Newsgroups: bit.listserv.i-amiga
Date:         Mon, 12 Oct 1992 18:42:49 -0900
From:         "Kevin R(ocket J. Squirrel) Araki" <JSKRA@ALASKA.BITNET>
Subject:      Re: Some Information I compiled and sent to misinformed people.

Deva Winblood(Pronounce Dayva Wineblood) writes:

>INFORMATION ON Commodore Amiga Series computers...
>Features... Development Dates.... Prices
>
>Sound....   Graphics....   Newest Model....
>
>Multi-tasking info...     Comparisons.... of multitasking, speed, and
>                                          prices
>
>Compatability....(IBM & MAC compatibility)
>
>Software Developers....
>
>Games....
>
>GUI....                             Multimedia....
>
>Gold Warantee....                   Public Domain Programming Compilers....

Well, I appreciate the effort, but some of the "INFORMATION" below is either
misleading, misinterpreted, or just plain wrong.  Please do NOT take this as a
flame, but consider this as an editor's re-read.  Here goes:

>-MODELS AND THEIR FEATURES:
>
>
>Amiga 500 -  (Developed in 85' or 86')
                            ^^^^^^^^^
Technically speaking, I suppose you are correct.  The A-500 was being
developed
in '85 or '86, but the first press release about the A-500 came out in April of
1987.

>          BASE MACHINE   = 7.65MHz  1 3 1/2" DRIVE   1/2 MEG of
Memory
                            ^^^^^^^
Wrong, the A-500 is running a Motorola 68000 processor at 7.16MHz.
(stuff deleted, because it is okay info [you need a spell checker though])

>                             and is really nice. I believe they also give
>                             an adapter with the A500 to hook it to a
>                             Television set.
                              ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Yes, there is a device that allows one to hook up to a TV.  It is called an RF-
TV modulator.  It's designed for both the A-500 and the A-2000.  There are
even
versions of the A-500 that come automatically with the TV modulator.  They
are
the A-500C and A-500DL.  You'll see prices below.

>Amiga 2000 - (Developed in 85' or 86')
                            ^^^^^^^^^^^
Once again, technically correct, but released in February of 1987.  Yes,
Virginia, the A-2000 came out before the A-500!

>          BASE MACHINE = 7.65MHz   1 3 1/2" Drive   1 MEG of Memory
                          ^^^^^^^
Don't do this to me again!  Motorola 68000 at 7.16MHz.

>                         Hard Drive. Has 8 to 9 card slots within the case,
                                          ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I guess you can sort of say it has 9 internal slots, but NOT the ones you are
presumably thinking of.  The internal slot arrangement goes like this:
  3 dedicated Amiga Zorro II slots
  2 Bridgeboard/Amiga Zorro II slots
  2 PC dedicated (8 bit slots)
  1 Processor slot (this is how to turn a 2000 into a 2500)
  1 Video slot (this is where the Video Toaster among other video boards go).
Yes, that is a total of 9, but I think only the first 7 slots count.
(stuff deleted)

>Amiga 3000 - (Developed in 90')
>          BASE MACHINE = 16MHz     1 3 1/2" Drive    3 MEGS of Memory
                          ^^^^^                       ^^^^^^
Okay, the clock speed is technically correct too, because you can get a used
16MHz A-3000, but the only ones that dealers are selling now are the (Motorola
68030) 25MHz A-3000.  RAM memory is only 2MB, and it is all chip RAM.

>                         Mouse, Rca Stereo Jacks, Same ports as a 2000.
>                         Several Zorro III expansion bays, and it's casing

Let me correct you on a minor technicality here: "Same ports as a 2000."  I
suppose you are speaking of the Parallel, Serial, RGB video ports.  That is
correct, but the 3000 also has the Hi-Density 15 video port, for non-interlaced
video.  Also "Several Zorro III expansion bays."  Call them (4 of them)
expansion "slots" to avoid confusion, . "Bays" are for drives (boats, and
pigs).
(stuff deleted)

>                         this upon purchase usually. I think they may come
>                         with Hard Drives, but if not you will definately

Yes, ALL Authorized A-3000 come with at least a 40MB Harddrive, but if you
are
buying them today, you cannot find one without at least 50MB.
>
>Amiga 600 - (Developed in 92')
>          BASE MACHINE - Is even smaller than the Amiga 500. Most of
>                         us long time Amiga users think this was designed
>                         with the game user in mind.
>                         it is 16 or 25MHz... and uses the Enhanced Chip
                                ^^^^^^^^^^^
Bzzzzzp, thanks for playing, we have some nice consolation gifts for you back-
stage.  The A-600 has the same Motorola that is in the A-500... 7.16MHz.

