From: mikeh@starnine.com (Mike Haas)
Subject: Re: Palettes and stuff (was Re: Some random thoughts on the A4000)
Date: Tue, 29 Sep 1992 23:29:52 GMT
Organization: StarNine Technologies, Inc.

In article <torrie.716954980@Xenon.Stanford.EDU> torrie@cs.stanford.edu (Evan Torrie) writes:
>skip@tacky.cs.olemiss.edu (Skip Sauls) writes:
>
>>Apple has referred to the Macs color capability as being 24 bit since the
>>original Mac II.
>
>>I remember customers in the store that I worked in wondering why
>>their Mac IIs only had 256 colors when all of the ads had promised 24
>>bit.
>
>  They advertised a 16.7 million colour palette, with 256 colours
>simultaneously displayed on screen.  Your customers obviously
>didn't read the spec sheets.

Apple probably DID advertise the color capabilities accurately...
it's just that Mac weenies know so little about color, they get confused!

>
>  In any case, this has nothing to do with the fact that the Quadra
>bests the A4000 in this respect, regardless of what Apple's 
>advertisements were.

Well, it's true that the quadra can display full 24-bit gfx... if you
want to wait around a half an hour for it to finish.  (Nothing on
a Mac displays "instantaneously").

And, of course, animation is out of the question.

>
>>As for higher video resolutions, well, I'd need a 19" monitor for that
>>to make a difference and I don't think I'll be buying one anytime soon.
>
>  19" monochrome monitors are not much more expensive than a good 14"
>colour monitor, and the Quadra supports a rock-steady 75Hz
>non-interlaced 1152 x 870 (great for programming) on these.
>
>>I'll add a little wood to the fire and throw in a few bits that the A4000
>>has which a Quadra 700 does not.  How about fast, full-screen video
>
>  I haven't seen an A4000, so I can't comment on what "fast" means.

Yes, being a mac weenie, you certainly can't comment on what fast means,
but you don't need to see an A4000... to see animation
that no mac can equal, there's this thing called an A500...

>Remember that the Quadra plays a few VRAM tricks to improve its
>graphics speed.

It needs more than a few 'VRAM tricks'.  Try true DMA and a coprocessor.
(VRAM tricks... chuckle).

>
>> 4 32 bit slots instead of just 2,
>
>  Those 4 quickly decrease to 2 when you add your Ethernet and SCSI
>boards.

Not if you don't need 'em.  And, even if they are added, it'll be
32 bit Ethernet and SCSI with 2 slots to spare.

'Course, the slots in your Quadra 700 decrease to zero after adding
stereo sound support and some 3rd-party graphics coprocessor.

>
>>a dedicated video slot allowing for the
>>easy and inexpensive addition of genlocks and other video equipement
>
>  Well you probably win there, but this is the Amiga's main business
>market.

Yas... snickering loadly at all the video wannabe's...

>Speaking of video, video toaster people had better watch
>out for this German Video Machine board.  I saw it in Toronto
>last week, and it looks very nice (and slightly higher quality
>for small moving images than the Toaster [which was also on display]).

Gee, there we go with "small moving images" again!  I love how mac
weenies love to boast about big monitors, then can't do decent
postage-stamp-sized animation.


>
>>AT slots for easy PC software and hardware emulation,
>
>  Is this an advantage?  :-)

Yup.  Lotsa cheap hardware out there for the PC.  I know this will
be a foriegn concept for macheads, so I'll explain a little...

You see, not every company producing computers or hardware for
computers tries to gouge their customers.  Some charge a reasonable
price, sometimes downright cheap!

>>more internal and 
>>external 3.5" bays, a 5.25" bay for the easy addition of an internal CDROM,
>>and of course the ever important key-lock.  :-)
>
>  For these you buy a 950 (what's an "external" 3.5" bay by the way?)

Gee...how much do THEY cost???
No, for these I buy an A4000 (I don't believe in wasting money).