HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: gblock@csd4.csd.uwm.edu (Gregory R Block)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy
Subject: Re: Some things...
Date: 29 Sep 92 00:59:25 GMT
Organization: University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee
NNTP-Posting-Host: 129.89.7.4

brett@visix.com (Brett Bourbin) writes:
: IYHO.

It's a brilliant decision.  The only way they're going to get the kind
of DIG they need is to end the monopoly of hackers hitting hardware.

: A few things, people (demo and game developers) had to go to the hardware  
: BECAUSE the OS COULD NOT DO what they needed. Things like double buffering  
: displays, flips within 50/60hz, instant color changes, mid-scanline Copper  
: tricks, etc.

And as of 3.0, you can do double buffering in intuition, flips within
2000hz, and get a good response.  They worked hard on the graphics
system.

: Well, a fallout on the way the Amiga OS is developed, you almost needed to  
: do this. If you took over the screen that was on thing. You still needed  
: to make sure the OS didn't change your idea of the "ViewLord". Interrupt  
: responce time was (is) a real problem with the OS up and running, meaning  
: some stuff must be shutdown. I won't go into the speed problem on a 1.3  
: A500/512K machine using the OS.

That was 1.3.  If you're going to use the AGA chipset, you're going to
have 3.0 or greater.  There's a HUGE difference between the two.
Hell, they've practically re-written graphics.library,
intuition.library, layers.library...

Greg

--
(: (: (: (: Have you overdosed on smileys today?  Why NOT!?! :) :) :) :)
(: 	"Yeah, if improving the system is screwing the user base,     :)
(:	 you all need to be screwed more often." -Dave Haynie	      :)
(: (: (: (: (: (: (: (: (: (: (: (: (:) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy
Date: 1 Oct 92 19:30:43 GMT+2
Subject: A3000+DOMINO (Was: Re: A4000+DOMINO)
From: harry@elfuerte.fipnet.fi (Harri P Pesonen)
Distribution: world
Organization: Fipnet, Helsinki, Finland
X-NewsSoftware: GRn 1.16e (7/4/92) by Mike Schwartz & Michael B. Smith

In article ??? stud11@cc4.kuleuven.ac.be (Lode Vande Sande) writes:
> 
>         Ok, I've got some questions, which may already have been asked
> here, but I didn't get the answers to them, so ...

Same here.

>         First of all, could someone please tell me what the video-modes
> of the A4000 are ?  I would like some A(G)A specs or a list with all
> modes and whether or not they flicker when displayed on a NORMAL monitor
> (1960?), what horizontal and vertical frequenties are used (full frame
> refresh rates) ...

I have a simple question: Does A4000 have a 700x440 non-interlaced display
as my A3000?

>         Another thing I would like to know is whether or not the DOMINO
> board from X-Pert works with an A4000.  What does the DOMINO board offer ?
> Will it's 72Hz flicker-fixer (or how should I call that), also fix the
> new AA modes ?  How much does it cost ?  Do you need a special monitor ?

I am quite sure that DOMINO doesn't fix AA modes because AA has a larger
palette.  I read these specs from the German Amiga Magazin:

o 72 Hz flicker fixer
o real time graphic card:
    o 800x600  72 Hz non-interlaced, upto 32768 colours
    o 1024x768 72     -"-                 256    -"-
    o 1120x832 62     -"-                 256    -"-
o compatible with programs that use upto 16 colours and are compatible with
  2.x (most commercial programs)
o fallback to normal Amiga display if programs uses more than 16 colours or
  is not 2.x compatible (most games)
o requires 020/030/040 (I wonder why) and AmigaDOS 2.0 or higher
o installs in Zorro (II ?) slot
o costs only 700,- DM

Well, it sounds like DOMINO would be GREAT for my A3000...

If anyone has tried DOMINO for real please let us know if it works!

