From: rigby@pyramid.unr.edu (Wayne Rigby)
Subject: Re: Amigas and Markets and Users
Organization: University of Nevada, Reno  Department of Computer Science
Date: Fri, 25 Dec 1992 09:29:47 GMT
X-Posted-From: pyramid.cs.unr.edu
NNTP-Posting-Host: sol.ctr.columbia.edu

In article <Paula_Lieberman.07ny@amicol.UUCP> Paula_Lieberman@amicol.UUCP (Paula Lieberman) writes:
>The 1200 performance is lower, and I DON'T LIKE THE IDEA OF POWERING A 
>1993 COMPUTER with a 12 years old  68020 architecture, and especially not 
>the even more frontally  lobotomized 68EC020 
>
>(WHY not a 68030, so that 
>I could use Gigamem to use  the hard drive when trying to deal with DTP 
>stuff and graphics processing  and multiple apps running simultaneously, 
>that want to grab more RAM than anyone except Dave Haynie has in their 
>machine -- yes, I KNOW VM is SLOW,   BUT it beats getting requesters that 
>say, "NOT ENOUGH MEMORY TO.....".  It's the difference between NOT being 
>able to do certain things at ALL, and doing them SLOWLY -- I'd much 
>rather have the option to do them, even at a VM crawl!  

Pretty much agreed with by probably most everyone.  A 68030 would be very
nice...  But, Commodore is trying to make it as cheap as possible so as many
people as possible can afford it.  A full 68020 should have been used, IMO,
but this will work alright.  VM will be possible with the purchase of a
trapdoor installed MMU.  This fits in with the cheap philosophy.  Buy the
extra things when you can afford them and slowly build up your system to
somthing nice.  I'm still saving up to get my first Amiga...  I can't even
afford a $300 A500.  I really can't stand the limits of my C128 any more. :(
(I really wish Commodore would offer Power Up deals from the C64/C128's.)

>and applications like Art Expression recommend 2 MB MINIMUM to run.  Want 
>to run PageStream, BME, Art Expressions,and PageLiner at the same time, 
>or Professional Page, Professional Draw, and ProCalc at the same time?  
>2 MB is a joke! Want to import pictures into Art Department Pro?  Cary 
>Wasserman told me that one image he was just trying to LOOK at in ADPro 
>he couldn't even load into the program, because ADPro gave him a 
>requester saying 20 MB of RAM was required! 

Well, if you want to do things like that, then one is better off with a
mid or high end computer, if one can afford one, of course.  There are always
limits for a low end machine that are hard to break or only slowly gets pushed
up.

>A PCMCIA card for a 600 or 1200 with 4 MB of memory retails for $350 -- 
>that costs more than a 120 MB IDE hard drive!  I'd rather have the hard 
>drive and VM!  Yeah, it's SLOWER -- but a lot MORE flexible and 
>AFFORDABLE! 

Yes, PCMCIA memory expansion is IMO stupid.  Much better to get the 32 bit
fast RAM expansion for the trapdoor which is cheaper and faster.  Of course
the additional hardware you need might bring the price up just a tad... :)

>I never wanted a C64 -- no keypad, no function keys, 40 columns, etc. 
>etc.  Did not meet my Minimum Required Essential Equipment configuration.

Ummm, minor point, the C64 has function keys.  A whole 8! (4 physical) :)

My only real problems with the A1200 is no detachable keyboard (After 7 years
with C64's and C128's I NEED a detachable keyboard!) and no battery backed
clock.  Other than that, it's an excellent performance for the price.  A
great low end machine.  It's other limitations and problems are not
inconsistant with a low end machine.  Commodore is going to make just a small
amount of money with it...  I hope you get your drive problem worked out,
Ms. Lieberman!

Wayne Rigby
Jobless Computer and Systems Engineer
rigby@cs.unr.edu