Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.misc
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From: es1@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu (Ethan Solomita)
Subject: Re: A500/A1000/A2000/A2500/A3000 differences...
Message-ID: <1991May5.083704.29752@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu>
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Reply-To: es1@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu (Ethan Solomita)
Organization: Columbia University
References: <1489@caslon.cs.arizona.edu> <MWM.91May3184213@raven.pa.dec.com> <1991May5.014657.8317@NCoast.ORG>
Date: Sun, 5 May 1991 08:37:04 GMT

In article <1991May5.014657.8317@NCoast.ORG> allbery@ncoast.ORG (Brandon S. Allbery KB8JRR/AA) writes:
>
>Another prospective buyer here, with more questions:
>
>1.  I saw tantalizing hints in c.s.a.hardware about the ability to use PC
>    cards/etc.  What models, anything needed to do it ("bridge card" wazzat?)
>    etc.  There's no resale value in my XT, so I may as well try to "recycle"
>    some of the components.
>
	There are two PC emulators for the A500, one goes in the
512K expansion area (it also provides that memory) and the other
is the ATonce board which piggybacks onto the 68000 and gives you
an 80286 and HD support, gets a Norton SI of about 3 and is a tad
flaky.
	The 2000 line has 4 PC-style slots and you get your IBM
BridgeBoard from Commodore (not a 3rd party group). You can put
IBM cards in those slots (be aware that the BB can take 1-2 of
them), including a VGA card, which most people do, etc. You can
share the Amigas hard drives, mouse, ports, etc.

>1a. Is there any use for an Inboard-386 in this, or should I just try to sell
>    it?
>
	I've been told that the only board that works right is
the SOTA 386 board, and it still has some problems with things
like the mouse not working right.

>1b. Can I use my 20MB ST506-style hard drive?
>
	If you put an IBM controller in a slot.

>1c. How about the ST225N external drive from my Mac SE?
>
	You can't read the Mac data, but you can reformat it and
use it with the Amiga side if you get a SCSI controller (that is
SCSI, right?).

>1d. How about 1MB or 256KB SIMMs from a Mac SE?
>
	Depends on which brand of memory card you buy.

>1e. Or a 384K memory expansion board from the XT (removed when I put the
>    Inboard in, since it has its own 1MB RAM)?
>
	The Commodore boards come with 512K for the XT 8088
version and 1MB for the AT 80286 version. The A500 ones use 768K.

>1f. Can I use my Okidata 390 (24-pin printer, Epson and IBM Proprinter
>    compatible) with the Amiga?  Special drivers needed, a' la Macintosh?
>
	Epson is quite standard with the Amiga. No proprietary
printer drivers here.

>2.  Then there were the less-than-tantalizing hints:  prices.  The local
>    fella said the A500 was around $500; he also said it was expandable, which
>    impression I did *not* get from c.s.a.h....  What kind of expandability can
	You can go up to 1MB without doing anything unusual,
internally. There are lots of companies that have made really
tiny things, including HDs and Flicker Fixers, that fit
internally. You'll pay more for them. There is also a "bus
extender" out the left side which things can be piggybaked onto.
Expandability is quite good (as long as you don't need a CPU
accelerator that is powerful) although it will cost more since
almost everything needs a new power supply and case.

>    I expect from what models, and *how much are they*?  (Ranges, and if
>    possible some idea of where to get the lower prices.)
>
	Educational prices are $531 for the A500, $1,164 for the
2000 and $1,455 for the 2000HD.

>3.  I saw some notes about new software and possibly new hardware due out
>    soon.  Which brings up the age-old question:  buy now, or wait?
>
	If you are looking at the lower end of the Amiga range,
buy now. I know of nothing upcoming in that area.

>4.  The XT is currently running KA9Q NOS (actually, G1EMM).  Any hams in
>    this group know if there's a NOS for Amiga?  Or some kind of DOS emulation
>    that can cope with NOS (VP/ix sure can't)?
>
	I know of people on the Amiga who do a LOT of HAM radio
stuff, I know very little about it. CompuServe seems to be where
the crowd settled.

>Thanks in advance,
>++Brandon
>-- 
>Me: Brandon S. Allbery			  Ham: KB8JRR/AA  10m,6m,2m,220,440,1.2
>Internet: allbery@NCoast.ORG		       (restricted HF at present)
>Delphi: ALLBERY				 AMPR: kb8jrr.AmPR.ORG [44.70.4.88]
>uunet!usenet.ins.cwru.edu!ncoast!allbery       KB8JRR @ WA8BXN.OH


	-- Ethan

"Brain! Brain! What is Brain?"