>         Please supply only facts, no rumors or lies ...
> 
>                                                       Thanks in advance,
> 
>                                                       Kurt Haenen ...
> 
> Please reply by EMAIL and state that it is for Kurt Haenen ! 

-- 
    Harri Pesonen               harry@elfuerte.fipnet.fi
    Helsinki, Finland, EC?      hpesonen@vipunen.hut.fi    
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy
From: dtiberio@csws17.ic.sunysb.edu (David Tiberio)
Subject: Re: Palettes and stuff (was Re: Some random thoughts on the A4000)
Organization: State University of New York at Stony Brook
Date: Sun, 27 Sep 1992 17:21:59 GMT

In article <1992Sep27.004732.10625@news.iastate.edu> barrett@iastate.edu (Marc N Barrett) writes:
>In article <1992Sep26.164926.15750@sbcs.sunysb.edu> dtiberio@csws17.ic.sunysb.edu (David Tiberio) writes:
>>In article <1992Sep25.214359.16063@news.iastate.edu> barrett@iastate.edu (Marc N Barrett) writes:
>>>In article <1992Sep23.181449.16225@sbcs.sunysb.edu> dtiberio@libws2.ic.sunysb.edu (David Tiberio) writes:
>>>   Who cares about video, really?  

>>	People watch TV. People watch more TV. People watch movies, then more
>>TV. In fact, probably 90% of the US households HAVE A TV! And I am probably
>>under the figure!
>
>   Commodore dominates the video market in the U.S. with the Amiga, and yet
>Commodore U.S. records annual sales of about $100 Million per year, compared
>to the $3 Billion of sales per year that Apple records in the U.S.  If the
>video market is so big, then why does Apple's U.S. sales outnumber Commodore's
>by a factor of about 30?

>| Marc Barrett -MB-  |  email: barrett@iastate.edu
>-----------------------------------------------------

	Maybe because CBM does not dominate the video market! Does CBM sell
TV's and VCR's and VCR tape rewinders and UHF antennas and coaxial cable and
switch boxes and on/off switches and those neat handles and oak cabinets
and tv tubes and remote controls and replace stickers for the buttons on the
remote and ...

	CBM merely sells computers that are video ready. Apple sells more
because Apple advertises and uses those same tactics that I would use if I
ran a company. Give away free fardware so that it starts becoming a standard
and advertise like heck (I am away from my swearing stage). 


	CBM does not hold the video market yet; not until every last 
Macintrash is squashed. That's one thing the Amiga needs; a larger user base.
If the Amiga started selling to schools it would become a big hit. The
educational market will make or break the Amiga. Or maybe it won't.

	I asked my roomate what spreadsheets are available. He said Microsoft
Excel only, and he knows Microsoft is such a huge company. I asked him what
spreadsheet he would buy, and he said Excel. I then explained to him that most
people buy what they know about; Lotus won't sell if everyone's heard of
Excel. 
	Now if everyone's heard about the Macintrash and not the Amiga, then
the Amiga won't sell. And many people think that the only Amigas out there
are 500's. I know; I have met most people. :)


-- 

 ***** * ****  ***** ****  *  ***    * *   *    ***   ***   Make the Choice!
   *   * *   * *     *   * * *   *   * **  *   *   *     *    Don't Vote!
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Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy
From: 10667547@eng2.eng.monash.edu.au (JIMMY FANG)
Subject: Re: Telephone lines
Organization: Faculty of Engineering, Monash University 
Date: Thu, 1 Oct 1992 02:00:16 GMT

