cs2531bn@charon.unm.edu (Lazlo Nibble) (03/20/88)
> ...I'm thinking of getting an Amiga 2000 this summer... UNLESS, of course, > this gs+ thing turns into a reality. But Apple is FAST losing my interest > (and many other peoples' I'm sure!) > > mcl9337@tamvenus.bitnet Sounds familiar. Most of the // people I know (four or five of us) are looking into trashing the //s and gettting Amigas. When I got my //e looong ago (five years now! Geez!) it was becuase it was the most hack-able machine out there, and you could do the most fun stuff on it. Unfortunately Apple has decided not to keep going in that direction. I didn't bother to upgrade to a IIgs because the wimpy increase in processor speed didn't make it worthwhile -- when you can get a 12MHz PC clone system (complete with 40M hard drive) or a rockin' little Amiga 500 system, both for under $1500, what the hell's the point of spending around $1000 for a new motherboard, monitor, and mouse? Just so you can use SuperHiRes (which is doomed to be nearly as slow as mundane HiRes, thanks to the brain-damaged way they designed the graphics support for it)? Ehhhh. No thanks. The IIgs isn't really a new //, just an old II with a lot of bells and whistles crammed into it. With a faster processer and some more dedicated hardware they could have done "old" // emulation in software and had a much more powerful (and useful) machine in IIgs mode. Barring something spectacular happening in the // department, my next machine isn't going to be an Apple. Which is kind of sad, because I've been a very loud Apple supporter for a long time now. Too bad they haven't seen fit to stay competitive with what the other companies are offering. Lately I've noticed a lot of other people who feel the same way I do. I wonder if Apple realises this? Lazlo Nibble (cs2531bn@charon.unm.edu)
msicv01@ms3.UUCP (Jay G. Heiser) (03/24/88)
I have to agree that the //GS is too little too late. I bought my //e
almost 5 years ago & was happy with it for years. At the time, the IBM PC
and DOS 1.0 didn't offer much. Over the years, I've purchased the 2nd
64k, a mouse, the enhancement, a RAM board, a 3.5" drive, and buckets
of software that I don't use any more.
Now I've got a Zenith-248 AT compatible at work with 1 Meg, 21 Meg hard
drive, and EGA. I can run programs off of the hard drive faster than my
old //e can run smaller, less useful programs off of its RAM drive. I've
got memory resident programs that allow me to cut & paste between
multiple applications, a solid PD VT100 emulator, etc. etc.
The best news is that I can find a similar system for myself for under $2000.
Like I said, MS-DOS 1.0 was nothing special, but version 3, with output
redirection, path names, and gobs of good & free (or cheap) utilities is a
pretty fair OS.
All I use my //e for now is word processing, a mail list (not updated for
over a year), and terminal emulation. (Dollars & $ense crashed last April
15 and I don't have the heart to type in another year's work for nothing).
Since I don't have a heavy investment in software, I can't think of any
reason to buy a //GS.
Personally, I'm waiting for the 80386 machines to come down to the price of
the 80286 -- then the trusty old //e will be gracefully retired.
--
Jay Heiser UUCP: ..!umd5!vrdxhq!ms3!msicv01
ARPA: msicv01@hios-pent.arpa