonderful, forgiving, flexible computer
e) with an Amiga 500, 2000 or 2500, you need additioanl hardware
and a multisync monitor to eliminate flicker in the interlace
mode… the 3000 requires only a multisync monitor and even
has a non-flicker 'productivity' mode.
f) the amiga is a wonderful, forgiving, flexible computer
g) if you are going to be doing a lot of CAD or DTP stuff…
in fact, if you're going to be doing alot of ANYthing, keep
in mind that the 500 and 2000 come with a stock 68000 cpu
operating at a sleepy 7.14 Mhz… look into a 68020 2500
or at least some sort of accelerator product.
h) the amiga is a wonderful, forgiving, flexible computer