In article <1992Sep28.121356.10424@qdpii.comp.qdpi.oz.au> davidme@qdpii.comp.qdpi.oz.au (David Meiklejohn) writes:
>From: davidme@qdpii.comp.qdpi.oz.au (David Meiklejohn)
>Subject: Telephone lines (was: Amiga 4000 & HYPE! -Reply to Jerry Shekkel)
>Date: Mon, 28 Sep 1992 12:13:56 GMT
>In article <10667547.227.717651804@eng2.eng.monash.edu.au> 10667547@eng2.eng.monash.edu.au (JIMMY FANG) writes:
>
>I'm typing this now while logged into a computer 1700 km away in Brisbane,
>through an ISDN line from a small rural town (Mareeba) of 6000 people.  Not bad
>telephone technology, but having a 64 kbps data line through ISDN doesn't help
>voice calls any.
>
>You see, in a digital phone network, voice calls are still band-limited to
>not much more than analog phone lines.  The idea being that, to allow more
>channels to be carried between towns and cities through microwave and fibre
>links, the bandwidth of each channel must be limited.  To allow for as many
>voice calls as possible, the quality of each remains poor even in a digital
>network.

[ my rubbish deleted :)]

>David Meiklejohn (also known as davidme@qdpii.comp.qdpi.oz.au)

Um, I don't think this is the right place, but how on earth are they going 
to put pay-tv through the fibre optic network?  If it can't really handle 
sound all that well, how are we going to get decent pictures on our 
television sets?

Don't get me wrong, I'll believe your explanation about telephone lines over 
my fuzzy year 12/1st year physics.  Any explanations from guys over at the 
Telecom Research Labs?
From: daveh@cbmvax.commodore.com (Dave Haynie)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy
Subject: Re: 4000: Is it so great?
Date: 25 Sep 92 09:19:23 GMT
Reply-To: daveh@cbmvax.commodore.com (Dave Haynie)
Organization: Commodore, West Chester, PA

In article <1992Sep22.143217.8715@ncsu.edu> linville@garfield.catt.ncsu.edu (John W. Linville) writes:

>>A 386 with 387, SoundBlaster and SCSI? Besides, try running Windows or
>>OS/2 in 2 Megabytes.

>Why does it need a 387 and SCSI?  Most Amigas don't have FPUs and the new

Every Amiga with 68020 on up far has come with an FPU.

-- 
Dave Haynie Commodore-Amiga (Cool Advanced High-End Systems You Can't See Yet)
 "The Crew That Never Rests"  {uunet|pyramid|rutgers}!cbmvax!daveh   BIX: hazy
             "You lie so much you believe yourself" -Metallica
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy
From: peter@NeoSoft.com (Peter da Silva)
Subject: Re: REAL FALCON 030 SPECS
Organization: NeoSoft Communications Services -- (713) 684-5900
Date: Mon, 28 Sep 1992 13:44:08 GMT

In article <etxansk.717683097@garbod20> etxansk@garbo.ericsson.se writes:
>  I know the CPU's supposed to run faster if it isn't delayed by video
> DMA, but is there a working Amiga system where this (speed improvement)
> effect really shows?

My Amiga 1000, before lightning fried the memory expansion card. My Amiga 3000.

> Can it be achieved on an A500 (without a mother board replacement)?

Just stick a memory card on the expansion connector.

> The multiple bus technique has been available ever since the Amiga 1000 was
> released, hasn't it?

Longer than that. Works fine.
-- 
Peter da Silva.  <peter@sugar.neosoft.com>.
 `-_-'   "Segodnja volka obnimal?"
  'U`  
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy
From: "robert buonincontro" <robert.buonincontro@canrem.com>
Subject: a4000
Reply-To: "robert buonincontro" <robert.buonincontro@canrem.com>
Organization: Canada Remote Systems
Distribution: comp
Date: 29 Sep 92 18:57:20 EST


