From: gblock@csd4.csd.uwm.edu (Gregory R Block)
Subject: Re: I DID giev up on the Amiga!
Organization: University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee
Date: Wed, 22 Jul 1992 05:45:38 GMT

skip@tacky.cs.olemiss.edu (Skip Sauls) writes:
: Too bad Commodore does not adequately support all three systems.  

Total opinion here.  I think C='s gold service is pretty great.  I
think their phone service needs a little work, but it's better than a
lot of clone places.  I think its dealerships need a LOT of work, but
every once in a while comes a gem like Safe Harbor (it's local here).

: Agreed, Commodore cannot even support the three existing lines.  It is

They've been doing it for a long time, and they're making a
profit--that says that they can, and have, done it.

: incredible that the pitiful sum that Commodore spends on R&D has to be
: divided among three lines.  Of course, I'd hope that little money was

It's not really much of a division, is it?

: wasted on the C64 line, but then again we do hear rumors about the C65,
: the C256, etc. and there is that stupid "console" that was sold in the UK.

Some people really don't think it was stupid.

: It would also be pretty stupid for Commodore to spend lots of money on
: R&D for the PC line, but I wouldn't put it past them.  If anyone with a
: screwdriver can put together a PC clone, I'd hope that Commodore could do
: the same without too much trouble.  What are the PCs like?  Are they

They're some of the best PC's made, and I've heard that from people
all over Germany.  PC's by C= are considered by a lot of people to be
some of the best systems made.

: compatible with other PCs or do you guys build them using funky parts like
: the Amiga line?

Hmm.  Not sure on this one.  I thought resistors, capacitors, and a
CPU were all pretty common things on motherboards?

"Funky parts like the Amiga line".  Oh boy.  The Amiga doesn't use
"funky parts".

: Was that machine the last one to be developed at Commodore?  I know that
: you guys have made minor improvements to the Amiga line that had the 
: misfortune of coming under your control, but nothing really new has been
: introduced.  

Yeah, it would have been so much better if it had just gone under.

: Whoops!  I forgot the ECS!  How ignorant of me to overlook such an innovative
: chipset!  And the A2024 monitor with the Hedley Hack!  Whoa, how could I
: forget the 1/2 speed high-density floppies, the BridgeBoards with their
: high-res displays, and all of those 040 accelerators!
: 
: You guys sure are innovative.

Ooh, for a person who knows not what he says, you're really clueless.

First, ECS.  That's a damned interesting design.  How many chipsets do
you know of conform to BOTH NTSC and PAL, are programmable, output in
NTSC and PAL output sizes, support 15.75 AND 31.5khz output
frequencies, offer video-based things like overscan, support 1-2mb of
memory that, unlike available PC cards, can be used both to store
code in as WELL as graphic and audio data, can change modes and
palettes during display time on the fly, offer 8 hardware sprites,
handle complex bitblts (the REAL stuff), make full use of DMA, and can
handle display frequenceies from 25hz and up?

Second:  The A2024:  If you knew anything, you'd know "panneling"
video wasn't invented by C=, and that it's foolish to think so.

Third:  Half speed floppies, the HD hack:  Yes, a new Paula would have
been lovely, but not entirely possible to do due to required signals &
stuff.  You'd need a paula that ran at twice the speed it does, and
that won't be backwards compatible, to say the least.  So it's better
to give an OPTION, if not the best, rather than to allow to go
without, isn't it?

Fourth:  The bridgeboard.  Its output supports the Amiga's current
chipset, which can't reproduce VGA.  If you don't like it, think like
an IBM'er.  Go out, get the neatest SVGA card, and plug the damn thing
in.  It's a bridgeboard, not a god.  It makes the best possible use of
the Amiga's chipset to the best extent that it can, and when it can't
any more, it doesn't.  Why offer a VGA mode if you can't LOOK at it?
You'd need a new monitor anyways, one specifically for your VGA card.
Why yank up the price of the bridgeboard when they can simply plug in
a VGA card and go?

Fifth:  The 040 card.  Most people believe that 040 cards have been
well taken care of by third party, and that C= should work on the
thing that only C= can do:  Produce new Amiga SYSTEMS.  And since ONLY
C= can put out an 040 Amiga, but anyone can make an 040 card, it's
better that they do the thing that they have the most reason to, isn't it?

Hopefully by now you've learned something.

--
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(:	gblock@csd4.csd.uwm.edu			Gregory R. Block         :)
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