>                         Set. It comes with one 3 1/2" drive, and a couple
>                         MEGs of memory. It comes with a hard drive.
                          ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^                 ^^^^^^^^^^^
It comes STANDARD with 1MB of RAM (expandable presumably to 9MB).
There are
two models of the A-600.  One with a Hard drive, one without.  Retail prices
below.
(stuff deleted)

>-PRICES:
>
>A1000      - If you can find one anymore   $250 - $500, because owner wants
>             to upgrade.
>A500       - $299 for base   $679 with monitor and some software, buy them
>             used and you will get more for even less than this.
>A600       - $300 (approx) for base prices are similar to A500. You probably
>             won't find any used ones on the market yet.
>A2000      - $1,300 for a base package with monitor etc. You can probably
find
>             some INCREDIBLE USED deals... I saw a couple that made my
mouth
>             water.
>A3000      - $2000 + for base package...  There are some really good used
>deals
>             out there.
>A4000      - $3600 +                      Hardly anyone has any of these so
>             far, because they are so new.

I suppose you are talking about "street prices" on most of these computers.
But below, I have included all MSLP (Manufacturer's Suggested List Prices) on
all Amigas and peripherals that may be of interest to this LIST.  These prices
are effective September 1, 1992.

MODEL #     ABBREVIATED DESCRIPTION
MSRP
A500C       Amiga 500 Bonus Bundle                                       599.99
            3.5 FDD, 512K RAM, 2 Mouse/Joystick ports, Serial & Parallel
            ports, TV modulator, bundled with Textcraft Plus, Tetris,
            and Where in the World is Carmen San Diego.
A500DL      Amiga 500 Deluxe Bundle                                      699.00
            3.5 FDD, 1MB RAM, 2 Mouse/Joystick ports, Serial & Parallel
            port TV modulator, bundled with KindWords, MaxiPlan Plus,
            Infofile, Deluxe Music Construction Set, Ports of Call, Zany
            Golf, Fusion Paint.
A500DS      Amiga 500 DS                                                 599.00
            3.5 FDD, 512K RAM, 2 Mouse/Joystick ports, Serial & Parallel
            ports, bundled with KindWords, Fusion Paint, Indiana
            Jones and the Last Crusade, F40 Pursuit, and F/A-18
            Interceptor.
A600P       Amiga 600 Professional                                       499.00
            3.5 FDD, 1MB RAM, 2 Mouse/Joystick ports, Serial & Parallel
            ports, PCMCIA-card slot, Stereo audio, RGB analog, Color
            composite, and Built-in TV modulator.
A600HD40    Amiga 600 HD 40                                              749.00
            3.5 FDD, 1MB RAM, 40MB Hard drive, 2 Mouse/Joystick ports,
            Serial & Parallel ports, PCMCIA-card slot, Stereo audio, RGB
            analog, Color composite, and Built-in TV modulator. A601
            Recommended.
A2000C      Amiga 2000/ 1084S Monitor                                   1539.00
            3.5 FDD, 1MB RAM, Mouse, Keyboard, 2 Mouse/Joystick ports,
            Serial & Parallel ports, AmigaDOS.
A2000HD/1   Amiga 2000HD/ 1084S Monitor
1769.00
            3.5 FDD, 1MB RAM, 50MB Hard drive, Mouse, Keyboard, 2 Mouse/
            Joystick ports, Serial & Parallel ports, AmigaDOS.
A2000HD/100 Amiga 2000HD/ 1084S Monitor
1929.00
            3.5 FDD, 1MB RAM, 100MB Hard drive, Mouse, Keyboard, 2
Mouse/
            Joystick ports, Serial & Parallel ports, AmigaDOS.
A3000-25/50 Amiga 3000-25/50                                            2729.00
            3.5 FDD, 2MB RAM, 50MB Hard drive, Mouse, Keyboard, 2 Mouse/
            Joystick ports, Serial & Parallel ports, SCSI interface, 15.75
            & 31.5 KHz Video Ports (Built-in De-interlacer), 68882 Math
            Co-processor, AmigaDOS.
A3000-25/100 Amiga 3000-25/100                                          3379.00
            3.5 FDD, 5MB RAM, 100MB Hard drive, Mouse, Keyboard, 2
Mouse/
            Joystick ports, Serial & Parallel ports, SCSI interface, 15.75
            & 31.5 KHz Video Ports (Built-in De-interlacer), 68882 Math
            Co-processor, AmigaDOS.
A3000T-25/200 Amiga 3000T-25/200  1950 Monitor
4499.00
            3.5 FDD, 5MB RAM, 200MB Hard drive, Mouse, Keyboard, 2
Mouse/
            Joystick ports, Serial & Parallel ports, SCSI interface, 15.75
            & 31.5 KHz Video Ports (Built-in De-interlacer), 68882 Math
            Co-processor, AmigaDOS.
A3000T-040/200 Amiga 3000T-040/200  1950 Monitor
5998.00
            3.5 FDD, 5MB RAM, 200MB Hard drive, Mouse, Keyboard, 2
Mouse/
            Joystick ports, Serial & Parallel ports, SCSI interface, 15.75
            & 31.5 KHz Video Ports (Built-in De-interlacer), Math Co. on
            chip with '040, AmigaDOS.
A4000-040/120 Amiga 4000-040/120  1950 Monitor
3699.00
            3.5 High density FDD, 6MB RAM, 120MB Hard drive, Mouse,
            Keyboard, 2 Mouse/ Joystick ports, Serial & Parallel ports,
            IDE interface, single video port for 15.75 & 31.5 KHz Video
            (Built-in De-interlacer), Math Co. on chip with '040, AmigaDOS.

