CompuServe Thread

Stehpen, have you considered CSA's Mega Midget Racer for the 1000? I've recently upgraded my 1000 with the Mega-Midget 68030 and have just ordered the 2-Meg expansion for this card. (Didn't get it at first since I was hoping just the 030 card at 33MHz would get me the speed I wanted. Guess not.) According to CSA, a 1000 with the 33MHz Mega Midget racer, -881 math coprocessor and 2 Meg expansion will actually run FASTER than a 3000! Obviously one of the problems with upgrading this way is that you don't get the newer chassis and the capabilty of adding plug-in expansion cards. However, if you don't need the additionaly expansion capability, this is really the *cheapest* way to get 3000 performance without sacrificing your investment in the original 1000. I'm not sure of the details (since I wasn't interested it this at the time) but there is supposedly a way to install the WB2.0 ROMS in the 1000 with the Mega Midget. I currently have 1.3 roms installed as part of the upgrade. Give CSA a call at 1-619-566-3911 and talk to Steve Riker. He'll give you the lo-down. — Rich —

I have been using the Phoenix board for almost a year now and am (qualifiedly) pleased with it. I am using it with a CSA Mega-Midget racer and an IVS Grand Slam combo scsi/ram board in it's single "2000" slot. I am only using the GS for memory though, using the Phoenix built in scsi port for the hard disk because I couldn't get the GS scsi interface to work reliably. I don't know what the problem is and I didn't persue it at great length. IVS said they would not provide tech support for their products in the Phoenix board environment. Can you blame them. I must add however, that CSA does. I did indeed have a problem with my MMR which turned out not to be related to it's use in the Phoenix board but they worked with me to solve the problem and wound up replacing the board which was out of warranty at the time. I did not attempt to resolve this through Phoenix. They are in Australia and I am not a masochist. Anyway, the internal scsi while not up to the GS's standard in terms of speed, is adaquate and it does seem to work reliably, at least in it's latest rev, I. For a while, I was using the original IVS Trumpcard in an Expansion Technologies ToolBox with the Phoenix board and that worked ok but the Trumpcard wouldn't work at all the Phoenix board's "2000" slot, again I don't know why and I didn't persue it. Also, the GS's memory wouldn't work in the ToolBox but the scsi port did. Go figure. So the results of using the Phoenix board with various peripherals is a mixed bag, at least in my experience. If you can be satisfied with mediocre disk performance then the internal scsi interface is fine. If you need the ultimate then you will want to use a separate card and you should check with Phoenix about compatibility. In the early days after receiving my Phoenix board, I went back and forth between it and the A1000 motherboard quite often testing things. It's not a big deal but yes it does require some patience and faith (don't forget that ground strap). [ MORE ]

[ continuation ] Phoenix supports Flicker Free Video so you can use it with a VGA monitor. Otherwise the video outputs are like the A1000. (Except that the "video" jack is monochrome.) I don't use WB 2.0 but Phoenix does support it's use and can provide the ROMs. They can also provide a 2meg Agnus. You should contact them for their latest catalog and info about compatible products. I only know what I've tried. Hope this helps. Ron