>> >There's really no reason for most vendors to put in any work to use
>> >the AGA, so few people are gonna have it.  The development time
>> >is money spent on salaries, overhead, and non-sales.  There's just no
>> >way that much extra time is gonna result in equivalent extra sales.
>>
>>I fear there exists some misunderstanding of what effort is involved
>>to create an AA-capable software: Since 2.0 we have what is called
>>the "display database", some function calls where the application asks
>>the current platform which video modes it *can* provide. Now you choose
>>one of these modes and off you go. The real point is: You don't need
>>to write *different* pieces of code, one for old chips, one for ECS, one
>>for AA, NONONO, it's done within *one* single piece that just chooses
>>some basic parameters like height, width and depth as variables and
>>derives all other data from them. If done right, this even serves for
>>*future* compatibility with even greater modes (hopefully) to come!
>
>I've obviously not expressed myself well here.  Sure, it doesn't take
>any extra work to support aga;  if you follow the guidelines you
>>have< to.  Your software is gonna open screens as tall and wide as
>the environment it's running in.  It >does< take extra work to USE the
>aga;  to take full advantage of it.  To have 256 color displays, menus,
>and icons.  To make sure that those displays, menus, and icons still
>look good when they're >not< being displayed on aga machines (since
>very few will be, compared to the installed amiga userbase).  To write
>games that use all 256 colors but are still useable on 32 color
>machines.

So true, And lets add that it's actually easier for most game devlopers to
program 256 colour games on the Amiga, since a lot of games are ported over
from 256 colour VGA displays. I even heard that companies like Sierra will be
writing AGA games only. They did this on the IBM and forced a lot of people to
go out and buy VGA cards. 

SS>As for interfaces, why do you need to use 256 colors?  The Mac gets by
SS>just fine with b&w, the NeXT and AmigaOS 2.04 look fine with four shades
SS>of grey, and Windows uses 16...

SS>Granted, it is nice to have lots of colors for image processing and other
SS>graphical applications, but I'd imagine that 256 different colors spread
SS>among icons, menubars, windows, etc., would look gaudy.

 I agree with this as well. I don't think I would use more then 32 colours on
a workbench screen. Although, it would be nice to view a 256 colour picture
right in a window.

          robert.buonincontro&canrem.com
---
  DeLuxe 1.12 #8947  AMIGA : The Power To Be Creative!
--
Canada Remote Systems  - Toronto, Ontario
World's Largest PCBOARD System - 416-629-7000/629-7044
From: danaf@bray1a.its.rpi.edu (Frank R. Dana Jr.)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy
Subject: Re: Its a sad sad day...
Date: 30 Sep 92 22:58:18 GMT
Article-I.D.: rpi.xhlzdyl
Reply-To: danaf@rpi.edu
Organization: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY.

In article <1992Sep28.201732.19672@msi.com>, bill@snoopy (Bill Poitras) writes:
|> Frank R. Dana Jr. (danaf@bray1a.its.rpi.edu) wrote:
|> : Yep, sorry! Like if you wanted a 486 in your 386 IBM, you'd need a new mother-
|> : board. Get used to it.
|> 
|> We don't have to.  The PC clone makers have become innovative and made it
|> so a system can be upgraded by just replacing the CPU card or just adding
|> a CPU to a special motherboard socket.

WOW! A "CPU slot"!!! Geez, what a great idea! Why didn't Jay and R.J. think of
that one??? You PC guys have all the luck.

}8)

|> --
|> +-----------------+-------------------------------+-------------------------+
|> | Bill Poitras    | Molecular Simulations Inc.    | Tel (408)522-9229       |
|> | (bill)          | Sunnyvale, CA USA             |                         | 
|> |                 | FAX (408)732-0831             | bill@msi.com            |
|> +-----------------+-------------------------------+-------------------------+

-- 
/////////////////////////[[[[[[[[[[]]]]]]]]]]\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
(718)             (212)                        (516)             (518)
=======Amiuser============Frank R. Dana, Jr.============Doc Ami=======     
--------My opinions rarely reflect those of any sane person,----------
	   living, dead, or undead... that's gonna CHANGE.
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy
From: das9674@usl.edu (Stephenson Daniel A)
Subject: Re: Its a sad sad day...
Organization: University of Southwestern Louisiana
Date: Mon, 28 Sep 1992 16:15:16 GMT

>Aric.Caley@ofa123.fidonet.org writes:
>
>
>>And what if you wanted to go from 386 to 486? Throw away the entire
>>motherboard!  Gee.  You get orphaned in the clone world even more than
>>anywhere else!  6 months down the line, your machine is obsolete.
>>Those things devalue like you wouldnt believe.

