From: skip@tacky.cs.olemiss.edu (Skip Sauls)
Subject: Re: A4000 case design (was Re: Top 10 reasons why ...)
Organization: University of Mississippi, Dept. of Computer Science
Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1992 01:58:57 GMT

In article <6gp1fvg@rpi.edu> danaf@rpi.edu writes:

<stuff deleted>

>So I've heard. Hey, I'm working in a lab full of IBM POWERstations right now.
>Great machines, but everything IBM builds looks **GOOFY  AS  HELL**! All
>these bright blue and yellow buttons, the medium-grey casings... jeez. The
>laser printers are the worst.

Have to agree with you on looks, but I miss the 550 we had here last year
for an X and Ada project.  Nothing I've used since has come close to the
speed of that beast, but then again I am still waiting on the A4000.  :-)

>I'm not too worried about what it looks like. I get it dirty and messy within
>a month, and half the time the case is off.... 8)

My A1000 had the case off most of the time, but somehow I have managed to 
keep the case on the A3000.  Of course, I was constantly tinkering with 
the CSA Midget Racer that I had piggybacked atop a DMI Processor Accelerator
and stuff like that.  Somehow the A3000 just doesn't seem to be quite the
hackers machine that the A1000 was.

>The backplane is the rear view of the computer, where all of the ports are.

Okay, that clarifies things a bit.  I've also heard people refer to other
components as the backplane and wasn't sure what you meant exactly.

>Absolutely, don't violate any warranties on a brand-spanking-new computer.

If there is a seal on the back of the machine, I'll have to void the warranty
as I am sure as hell not going to send it to a dealer to have the Ethernet
board installed.  The A3000 came with information on how to install boards
in it, implying that it was okay, but I've heard that new A2000s have a silly
seal warning you not to break it.  Sheesh, if the machine has slots, why in
the world would they have such a silly policy?  Can you imagine the reaction
if a Clone maker put such a thing on one of their boxes?  Even the expandable
Macs don't have warnings like that.

>That __WOULD__ be nice... the screws on my A2000 drive bay are STRIPPED from
>so much removing and re-inserting! Ugh....

The articles and pictures (what few there are) show the SIMMs on the left
front of the motherboard. The only thing that might get in the way are any
expansion boards that might be in the machine.  

>My A2000 is a single-screw case. The 4 side screws are in screw heaven, where
>they belong... 8)

Oh yeah?  Well my A1000 didn't have any screws and it was gouged on the sides
where I'd pried it open with a screwdriver so much!  :-)

>That'd be great... I'd love to see how the bridgeboard will fit in...

It's an old A2086, but it might be more indicative of how the A2386 will fit
as both are single boards instead of a piggy-back like the A2286.

>??????

I've received email from another owner who was upset that a second HD drive
would be too tall for the extra bay.

>I hope you're kidding.

We'll find out soon enough.

>I still think they're idiots for putting the lower 3.5" bay **DIRECTLY** in 
>front of the keyboard! How much space do they think we HAVE!?!?!?!

Hey, does anyone remember how the Atari TT was bashed for the very same
thing?  Oh well, I guess you could get one of those cheezy adapters used
by Clones to put 3.5" drives in 5.25" bays.  As if it isn't ugly enough
already...  :-)

>I'm still waiting for a MiniTower. Maybe the A5000... 8)

Well, the A5000 is going to be housed in a rather large box.  It will have
an 040 at first, but they want to be sure to leave plenty of room for the
extra large heat sink that will be necessary when Motorola reveals that the
68060 generates more heat than originally expected.  :-)

>Hmmmmm........ Well, this POWERstation has a resolution of something like 
>1600x1280 or some sh*t like that, so I'm tempted to be biased in favor of 
>massive screens... better get some other opinions on that one.

No one else has suggested a resolution, but many have said that JPEG would
be better than GIF for a variety of reasons. 

>Altho, as with color, people can scale down... but blowing them up looks 
>crappy.

Yeah, ADPro can work wonders, but it can't do much about something that is
not there in the first place.

>April issue?  }8)

Can't remember, but if I can find it it might be fun to post the article
so that some of the newbies can see what we were expecting back then.

>Actually, one stupid game magazine did that to me once (forget what it was...)
>and almost had me buying an Atari 2600 in the basis of their glowing review
>of the game "Murder on the Orient Express". Needless to say, said game never
>even came close to existing! I hate April 1 issues.

Yeah, me too!  I can't stand it when people go out of their way to deceive
others into believing something that isn't true.  :-)

>/////////////////////////[[[[[[[[[[]]]]]]]]]]\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
>(718)             (212)                        (516)             (518)
>=======Amiuser============Frank R. Dana, Jr.============Doc Ami=======     
>--------My opinions rarely reflect those of any sane person,----------
>	   living, dead, or undead... that's gonna CHANGE.

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

Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy