From: boberg@lysator.liu.se (Stefan Boberg)
Subject: Re: Is it silly to buy a
Organization: Lysator Academic Computer Society, Linkoping University, Sweden
Date: Thu, 15 Oct 1992 15:16:17 GMT

Roger_Nordin@atb.bbs.bad.se (Roger Nordin) writes:

>> Ah, but you can use a Zorro-II SCSI controller. $160
>> (Provided of course someone fixes the DMA problems....)

>I don't know why you say that -- I cleary mentioned that it was possible to 
>add a third party SCSI controller. I also clearly mentioned it will waste a 
>lot of the bus bandwidth, as only Zorro II host adaptors are available at the 
>present time, and that it will consume one of the precious Zorro III slots in 
>the A4000.

  "precious"? I cannot imagine myself filling all four Z3 slots - ever. I 
haven't used any of my A3000 slots during the time I've owned it, and don't 
expect to use very many of my A4000 slots either. I will probably buy a SCSI 
adapter and possibly a DSP card later, but the other two slots will probably 
never be used. For the vast majority of users the number of slots will be no
problem.

>> Why? Other solutions have been posted. (Open on workbench, altering the
>> database, patching said programs,

>True. However, the Double-PAL offers 27000+ pixels less than the Hires/Lace/
>Overscan screen. What does the promotion features do about these missing 
>pixels, if an application requests a full hires/lace/overscan screen?

  You probably get an autoscrolling screen. I say probably because I didn't
receive my A4000 today as I expected :-( so I don't know for sure. This would
be the most logical way to handle it.

>Also, for video work, you still cannot have a flickerfixed monitor at the same 
>time while you output video. 

  True, but I don't really think that's a problem. Just switch off promotion
when you output video.

>Btw, can anyone comment on Marc's statement that 
>you'll still need an 15KHz monitor with promoted screens?! That would be a 
>serious problem, IMHO, as most monitors doesn't sync down to those low 
>frequencies.

  You will only need a 15kHz monitor to run games that take over the machine,
but that's about it. The boot-menu also requires a 15kHz monitor.

>> And the HD floppy,

>Strange -- My A3000 has a high density floppy drive!

  Mine does not. Most A3000's are like mine.

>> No it's not. If you have an EXISTING A3000 it's cheaper.

>Sorry, wrong. A3000/040 goes for about $2499 including Scala MultiMedia. 
>Including a flickerfixer. Including a SCSI host adapter. Not including AGA 
>graphics. Also, it permits you to buy the A3000 at $1499 first, then later 
>add  the '040 card, in case you just happen to not have $2499 lying around. 
>With  the A4000, as a comparsion, you have to invest the entire cost at 
>once, however.

  You may be right, Roger, but in my case I would have had to pay *twice* as
much to upgrade my A3000 with a 68040 card compared to selling my A3000 and
replacing it with an A4000. Your mileage may of course vary.

>> This annoys me as well, and to have an 8MB chip ram selector on the
>> motherboard is EXCRUTIATINGLY painful. Annoying. Teasing. This is
>> probably the ONLY reason I'd wait for a machine to take care of that.

>Yes. Unlike MB, I am not recommending people to stay away from the A4000. 
>I am however recommending people to wait for the A4000 specifications to be 
>finished off, because I except there will be an 8Mb / SCSI model out in the 
>close future.

  I don't think so. The SCSI option will probably not be on the motherboard
anyway. It will be a Z3 card. It just doesn't make any sense to redesign the 
entire computer when you can just put in a Z3 card instead.

> We have already seen reports about 8Mb beeing promised, more or 
>less. 

  Make that less. Those are only unsubstantiated rumours and nobody from CBM
has said anything about it except that the current Alice doesn't support it.

>But of course there's people that cannot stay cool and always have to 
>jump for the "latest and hottest". ;)

  I suppose I'm one of those :-) I need the A4000's processing power, and the
faster and better graphics doesn't exactly hurt ...

>> The SCSI host adapter doesn't bother me.

>But it does annoy me. Where do I put my two SCSI harddisks in my A3000? My 
>tape stremer? A workstation like the A4000 *needs* a SCSI host adaptor, 
>IMNSHO.

  Then buy yourself a SCSI card. They are quite cheap.

> 2:203/602.0@fidonet \X/  Internet: Roger_Nordin@bad.se
-- 
Stefan Boberg - AP & EE student at Linkoping Institute of Technology, Sweden
 Author of LhA, ArjA and LhArcA. Co-author of Alien Breed, Project X ...
  EMail: boberg@lysator.liu.se, lha@augs.se           FIDO: 2:204/404.7
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