That's true.  I wouldn't always recommend getting a new motherboard, alway,
though.  If your computer is really old, the other components (HD, graphics,   
etc) won't be 'comparable' to the new CPU, and the new CPU might get 'wasted'
waiting for the HD, etc.   Plus, the whole computer w/ that better MB
probably wouldn't cost TOO much comparitively.

For example, at the end of my next summer job, I plan to get one of those
el-cheapo (for then) 486DX2/66Mhz PC, with ALL the trimmings.  I think
I would prefer that then getting a new MB and put it in my 512K gfx card.
 and 20ms HD and non-stereo SoundBlaster, etc etc.

I have a 386/33 right now.

-- 
*Dan Stephenson   das9674@usl.edu  
*
* "To conquer death, you only have to die,..."                   
*                             -Jesus , from _Jesus Christ Superstar_
Organization: Penn State University
Date: Tue, 29 Sep 1992 20:21:50 EDT
From: <DXB132@psuvm.psu.edu>
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy
Subject: Re: Palettes and stuff (was Re: Some random thoughts on the A4000)
 <torrie.716954980@Xenon.Stanford.EDU> <BvD59u.LwB@starnine.com>

In article <BvD59u.LwB@starnine.com>, mikeh@starnine.com (Mike Haas) says:

>In article <torrie.716954980@Xenon.Stanford.EDU> torrie@cs.stanford.edu (Evan
>Torrie) writes:
>>skip@tacky.cs.olemiss.edu (Skip Sauls) writes:
>>
>>
>>  In any case, this has nothing to do with the fact that the Quadra
>>bests the A4000 in this respect, regardless of what Apple's
>>advertisements were.

>Well, it's true that the quadra can display full 24-bit gfx... if you
>want to wait around a half an hour for it to finish.  (Nothing on
>a Mac displays "instantaneously").

>And, of course, animation is out of the question.

>Yes, being a mac weenie, you certainly can't comment on what fast means,
>but you don't need to see an A4000... to see animation
>that no mac can equal, there's this thing called an A500...

>>Remember that the Quadra plays a few VRAM tricks to improve its
>>graphics speed.

>It needs more than a few 'VRAM tricks'.  Try true DMA and a coprocessor.
>(VRAM tricks... chuckle).

Sheesh. This kind of blatent ignorance I would expect from a die-hard Atarian.
You're telling me that a video design (e.g. the A4000) that has CPU/blitter
contention in every mode (with extreme contention in 8-bitplane hires) is
better than a VRAM design with no contention in any mode? (Not to mention the
Quadra probably has a CPU access time less than 280ns).
Hint: *ALL* the high-end graphics boards for the Amiga use VRAMs, and the
mythical "high-end" Amiga chipset is planned to use VRAMs as well.

Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy
From: hyc@hanauma.jpl.nasa.gov (Howard Chu)
Subject: Re: REAL FALCON 030 SPECS
Organization: SAR Systems Development & Processing, JPL
Date: Mon, 5 Oct 1992 06:35:32 GMT

Geeze folks, true floating-point isn't the be-all end-all of number-crunching.
Any computer scientist could tell you that floating point arithmetic is all
hooey anyway, particularly on digital computers. If you're not smart enough to
be able to scale your numbers to fit into the size of words you got, then you
aren't smart enough to be trying to solve whatever problem you're working on.
A 24 bit integer provides sufficient space to exceed the precision of an IEEE
single-precision real. In a real-world application your numbers are going to
be in a localized magnitude, so you don't need the 8 bits of exponent.

