glassey@elecvb.canterbury.ac.nz (10/14/90)
I seek advice. I'm considering buying an A3000 and would like some
feedback from A3000 users about the computer.
Firstly, Here in New Zealand the A3000 has not yet been released and right
about now lots of salesmen are trying to get rid of A2000 and A2500 stock.
Info on the A3000 isn't that easy to come across and of course, as there is
only one in the country, nobody around here has one.
I've been using IBM compatibles for years and am quite familiar with their
operation, capabilities and LIMITATIONS. I'm tossing up whether to stay IBM
compatible and get a 386 machine or instead move to the vastly superior
technology of the A3000.
Some salesmen have been telling me that AMIGA DOS 2.0 is incompatible with
many older programs. Surely if this is so, it should be possible to run
DOS 1.3?
I've also read in one of these columns that IBM emulators such as the
"transformer" do not work on the A3000. Are there any others?
Are there any other incompatibilities between the A3000 and the A500 etc?
From articles I've read in magazines the A3000 has a myriad of display
modes. How many of these are supported by the software available and is it
worth getting a multisync monitor.
Finally what software is available for the A3000. In particular,
engineering software like SPICE and Schematic and PCB packages. A public
domain version of MATLAB seems to be floating around for the A500 but I am
told that this is slow and has many bugs - the PLOT command doesn't even
work properly! Are there better versions and do they support the
coprocessor in the A3000?
At university I use MS WORD and find it far superior to Word perfect or
anything else I've seen. Is it available for the AMIGA?
How about other software, Hard Drive utilities etc. What is available via
FTP?
Thanx in advance
Robert Glassey
Glassey@elec.canterbury.ac.nzhcmutt@hpcll31.HP.COM (Harry Muttart) (10/17/90)
The AmiDOS 2.0 issue is not so bad as the A3000 can be booted up on 1.3 as well. This solves a lot of incompatibility problems in the short run. It does leave you with some programs which cannot be run on a 68030; quite a few games fall in this category. I've been looking over the A2500 .vs. A3000 issue and have decided that protecting my current "software investment" does matter to me. As such I am considering the A2500 because it can be booted with either 68000 or 68030 (but only one AmiDOS, I think). MS Word is not available for Amiga. Re: Multi-synch monitor...do you like non-flicker hires? Hope that this helps.