jimt@mullian.ee.mu.OZ.AU (Jim Trivellas) (11/14/90)
I just obtained a copy of the November issue of the British Magazine "AMIGA USER INTERNATIONAL", which has some information on the Amiga 3500 Workstation !!! As far as I can tell, it has a 68030 @ 50Mhz, 68882, 5Mb RAM (expandable to 18Mb), a SCSI controller, an enhancer to produce flicker-free output whilst in graphics mode, and other so called "standard features". CBM will probably market it with Unix-V.4. The system comes in a Tower case (the article has a picture of it), and it looks almost identical to an MS-DOS (yuk!) machine. Naturally CBM didn't comment on its price. Has anyone seen the 3500 or heard anything about it? (How about a 4000 with a 68040 ???) =============================================================================== Jim Trivellas. Department of Electrical & Electronic Engineering. School of Information Technology & Electrical Engineering. The University of Melbourne, Parkville 3052, Victoria, Australia. | | | ***** _______*************_______ _|_____*****************_____|_ _|_|_____*****************_____|_|_ | | ________*************________ | | | | ***** | | | The SPID | ===============================================================================
huebner@aero.aero.org (Robert E. Huebner) (11/15/90)
In article <6026@munnari.oz.au>, jimt@mullian.ee.mu.OZ.AU (Jim Trivellas) writes: |> |> I just obtained a copy of the November issue of the British Magazine |> "AMIGA USER INTERNATIONAL", which has some information on the Amiga 3500 |> Workstation !!! |> |> As far as I can tell, it has a 68030 @ 50Mhz, 68882, 5Mb RAM |> (expandable to 18Mb), a SCSI controller, an enhancer to produce flicker-free |> output whilst in graphics mode, and other so called "standard features". |> CBM will probably market it with Unix-V.4. The system comes in a Tower case |> (the article has a picture of it), and it looks almost identical to an |> MS-DOS (yuk!) machine. Naturally CBM didn't comment on its price. |> |> Has anyone seen the 3500 or heard anything about it? I haven't heard about it before, but it sounds completely reasonable. Speaking with a Commodore Representative regarding purchase plans, he stated that Commodore still considers the 2500/30 to be their "flagship" model, until an A3000 architecture machine is developed with more expansion slots. I assume the 18Mb expansion you mention would be on-board, with actual addressable space being the same as on the A3000 (ie: a LOT). It does sound like an idea platform for future UNIX applications, though. Even if what AUI reported is only a rumour (and the British press if full of them!), this IS the most likely "next step" from CBM. ---- Robert Huebner huebner@aerospace.aero.org The Aerospace Corporation ---- BTW- What are these "standard features" you refer to. So far, all the specs sounds pretty "standard", with the notable exception of the 50Mhz clock speed.
zerkle@iris.ucdavis.edu (Dan Zerkle) (11/15/90)
In article <6026@munnari.oz.au> jimt@mullian.ee.mu.OZ.AU (Jim Trivellas) writes: > > I just obtained a copy of the November issue of the British Magazine >"AMIGA USER INTERNATIONAL", which has some information on the Amiga 3500 >Workstation !!! > > As far as I can tell, it has a 68030 @ 50Mhz, 68882, 5Mb RAM >(expandable to 18Mb), a SCSI controller, an enhancer to produce flicker-free >output whilst in graphics mode, and other so called "standard features". >CBM will probably market it with Unix-V.4. The system comes in a Tower case >(the article has a picture of it), and it looks almost identical to an >MS-DOS (yuk!) machine. Naturally CBM didn't comment on its price. Actually, I doubt that CBM commented on anything here. I wonder if that picture is really of a 3500. It takes little effort to stick a "3500" on an MS-DOS machine. The early reviews of the CDTV had "faked" pictures of the machine..... >Has anyone seen the 3500 or heard anything about it? Something I'm surprised nobody mentioned: The schematics diagrams in the back of the A3000 hardware intro book have several boxes here and there. These boxes often have a little note saying "IF AMIGA=3500" or "IF AMIGA=3000". I assume that this means that I also have the schematics of the 3500 in my hands. DISCLAIMER: I AM NOT AN EXPERT IN INTERPRETING SCHEMATICS, AND THERE ARE SURE TO BE MISTAKES BELOW. Anyway, they show this: p. E-7 3500 has different style of serial port (rectangular, not D-connector), and all the LED's are combined (different colors??). p. E-4 Two differing styles of plugs, the 3000 with a 3x5 grid of holes, and the 3500 with a 2x12 grid. There are lines going out called TICK and _FAIL, so you figure it out. p. E-9 Big box with nothing in it. Commodore must be keeping SOMETHING secret. p E-11 Two different video slots!!! 3000 shows normal slot, but 3500 shows slot broken up into two in-line parts, both with 36 pins. Also (for both machines), there is a chip labeled "vidiot". Go figure. p. E-12 Unknown slot, but only for the 3000. No mention of what you get for the 3500. This one has 100 pins. p. E-13 Five (only five?) slots side by side for the 3500. They look like Zorro III slots. However, the "3500" is hard to read, and looks more like "3300". Start your own rumors. p. E-14 Four AT-style slots for your bridgeboard. Also, something both machines get, a very complicated bugger called the "Amiga 32-bit local slot". There's one line called EXTCPU and another called RAMSLOT, with about 200 lines total. I'll bet that this is the real CPU slot. So, what's that thing on E-12? If anybody is better at reading schematics, perhaps he could explain this stuff, especially E-12 and E-4, and the justification for the different video slots. >(How about a 4000 with a 68040 ???) Commodore would be foolish if they aren't working on this, but their policy is not to talk about it. That means we won't hear from Dave. > Jim Trivellas. Dan Zerkle zerkle@iris.ucdavis.edu (916) 754-0240 Amiga... Because life is too short for boring computers.
siri@otc.otca.oz (Siri Hewa) (11/16/90)
In article <6026@munnari.oz.au> jimt@mullian.ee.mu.OZ.AU (Jim Trivellas) writes: > > I just obtained a copy of the November issue of the British Magazine >"AMIGA USER INTERNATIONAL", which has some information on the Amiga 3500 >Workstation !!! > > >Has anyone seen the 3500 or heard anything about it? >(How about a 4000 with a 68040 ???) > Jim Trivellas. > Department of Electrical & Electronic Engineering. > School of Information Technology & Electrical Engineering. > | Yes I have seen the machine at C= Aust at Lane Cove.It has 9 expansion slots.5 amiga and 4 IBM,and 68030.The impression I got from them was they are not sure where this machine is leading.But they think when it come out it will be 68040 rather than 030. Siri Hewa. !!!!OTC!! R&D, Visual Communications.
kzyx@vax5.cit.cornell.edu (11/16/90)
Jim Trivellas writes: > I just obtained a copy of the November issue of the British Magazine >"AMIGA USER INTERNATIONAL", which has some information on the Amiga 3500 >Workstation !!! > > As far as I can tell, it has a 68030 @ 50Mhz, 68882, 5Mb RAM >(expandable to 18Mb), a SCSI controller, an enhancer to produce flicker-free >output whilst in graphics mode, and other so called "standard features". >CBM will probably market it with Unix-V.4. The system comes in a Tower case >(the article has a picture of it), and it looks almost identical to an >MS-DOS (yuk!) machine. Naturally CBM didn't comment on its price. > >Has anyone seen the 3500 or heard anything about it? >(How about a 4000 with a 68040 ???) Would be better design (I think) if the '030 + '882 are placed on a daugther board emulating the '040. This would give us an simple upgrade path, i.e., just replace the daugther board by a '040 chip. > >==============================================================================