ACCESSORIES, MEMORY & STORAGE
A501        Amiga 500 RAM Expander 512K Internal RAM
69.00
A601        Amiga 600 RAM Expander 1MB Internal RAM
120.00
A2058       RAM Expansion Bd. f/ A2000 series, 2MB Expandable to 8MB
349.00
A1011       Amiga 3.5" External 880K Floppy Drive                        152.00
A2010       Amiga 3.5" Internal 880K Floppy Drive                        123.00
A3010       Amiga 3.5" Internal 880K Floppy Drive f/ A3000 Series
123.00
A570        Amiga 500 CD ROM Drive                                       659.99
A590        Amiga 500 20MB External Hard drive                           538.00
A2091       Amiga Hard Drive Autoboot controller f/ A2000 series
199.00
A1680       Amiga 1200 Baud External Modem                                59.00
A520        Amiga External RF Modulator                                   38.00
A2060       Amiga Arcnet Network Adapter                                 229.00
A2065       Amiga Ethernet Network Adapter                               331.00
A2630/4     Amiga 68030 Processor Board 25MHz '030 4MB 32bit RAM
1799.00
A3640       Amiga 68040 Processor Board 25MHz '040, with on chip co.
1998.00
A2286       Amiga Bridgeboard - AT '286 co-proc. bd, 5.25" 1.2MB Floppy
499.00
A2386SX     Amiga Bridgeboard 20MHz '386sx co-proc. bd, 1MB RAM, DOS
5   959.00
A2232       Amiga Multi-Serial Port Adapter                              388.00
A2300       Amiga Internal Genlock                                       169.00
1084S       1084 Color Stereo Monitor                                    388.00
1950        1950 Multiscan Color Monitor                                 715.00
1960        1960 Multiscan Color Monitor                                 715.00
A2024       2024 Hi-Res Monochrome Monitor resolution up to 1008x800
745.00
A2320       Display Enhancer Board (de-interlacer f/ 2000 series)        291.00
AS260       Amiga Clips, Vol. 1 Sound Effects (2 disks of sound effects)  29.00
AS225       TCP/IP - NFS Network Software                                199.00
AS251       AmigaVision Professional                                     399.00

UNIX
A3000UXD    Amiga 3000UXD                                               6398.00
            3.5 FDD, 9MB RAM, 200MB Hard drive, Mouse, Keyboard, 2
Mouse/
            Joystick ports, Serial & Parallel ports, SCSI interface, 15.75
            & 31.5 KHz Video Ports (Built-in De-interlacer), 68882 Math
            Co-processor, AmigaDOS, 2065 Ethernet Card, UNIX Sys V Rel.
            4, X Window Sys. & Open Look Graphical User Interface.
A3070       150MB Tape Drive                                             699.00
A2410       A2410 Lowell Graphics Card (up to 1024x1024, 256 colors)
998.00
AX001       2 User Amiga Unix 2.1 - SVr4 UNIX Op. System
995.00
AX002       Unlimited User Amiga Unix 2.1 - SVr4 UNIX Op. System
1195.00
(stuff deleted)

>Enhanced Chip Set
>Adds several new graphics modes and allows more colors in the higher
>resolutions
>
>Advanced Graphic Architecture Chipset(only available in the A4000)
>many new graphics modes(and the ability to program in more in the future)
>256,000 colors out of a possible 16.7 million on any resolution!!!
>new productivity high resolution 1280 x 640(i think this is right, I know the
                                  ^^^^^^^^^^
You are off by about 240 pixels on the vertical resolution.  The following are
possible on the A4000 with AGA:
  320 x 200, 320 x 400, 640 x 200, 640 x 400, 640 x 480, 640 x 960, 800 x
600,
  1280 x 200, and 1280 x 400. (All of these plus overscan)
Wishful thinking on your part.  Nice try though.

>-GRAPHICS DISPLAY SPEED:
(stuff deleted)
>usually programmed on an Amiga). The A3000, A600, and A4000 should be
>able to do over 200,000 filled polygons per second.

I don't know where you picked up that statistic, but you had better be willing
to back it up with hard numbers.  I'd really be surprised to find the A600 in
that class.
(stuff deleted)

>-BRIEF COMPARISON of MOTOROLLA PROCESSORS VS. INTEL(More
Info Available
>                                                   on request.)
>
>MAC and Amiga both used Motorolla Processors
>IBM uses Intel processors
>
>a 68000 processor(the oldest and slowest motorolla) would run twice as fast
>as an equivalent processor in a 386'.
> Then the 486' came out and it is directly comperable in speed with the
>68030... which means it is incredibly fast(i.e. 68030/50MHz = Intel
486/50MHz)
>Well, a 68040 at 25MHz is faster than a 68030/50MHz by quite some amount.
>Motorolla is nearing completion of the 68060, this means more speed.

I am curious what you base your comparison on.  Is it whetstones, dhrystones,
Norton SI rating, MIPS, or what.  I am not disagreeing with your assessment
here, because I do not know.  But you should be able to back your statements
up with some pretty hard figures if you know what I mean.

>Prices.
>386 board        -  $300 -> $400
>AMAX II+         -  $250 -> $450
>EMPLANT          -  $300 -> $600

I am not too sure about the AMax II+ or the Emplant, but I think prices and
a description of them have been posted to this board before.  I recall MSLP for
the AMax to be $349, and the basic Emplant (no SCSI, no Apple Talk) to be
$199.
Emplant with the SCSI and Apple Talk was $299 if I recall. I may be wrong on
those so check.

>I can nail down any of these prices if you are interested, I just
>recently became inspired to write this document so I do not have the
>prices with me, but I remember what range they fell in.

Good!  Do it before you post this to any Mac or DOS users list.
(stuff deleted)

>-MULTIMEDIA:
>
>        Amiga computers were being used for multi-media applications
>        before the term multimedia was ever named. I mean what happens
>        when in 1985 a machine comes out with 4 channel stereo sound,
>        Graphics Coprocessor, and 4096 colors? This was back before
>        Macintosh had color computers, IBM only had 256 colors at the
                                                     ^^^
In 1985, MS-DOS machines only had 16 colors maximum.  Just prior to that
they
only had 4 colors max.  They thought 16 colors was awesome. :-)
(other stuff deleted)

In result, I suggest that you edit, and re-edit this document before you send
it to any of your buddies.  Like I said at the start, I appreciate your work,
but I do not think it is accurate.  Just work on it.

Regards,
Kevin
JSKRA@ALASKA
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU