From: skip@tacky.cs.olemiss.edu (Skip Sauls)
Subject: Re: Oh my God! Help my friend not buy an IBM!
Organization: University of Mississippi, Dept. of Computer Science
Date: Mon, 9 Nov 1992 23:31:45 GMT

In article <1992Nov9.163300.6254@gw.wmich.edu> x90wardell@gw.wmich.edu writes:
>In article <1992Nov9.200117.27089@cs.olemiss.edu>, skip@cs.olemiss.edu (Skip Sauls) writes:
< much deleted >

>	So your point is, Clones are good if you want to get work done
>but to play with multimedia which very very few people use, the Amiga
>is great?

If so few people use MultiMedia, why is it that everyone in the Clone realm
is talking about it like it is the next big thing?

>	First of all, I am an EE major with a computer systems engineering
>specialty (meaning in our EE program I took the CSE option).  I use this
>machien (my clone) to do engineering projects and programming primarily.
>However, I also like to listen to musion it for fun (rather listeten
>to the radio still), play games, do a lot of telecommunications with it.

That's great, I'll concede that you don't need an Amiga for those tasks.
I have to agree with you on the music, most of the mods are crappy techno
disco stuff that I personally find annoying.  Too bad none of the mod
writers is a fan of real musicians like Hank, George Jones, and Buffett.  :-)

>	I have not seen an Amiga (500,2000,3000) that can even come close
>to what I can do on this in terms of animation, multitasking, and
>raw computing power.  I give the Amigas the edge on sound as you said,
>my sound blaster pro is a match (in my opinion) for the Amiga but
>every multimedia program ever made for the Amiga supports its sound,
>the same can not be said for the sound blaster.  Of course, I don't
>use Windows for animation since it is obviously very poor at it. 

Hmmm, I have a tricked-out Clone that has trouble with running a single
animation, much less along with doing anything else.  Multitasking?  I
have heard rumors that Clone users have finally discovered what Amiga
users have known about for years.

Windows sucks for animation, but then again it sucks for everything else also.
 
>	By the way, what is "Cutting" edge to an Amiga user?  Multimedia?

We've had MultiMedia for years, but Commodore didn't have a marketing
department to come up with the buzzword.  Cutting egde this year seems to
be morphing and virtual reality, both of which will only be easier on the
new machines.

>	I think perhaps our difference in opinion is lack of experience.
>It appears you haven't spent a lot of time with IBMs equipped to the max
>and I will concede that I probably haven't seen Amigas equipped to the
>max.  I will say this however, this machine here is certainly superior

Hah!  I spend several hours a day working on a Clone that is equipped to
the max.  My boss likes to keep on top of things and we'll have a LocalBus
equipped SuperDuperWhateverComesAfterVGA machine with a MegaBassSoundBlaster
Pro II within a short time.  Would you call 50-70 hours a week in front of
one of these beasts a lot of time or not?

>to any amiga I have used in terms of speed, workablity, graphics,
>and multitasking.  I am not familiar with that Amiga 1200 and I have
>not used teh Amiga 4000 however.  Keep in mind though, you can buy
>machines like mine now for under $2000.

And you can buy an A4000 for $2795.  Add MCA or EISA, LocalBus SVGA,
and a SoundBlaster Pro to a 486-50DX2 and you will have a comparable
system, but I'd bet the price is more than $2000.

>	And before you go out and call IBM users "lame" or "boring"
>or wahtever.  Think how you feel when IBm users come on and say "Go
>play with your lamo toy."  I know most Amiga users get quite offended
>when somene wrongly calls the Amiga a "toy".  To call IBMs "lame"

Like I care how Clone users feel!  This is an Amiga newsgroup created
for the purpose of advocating the Amiga.  I'll bash Clones, Macs, Ataris,
and any other machines if I so please.  Do you think that anyone really
cares whether or not you prefer a Clone to an Amiga?  Not me, and I don't
think that many Amiga Advocates do either.  You and your lot are a lost
cause.

>and basing it on the old IBM XT or something (which you didn't do but
>you have seen it on this conference) is pretty offensive too.  Unless
>someone here happens to have an IBM compatible with 16 megs of ram,
>OS/2 2.01, Coprocessed 24bit video and also has an Amiga, I don't think
>people should say that the Amiga "blows" away clones as a general
>statement.  There are too many clones out there with too many options.
>One could say "Amigas blow away the typical clone setup." and I wouldn't
>argue with that.

I have just such a system as you describe and I have an A1000, and A3000,
and will have an A4000 in a day or so.  Since I meet your qualifications,
I can say whatever I want to about how bad the Clones really are compared
to the Amiga.

>							-Brad

Skip Sauls, Amiga Advocate
skip@tacky.cs.olemiss.edu




Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy