From: skip@tacky.cs.olemiss.edu (Skip Sauls)
Subject: Re: C= Engineers--Now that the wraps are off . . .
Organization: University of Mississippi, Dept. of Computer Science
Date: Mon, 14 Dec 1992 21:30:27 GMT

In article <1gho1fINNmqp@agate.berkeley.edu> abel@ocf.berkeley.edu (Abel Chow) writes:
>Now that the A1200 and A4000 have been introduced, I'm wondering if
>you could let us in on the history of these new computers.  I've got
>loads of questions and observations (tell me if I'm completely
>off-base).
>
>What were the project names and who worked on them?

I'd love to know also.  I bet that the A4000 was code-named Hag because 
it is so damn ugly and the A1200 was code-named Rifle because it will
shoot down the Falcon.  :-)

Note the smiley folks, I'm just having fun.  Don't get your panties all
in a wad about this post...  :-)

I don't know who worked on the A4000, but I wonder if they are still
with the company.  We know that Dave Haynie didn't work on it and in
fact he is only working on the high-end Amigas, which the A4000 is
not.  George Robbins seems to have had a hand in the A1200, but others
worked on it also.

I wish it were like the good old A1000 where everyone signed their names
on the inside top case...

>What were the original specs and how and why are they different from
>now?  I'm wondering how well the rumors over the years tracked with
>what was going on.  Some of the design was probably concurrent with
>the development of ECS which may have led to high expectations for
>ECS.  I've heard rumors that the A4000 was not <gasp> the computer the
>engineers wanted to build.

Anyone remember the Ranger?  It had some features that didn't make it
into the A3000 and maybe even the A4000.  There is also pretty good
evidence that the A3000+ was the machine shown to the developers about
a year ago.  It had the DSP and some other nice features, possibly a
version of the AGA chipset.  Many developers were apparently very upset
that this machine was cancelled by the geniuses in management.

>When did these projects start?  Where were they designed?  Was the
>A1200 designed after the A4000 was done or was it done on a parallel
>track or what?

The A4000 "feels" to me like a cost-reduced A3000 with AGA, 040, and
much better user expandability.  It may have had a very short development
cycle, but then again we will probably never know for sure.

The A1200 shares the AGA chipset, IDE, and very little else with the
A4000, but I have no idea if they were parallel.  If I had to make a
guess, I'd say that the A4000 is an A3000 with AGA and new ugly case
design and the A1200 is an A600 with AGA and extended case design.

>Why does the A4000 look so much like a PC?  Is it a standard PC-case
>(i.e. would a PC motherboard fit in there)?  If so, that would explain
>a bit (in terms of cost reductions/mass production, etc.).  Is it at
>all possible that the case (at least the face-plate) would be
>redesigned in the future?

It is a PC case.  The C= case designers were seen raiding the Tandy and
Zenith garbage cans looking for rejects.  If you peel back the sticker 
on the A4000 case, you can see the Zenith logo where the chicken head
is now.  There are brown marks on the edges of the word "AMIGA" on the
front where they messed up with the branding iron.  And the key for the
keylock has had the word Zenith filed off...

The fan problem that many A4000's have is easy to fix because the PSU
is made by Tandy.  Replacement fans are available at your local Radio
Shack store and you get free batteries for a year with your purchase.

>Anyhow, that should keep you guys occupied.  To all the C= people on
>the net, thanks for providing authoritative answers to all the
>misinformation spewed about on c.s.a.*.  It's very much appreciated.

What, you mean you don't believe everything that you read here?

For all the humor-impaired folks who are ready to hit 'F':

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>Merry Christmas!
>==E =D--Abe  (abel@ocf.berkeley.edu)


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

Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy