uhr@thor.cs.wisc.edu (Leonard Uhr) (12/30/89)
I'm interested in getting an Amiga for video and graphics, etc. - BUT ALSO for word processing. It has a reputation for being flakey (no half-decent software except wordperfect, which is an old version; an annoying flicker that it costs hundreds of dollars to fix; a somewhat unstable operating system, etc.). I'd appreciate descriptions of these and other problems, and how they can be solved. And is there good software for emulating a terminal and transferring files? Also, what is the cheapest system that would be adequate - Is a 500 with extra memory (how much) enough; or do you need a 2000, hard disk, lots of extra memory, a flicker suppressor, and other things that add up? That is, can an Amiga that costs $1100-$1600 - about the same as a basic AT or Mac plus - do as good a job at word processing, as well as all the other things it can do? And how well will a basic 500 that costs even less do? Thanks for any help.
rsingh1@dahlia.waterloo.edu (12/30/89)
In article <9449@spool.cs.wisc.edu> uhr@thor.cs.wisc.edu (Leonard Uhr) writes: > >I'm interested in getting an Amiga for video and graphics, etc. - BUT ALSO for >word processing. That's nice. > It has a reputation for being flakey (no half-decent software > except wordperfect, which is an old version; That's a sad reputation, and based more on rumor than truth. There is plenty of excellent software for the machine. And granted, a lot of it isn't half-decent (it's decent :-). I'm not too happy with the current crop of word processors (just GOT word perfect because I was so fed up), but I am confident that really super ones are just around the corner. I had some problems a little while ago printing with some, but some of the problems that I had were cleared up by helpful people through mail. But there is a certain amount of 'ambiguity' in most amiga word processors. Like you 'HAVE' to read every line of the manual to get that one elusive 'feature' that you need to get things to work properly. > an annoying flicker that it costs > hundreds of dollars to fix; a somewhat unstable operating system, etc.). The flicker is only if you operate in interlace mode. It is also HIGHLY dependent on which monitor you get. I urge you not to get the commodore monitor (1084). It's worse than worse. The flicker on these is about ten million times worse than most monitors. I have one of the original 1080 monitors (a few years old), and the output after these few years is still MANY times greater than the current crop of amiga monitors (thank god you can use pretty much any monitor). My monitor hardly has ANY noticible flicker, unless I'm operating it in extreeme conditions (high-contrst thin lines). But I always RUN the system in interlace (it fills in the scan lines), and the quality is really nice. But you don't have to use it. And there is no need to 'fix' the interlace. If you are interested in the machine for video, you should appreciate it rather than curse it. It'll end up saving you several hundred dollars because you won't have to buy a video to composite converter. > I'd appreciate descriptions of these and other problems, > and how they can be solved. As for word processors, there are several good ones. I have now had the most success with word perfect and ProWrite. ProWrite never crashes, and I only had one trouble printing with it because I forgot a certain thing about text output (it's in the manual). It lets you use laser printers, fonts graphics all over the place, with a spell checker too. Flicker isn't a problem if you get a good monitor (if you are interested in video, you might as well get yourself a decent display device). >And is there good software for emulating a terminal and transferring files? Plenty. There are plenty of excellent terminals out there. One of the best commercial ones is ATalk 3, with plenty of protocols, scripting and stuff. I haven't used it, but friends say it's nice. Most of the time I use HandShake (a VT52/102/220 emulator). It doesn't have many protocols, but I find it adequate. I sometimes use the PD version of another terminal (JRcomm). It has about 8 or so protocols (x,x1k,yg,y,zmodems and some other junk). It gives you IBM ansi emulation, and an IBM ansi character set, and lots and lots and lots of options. > Also, what is the cheapest system that would be adequate - Is a 500 with extra > memory (how much) enough; or do you need a 2000, hard disk, lots of extra > memory, a flicker suppressor, and other things that add up? > That is, can an Amiga that costs $1100-$1600 - about the same as a basic AT or "Adequate"? You haven't really described your situation. Wordprocessing to what load? (are you writing encyclopedias or shopping lists? :-) Video to what extent? (fidelling around with it or starting your own studio?) As for the machine you should get, I don't know... The A2000 is quite a bit cheaper to upgrade. If you are at all interested in doing 'neat' stuff with your machine, you'd probably want atleast 2 megs. 3 megs is pretty fine to do fun stuff. I have 2 (A1000). Make sure your amiga has the new custom chips (give you plenty of new features, more graphics memory, higher/ better resolutions, etc...). If you get a nice multisync, you'll be able to run in some of the non-flickering modes, and any flickering that is present in the other modes will be reduced quite a bit, in addition, you'll get a nice monitor out of the deal. >Mac plus - do as good a job at word processing, as well as all the other things >it can do? And how well will a basic 500 that costs even less do? The amiga can do more amazing things than the mac plus, and at far less cost. I live in canada, so I can't comment on prices in america. Here though, you can pick up an amiga 500 for somewhere in the $400 range. A2000's are more. Talk to dealers near you. As far as word processing goes, the amiga just doesn't have (yet) packages that compare to the the best WP packages on the IBM or MAC. My opinions say that word processing on the amiga is way more fun than on an IBM, and less fun than a Mac. If you 'NEED' the latest most cunning features that some of the more EXPENSIVE word processors on the mac or AT have, then get it. But be aware that anything you hope to accomplish with video will not really be possible (unless you have thousands to invest in high-end cards). You might even want to try 'TeX' for the amiga. It looks really neat. Definately on my hit list of things to buy this year. Hope I was of some help. Later /Paul Anton Sop (Esquire?). rsingh1@dahila.waterloo.edu/ /Graphic Designer 4 Spaghetti Western Words and Images / /100 Kinzie Ave, Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, N2A 2J5 / /(519) 578-8525/742-0372 (if seriously really desparate)/
dfrancis@dsoft.UUCP (Dennis Heffernan) (12/31/89)
In article <9449@spool.cs.wisc.edu> uhr@thor.cs.wisc.edu (Leonard Uhr) writes: > >I'm interested in getting an Amiga for video and graphics, etc. - BUT ALSO >for >word processing. It has a reputation for being flakey (no half-decent >software >except wordperfect, which is an old version; an annoying flicker that it >costs >hundreds of dollars to fix; a somewhat unstable operating system, etc.). I'd >appreciate descriptions of these and other problems, and how they can be >solved. > That is, can an Amiga that costs $1100-$1600 - about the same as a basic AT >or Mac plus - do as good a job at word processing, as well as all the other >things it can do? And how well will a basic 500 that costs even less do? For starters, an A500 can do just as good a job. Add-on modules like the A590 and similar (but better, IMHO) ones from GVP offer all the expansion you're likely to ever need. The "annoying flicker" is only present in the interlace modes. I don't generally use interlace for wordpro's; some people have complained about the text quality of the non-interlaced display, but I'm not one of them. As for software, I'm a solid member of the Church of WYSIWYG. For anything that is going to get printed after I'm done with it, I use Pen Pal. Pen Pal doesn't have a lot of power features though- no automatic footnotes, for instance, or multiple columns. When writing text that's going to uploaded or otherwise not printed when I'm done (frinstance, if I was going to use it in a desktop publishing package), I use the shareware editor, UEdit. UEdit is totally customizable- it has its own programming language. If you want something with a lot of power and no fiddling around, get WordPerfect. True, it's not 5.0, but as I understand it the only really major improvements made in 5.0 involved incorporating graphics into your document, and that's not really a job for WordPerfect anyway. In short, I'd recommend the Amiga over a PC. You might be able to do better with a Mac, but not for the same or less money. --dfh ...uunet!tronsbox!dsoft!dfrancis "Think of something clever, and assume I said it."
tmb@davinci.acc.Virginia.EDU (Thomas M. Breeden) (01/04/90)
In article <416@dsoft.UUCP> dfrancis@dsoft.UUCP (Dennis Heffernan) writes: > .... If you want > something with a lot of power and no fiddling around, get WordPerfect. True, > it's not 5.0, but as I understand it the only really major improvements made > in 5.0 involved incorporating graphics into your document, and that's not > really a job for WordPerfect anyway. The addition of user created, named, and stored "styles" which can be used almost identically to the wp native ones is a another big improvement introduced in 5.0. These make it much easier to integrate the appearance of sets of documents that may be developed by different people and at separate times (after it may have been forgotten how it was decided that chapter headings should look). Also, these style are applied at "run-time" rather then being translated on entry into the document, which makes it possible to apply a global change to a document set simply by changed the definition of the style itself. ie, even without graphics, WP v5.0 would be much nicer to have than v4.2. Tom Breeden tmb@virginia.EDU