From: bloc1469@ee.ee.uwm.edu (Gregory R. Block)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy
Subject: Re: A4000 Flaws?
Date: 11 Oct 92 14:49:06 GMT
Organization: Electrical Engineering Dept. University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee
NNTP-Posting-Host: 129.89.2.33

In article <jayson.03vf@tbag.tscs.com> jayson@tbag.tscs.com (Jayson Phillips) writes:
>The  question  is  not how "hard did they try" but "what did they produce".
>You  don't  buy  a car based on how hard they tried do you?  No.  You buy a
>product (hopefuly) based on how good that product actually is at the time.

Right...

>Compared to the Falcon at 1/3 the cost:

Assuming it's actually released at that price, it's STILL not
shipping.  And, yes, the 4000 is.

>    - no SCSI

Both have IDE.  The 4000's IDE uses an interrupted PIO scheme, which
is about halfway between ordinary PIO and DMA, in terms of speed and
cost.  However, the 4000's IDE is damn fast.  I do agree that SCSI is
necessary, but it would have been a mistake to use the 3000's SCSI
when SCSI-II is just around the corner.

>    - no DSP

This will be settled.  However, the need for this is still up in the air.

>    - no 16-bit sound

Goes with the DSP, dontcha think?  They're most likely using the DSP's
serial-out to a DAC.

>    - no MIDI

That's not any different, now, is it?

>    - no network port

And neither is this.  The Amiga line has never had standard MIDI OR
standard networking integrated into the system, and, in my opinion,
the need for it is negligible.  It allows the customer to get the kind
of quality one needs, wheter that be uncle Joe's midi box or the
Phantom Midi.  And networking?  There should be good OS support for
it, but again, it's a question of whether it's needed as standard
hardware, and I say that's no, right now.  The Amiga market doesn't
exist to add that kind of expense needlessly.

>Compared to the A3000 at 1/2 the cost:
>    - no SCSI

(again...)

>    - no de-interlacer

And it's not necessary.  It's a widely-thought realism that the Amber
deinterlacing chip was a pseudo-hack:  It shouldn't have been
necessary.  Now, it no longer is.  New resolutions are available to
replace the old interlaced resolutions, and through OS support for
promotion of screens, it isn't necessary.

>In general:
>    - a new graphic standard with no smooth upgrade for current Amiga owners
>    - too little too late

Disagreement.  There is no smooth upgrade, correct:  There cannot BE
one.  It simply can't be done.  How, pray tell, would one do it?  Like
it or not, the path from chip memory on the 500/2000/1000/3000 to the
chipset is 16-bit.  Not only does the AGA require 32-bit pathways, it
requires a NEW RGA BUS for those chips to fit on.  As well, it
requires that new OS software exist to make use of that AGA, which
doesn't exist outside of the A4000 owners, anyways.

Too little to late?  No.  I think this is exactly the kind of thing C=
needed to stay up with current technology.  This brings them up and
passes them beyond VGA, by a lot of respects.  320x200, for those game
fans, on AGA, has no contention in 8-bits.  The addition of an 8-bit
ham will make a lot of people happy.  And it's finally possible to do
double-buffered(and more) intution stuff as of 3.0, as well as doing
some really fast high-res HAM8 animations.  This will be keeping the
video people happy for a long time.  And for the people that are
looking for workstation resolutions, future OS upgrades will give the
capability to use other display systems.

>I  owned  an A1000 for five years and have owned an A3000 for 1.5 years.  I
>love  Amigas.   But  the  A4000 is not that much of an upgrade for an A3000
>owner.   Certainly not worth putting out yet another $3200.  If you want to
>upgrade from an A500 or plan to buy your first Amiga than it's probably the
>way to go.  Actually, IMHO, an A3000 for $1500 is a good way to go too.

I'd agree.  The biggest features of the 4000 is AGA and the
processor-slot systems being bundled.  Sure, right now the only A4000
system available is the 4000/040, but other systems will exist.

Greg
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Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy