johnf@apollo.uucp (John Francis) (01/14/86)
gaspar@ALMSA-1.ARPA writes (in part) > Of course there are a number of people, many of them developers, that have > already bought 520ST's for $799 or $999. If this change in marketing policy by > Atari is going to work, these people will have to be appeased also. If the > dealers are going to get a 1 meg ST for the same cost as the 520ST the current > owners should be provided the upgrade at no, or minimal, cost. And, if a DSDD > drive is put in the dealers package, current owners should be able to trade up > to the DSDD drive or in some way be compensated. A nice idea, but don't hold your breath! As I write I can see the 520ST system that I bought (for $1400 - I've got both monitors, and a second (DSDD) disk drive). I would really like to be able to upgrade this to a 1-meg system *without* blowing my Atari warranty away. I can (just) see Atari offering me this at a reasonable price (as I have also purchased their development package), but I do not believe they will do anything about the disk drive. I have not really got into playing with the ST yet, as I'm still waiting for my C compiler and all the documentation, but I do have a couple of first impressions to share with the world. o The first thing you are told to do is make a backup copy of your system disk. SO WHY DON'T THEY GIVE YOU A BLANK DISK TO DO IT ON ? (The same goes for the language disk, if you *really* want to use Atari-LOGO). o The actual internals of the machine are plenty powerful enough to make this thing a real computer, not a 'toy'. (This message is being written on an Apollo workstation. The main CPU is . . . . . a Motorola 68000). WHY DO I HAVE TO FIND ROOM FOR ALL THOSE STUPID EXTERNAL POWER SUPPLIES ? I have to find FIVE places to plug everything in, and somewhere to put the power supplies as well as all the system components. Package the system like a video game, and people will think it is a video game. (After all, the converse is true - a well-known company packaged a 8086 like a computer system, and thousands of people believed it really was a computer system :-)
gaspar@ALMSA-1.ARPA (Al Gaspar) (01/14/86)
********This isn't really necessary******** In reply to my earlier posting where I commented on what Atari might do for those that had already purchased the 520ST, John Francis writes: >A nice idea, but don't hold your breath! As I write I can see the 520ST system >that I bought (for $1400 - I've got both monitors, and a second (DSDD) disk >drive). I would really like to be able to upgrade this to a 1-meg system >*without* blowing my Atari warranty away. I can (just) see Atari offering me >this at a reasonable price (as I have also purchased their development >package), but I do not believe they will do anything about the disk drive. From additional items I have read on the net, it doesn't seem like Atari is lowering the price of the 520ST. Instead, Atari is apparently unbundling the system, but, if you buy all the pieces, the cost remains the same. They do seem to be adding an RF modulator (does anyone know if this capability will be made available to the earlier STs?). If this is the case, rather than a price cut, then some of my previous thoughts are not applicable. In St. Louis there has been some effort to keep earlier ST buyers happy and to promote additional sales of the 520ST package while awaiting delivery of the 1040ST. Our Atari dealership (Instant Replay) is offering to install the ROM chip for free and perform a 1 meg upgrade for $20 plus parts, if you bought (or buy) the machine from them. They are also offering some discounts that I am not familiar with. The Atari warranty is only for 90 days, I think, but, if the dealership does the upgrade, I would think that they at least would not consider the warranty invalid. I appreciate this discussion being returned to rationality. Let's keep it that way. Al Gaspar <gaspar@almsa-1.arpa> USAMC ALMSA, Box 1578, St. Louis, MO 63188-1578 (314)263-5118 seismo!brl!gaspar@almsa-1.arpa DISCLAIMER: These thoughts are mine, but anyone that takes them is welcome to them.
Felton.PA@XEROX.ARPA (01/14/86)
> o The first thing you are told to do is make a backup copy of your system > disk. SO WHY DON'T THEY GIVE YOU A BLANK DISK TO DO IT ON ? (The same > goes for the language disk, if you *really* want to use Atari-LOGO). I would suggest using the LOGO disk to back up the system disk. :-)
tim@ism780c.UUCP (Tim Smith) (01/15/86)
In article <2b5128ea.917@apollo.uucp> johnf@apollo.uucp (John Francis) writes: > > The first thing you are told to do is make a backup copy of your > system disk. SO WHY DON'T THEY GIVE YOU A BLANK DISK TO DO IT ON > ? (The same goes for the language disk, if you *really* want to > use Atari-LOGO). If they were going to give you two disks, it would probably be easier for them to give you two copies of the system disk. -- Tim Smith sdcrdcf!ism780c!tim || ima!ism780!tim || ihnp4!cithep!tim
franco@iuvax.UUCP (01/15/86)
I built a box about 12"x12"x3" which the monitor sits on. There is plenty of space inside the box to house the power supplies. The setup looks neat as a pin - there are almost no wires visible.