From: barrett@cs.umass.edu (Daniel Barrett)
Subject: Re: REVIEW: Amiga 3000T
Followup-To: comp.sys.amiga.hardware
Keywords: hardware, system, 3000T, tower, commercial, followup
Reply-To: barrett@cs.umass.edu (Daniel Barrett)
Organization: The Amiga Online Review Column - ed. Daniel Barrett
Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1992 18:48:05 GMT



	In April 1992, I reviewed the Amiga 3000T in this newsgroup.  This
article is a followup to that review, addressing several points which have
changed since I wrote it.  All quotes are from the original review.


INTERNAL EXPANSION

>...I installed the Archive [Viper 2150S] tape drive.  This is a 5.25"
>drive which I put in one of the vertical bays.

	It turns out that the Viper cannot fit in a vertical drive bay, so I
put it in the horizontal bay.  Although it can be used vertically, it works
in only ONE of the two possible vertical orientations.  Unfortunately, it
only fits in the OTHER orientation (upside down).  When you try to insert it
properly, the drive rails don't line up with the slots in the A3000T.

	I have also since installed a Toshiba 3301B CDROM drive in a vertical
bay, which fit fine.  There is a small problem that the Amiga will not boot
if there is no disc in the CDROM drive; this is probably an incompatibility
between the Amiga and Toshiba SCSI implementations.  I just leave a disc in
all the time.  Also, HDToolBox hangs as it tries to look at the Toshiba.
When I eject and replace the disc, HDToolBox wakes up and continues normally.
These are both small inconveniences, in my opinion.

	Finally, I've added an American Power Systems uninterruptable power
supply (which I also reviewed for c.s.a.reviews) which has worked well, and
a few external peripherals (modem, printer, audio sampler, MIDI interface).


SERVICE PROBLEMS

	I have had one service problem:  the mouse port died, so the mouse
could not move vertically.  I called Commodore Gold Service to get an
on-site repair.  Unfortunately, at the time, they had NOBODY who knew how to
fix A3000T's!!!  So, they shipped it Federal Express back to the factory
where they replaced the motherboard.  The whole process took 6 days.  I was
very angry that my on-site service contract had not been honored, and wrote
a letter to Commodore's vice-president of customer support, who called me
and apologized.

	A second problem is that the computer was missing 2 parts:  a pair
of clips that secure the 5.25" horizontal drive (see the manual "Introducing
the Commodore Amiga 3000T", page 4-21), and a pair of "HD Stacking Brackets"
(see the parts list in the manual).  It took me SIX MONTHS to track down
these parts and convince Commodore to send them to me.  Various Commodore
people denied the parts existed, told me the parts weren't missing, promised
to send them, sent nothing, sent the wrong parts, and so on.  It was
ridiculous.  Finally, I wrote another letter to the VP of customer support
and several of their high-up service people, and one of them sent me the
right stuff immediately by Airborne Express.  Whew!!  If your A3000T is
missing these parts too, I suggest that you go right to the top and contact
Harry Lomax at Commodore in West Chester, PA.  He was the only person who
really understood what to do.  (And even he got it wrong the first time...
but I do sincerely appreciate that he helped me, and wrote him a thank-you
letter.)


THE SOFTWARE

>Although I am an expert user, and I have read reviews and descriptions of
>2.04 before, I am blown away by how much has changed since 1.3....

	I got used to it. :-)  It didn't take long.  2.04 is so much better
than 1.3 that it isn't even funny.  Everybody should upgrade.  This system
is really stable -- I leave it running for weeks at a time.


THINGS THAT I DISLIKED IN THE ORIGINAL REVIEW

>	The A3000T has one major problem:  its internal fan is unacceptably
>loud.  I cannot work next to the machine.  Whichever ear is closer gets its
>hearing dulled by the noise!  I have tried placing the machine all over my
>(3 meters square) office -- under my desk, behind my desk, and even in a
>closet -- but it doesn't help.

	I finally found a way to position the computer sideways behind a
desk, sandwiched against the wall, with a piece of metal (part of the desk)
blocking the computer.  The front and back panels are still accessible.
This cut down the noise, and now I don't mind it any more.  It is still
noticeable, but not offensive.

>	My next dislike is the internal speaker.  It is, to put it bluntly,
>a piece of crap....
>	Of course, one can connect the audio jacks on the A3000T's back
panel to a higher-quality speaker system.  Unfortunately, when you do this,
it automatically disables the internal speaker.

	I got around this problem by connecting the audio jacks to a cheap
"boom box" portable tape deck with speakers and "line in" jacks.  Now, if I
want sound, I just turn on the speakers.

>	The strangest problem I have encountered is that warm reboots
>(control-Amiga-Amiga) do not always recover completely from crashes....
>	Since my machine is running Kickstart in RAM, I suspect that the
>Kickstart image is getting clobbered by the crashing programs.  I will
>experiment running with the Kickstart in ROM (yes, the 2.04 ROMs are
>installed -- I saw them on the motherboard) and see if the problem persists.

	I started using the ROM Kickstart, but I still occasionally get
the problem.  I don't know what causes it.


CONCLUSIONS

	I love this machine.  It is the best and most comfortable personal
computer I have ever used.  I'm a computer professional who needs a powerful
machine, and now I have one.  If I want to speed it up or add more stuff, I
still have a whole bunch of expansion slots, a CPU slot, a video slot, one
3.5" drive bay, and two 5.25" drive bays to play with.

	I can truly say that I'm satisfied with this machine.  I feel no
temptation to upgrade to the A4000.


COPYRIGHT NOTICE

	Copyright 1992 Daniel J. Barrett.  All rights reserved.
	This review may be freely distributed provided it is distributed
	unmodified and in its entirety.  It may not be published in any
	commercial publication without the written permission of the author.

                                                        Dan

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| Dan Barrett -- Dept of Computer Science, Lederle Graduate Research Center |
| University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA  01003  --  barrett@cs.umass.edu |
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