From: ssurpeat@csug.cs.reading.ac.uk (Richard T Peat)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.introduction
Subject: Re: A600 questions
Date: 12 Oct 92 15:21:14 GMT
Reply-To: ssurpeat@csug.cs.reading.ac.uk
Organization: Dept. of Comp. Sci., University of Reading

In article 718887197@bilbo, fnunez@bilbo.cs.uct.ac.za (F Nunez) writes:
I've owned a C64 for a few years and a few months ago decided to take the plungeand buy one of the low-end Amigas (yes the A4000 is very nice but we can't all
afford one). Recently I saw on the Internet news the ofiicial press release withthe A600 specs in it. At a first glance (and at a second and third glance too)
the machine seems pretty impressive, looks notwithstanding (although it *does*
Look a tad like a toy). My favourite features are the Smart Card interface and
the built-in hard disk. However, once the initial enthusiasm wore off, a few
questions reared their ugly heads:

1) Upgradeability: On say an A500 if the latest 256 zillion colour 32 channel
   quadraphonic stereo chipset comes out, or if the latest WB V17 with the
   ultimate user-servile (beyond friendly) user interface hits the streets,
   one only has to pay up, go home, open the machine, pull out a few chips
   out of their sockets and stuff the new ones in (observing the right
   orientation). The A600 is, as far as I know, totally surface-mount. I have
   messed around with surface-mount technology before, and you need tweezers,
   a temperature-controlled soldering iron, nerves of depleted uranium (steel's
   way too soft) and hands steadier than the Himalayas. In other words, I'm
   worried. Am I being wrong, and the 'strategic' chips are mounted on nice
   sockets, or does the A600 need major surgery for upgrading?

> The only chip that isn't surface mounted is the kickstart, which is the only one
> that people in the intend market place would need to upgrade. I think CBM's
> Intention is that those who want to put in processor upgrades and the like
> Go for the A2000 replacement coming soon.

2) The Numeric Keypad: Having cut my teeth (figuratively - I'm older than that)
   on a C64, I never got into the habit of using a numeric keypad. Problem is,
   that particular set of keys is on every other Amiga in production, so it is
   only fair to assume that some word-pro, editor or even a game might expect
   to find PageUp and the gang on the keyboard. I mean, imagine working on your
   latest C source for the ultimate telecomms program and suddenly, this little
   message appears on your screen: 'Press 'END' to continue.'. You search for
   the key, and... ? I hope I am being silly here too and there is some way to
   configure say CTRL-U to behave like 'PageUp' and so on.

> This is the only problem, and it iratates me as well, I have been advised to
> get a program that remaps the keypad onto the main keyboard. (If anyone knows
> where to find one, mail me and tell me, I'm getting withdrawl symptoms from
> Railroad Tycoon!!)

The A600 is a very nice machine, but these things I've just mentioned really
bug me. Is there anyone out there going to tell me I have nothing to worry
about, or have CBM really screwed up this time? (in that case, does anyone have
the A500+ specs lying around? I hear it has the same chipset and version of DOS
as the A600)

--
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* Fabian Nunez                    | Man is the only animal who will trip twice *
* Email: fnunez@bilbo.cs.uct.ac.za| on the same stone - ancient Spanish saying *
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Hope that helps,

Richard Peat
ssurpeat@uk.ac.rdg.susssys1