Personally I think hardware floating point support is just a crutch for folks
who are too lazy to write an intelligent solution to their problem... Just an
example on the other side of the fence - we get "floating point numbers" back
from the Magellan radar, but if you think there's enough bandwidth to send 32
bits back per sample you're nuts. The samples are in "Block Floating Point
Quantization" format, which only uses *4* bits per sample. Each block has a
preface establishing the dynamic range of the block, and the samples in the
block are just delta values (gee, kinda like HAM graphics, eh?).

As a more concrete example, especially for those of you who think the 68030
could do the same work faster (geeze, where do you *get* these notions...)
you can always look at the Mandelbrot demo that shipped with early releases of
the NeXT OS. They showed a (probably non-optimal) mandelbrot routine that
ran on the 68030/68882, floating point of course, then the same algorithm on
the DSP, it must have completed about 20 times faster at least. The fact is,
you can redesign any floating-point application to use scaled/fixed point
arithmetic, and the 56001 can blow the doors off a 68030 for fixed point
arithmetic. As a further example along the same lines, just look at Fractint.
This program was written for the PCs and used fast 8086 assembler code to
compute fractals using scaled integer arithmetic (thus the name). (Has it
been ported to the Amiga now? I gave some Amiga programmer-type my 68000
assembly code that I used in my ST port, never heard back from him...) The
point being - (a) you can do what most folks consider as floating-point
oriented tasks using integer arithmetic, and (b) you will get faster performance
going that route. (Yegods. I just realized I used the words "fast" and "8086"
in the same sentence. My credibility must have just fallen thru the basement...)
-- 
  -- Howard Chu @ Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA

California, land of dreams. For many, moving out to CA is their first step
toward fulfilling their dreams. For most of them, it's also their last.
From: ganoe@sde.mdso.vf.ge.com (Craig Ganoe)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy
Subject: A3000 price cut & A3000/CDTV promotion ends
Keywords: A3000, CDTV
Date: 1 Oct 92 20:43:19 GMT
Organization: GE M&DSO - VF

I just grabbed this from c.s.a.marketplace. Since I don't usually read there
I'm assuming a few others might not look there either and might find this
interesting. No guarantee from me on this being true.

[ original post follows ... ]

Article: 6417 of comp.sys.amiga.marketplace

News from GEnie:
   ______________________________________________________________________
  /                                                                      \
 |                   Bulletin!  No Free CDTV with A3000                   |
 |                   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~                   |
 | It's official! Commodore JUST changed the Amiga 3000 promotion they    |
 | announced recently. Rescinding inclusion of a free CDTV with purchase  |
 | of an Amiga 3000, instead they are bundling it with the new SCALA      |
 | Multimedia 200 Authoring System (we've seen it -- its slick), and      |
 | making it available in two packages with GREAT prices! Get this...     |
 |                                                                        |
 |    Amiga 3000-25/50 (50 MB Hard Drive) with SCALA MM200  $1499.00      |
 |    Amiga 3000-25/100 (100 MB Hard Drive with SCALA MM200 $1859.00      |
 |                                                                        |
 | This offer is good ONLY until Nov. 30, 1992. See your Amiga Dealer for |
 | details. This change is so new they don't have the announcement on it  |
 | done yet! Commodore also says they have a NEW promotion in the works   |
 | for CDTV which will be announced Real Soon Now. The *StarShip* News    |
 | Network will have THAT announcement as soon as it breaks!              |
 |                                  -*-                                   |
  \______________________________________________________________________/

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Andy Patrizio       \\        uunet!tension!birdland!andy       //
Stamford, CT, USA    \\//        andyp@admiral.uucp          \\//
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
"I finally have a chest to speak of and the only man in my life doesn't
know what to do with it." - Murphy Brown
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

[ ... end of original post ]

Why wasn't AmigaVision Pro bundled with this instead of SCALA MM200? I'm not
saying one's better than the other, but it would've made more sense.

For a while there, Commodore had been doing a good job with posting
announcements. How come I haven't been hearing any of this from them?

Anyone heard any rumors about the new CDTV promotion mentioned above?

Craig