wdimm@lehi3b15.csee.Lehigh.EDU (William Dimm) (10/04/89)
The following are the replies I got from my request for information on expansion boxes which allow you to use A2000 hardware on an A1000 or A500. Some redundant information has been clipped out. Thanks to everyone who replied. -Bill From sjk@emx.utexas.edu Mon Sep 25 00:42:28 1989 I have a Toolbox for my 1000 which cost ~$230 if I remember right. They claim it is compatible with a bridgeboard, but I have not yet tried it. You would of course, either have to do without the PC slots or get yourself a bare motherboard and case and make your own. I currently have an Expansion Tech. flash card SCSI hard drive controller in there. I am hoping to soon replace that with a Pacific Periphreal Overdrive controller. Impressions: There exists a work-alike box sold by another company which is the exact same thing as the Toolbox but goes under a different name (I forget what, at the moment.) This is the unit I originally got when I ordered it. It was DOA, had little useful documentation and the service people weren't real helpful. Expanion Tech. (makers of toolbox), however, have been very helpful, although they do try to blame every ailment on ungrounded PALS .... The box is no machining marvel. It's fairly shoddy, but does the job. I had to tape the bottom of the case because it was coming into contact with the expansion bus and was shorting it out. Can you say quality control? I got the model with an internal power supply which seems bigger than it needs to be, periodically makes lots of noise, but seems to work. I haven't had any problems with it other than the bus-shorting problem mentioned above, but I am not really taxing it, either. I do have a C.Ltd. Amega board connected on the passthouh which works fine. The real question I have yet to answer, is will all this work when I finish building LUCAS and FRANCES! You might consider posting (and keeping for future postings) a summary of responses as many people have asked about these things in the past. My overall comment; it's not real elegant or 100% compatible but it does the job in some circumstances. Try and verify that the specific combination of periphs. you want will work. And stay away from the Toolbox clone, whatever it's called. Hope this helps! Scot sjk@astro.as.utexas.edu From cs4331bj@rye.cs.unm.edu Mon Sep 25 17:17:39 1989 In article <623@lehi3b15.csee.Lehigh.EDU> you write: >Several people here at Lehigh have asked me about those expansion boxes >that allow you to use A2000 hardware with the A1000 & A500. Unfortunately, >I don't know much about them. If you have experience with them, or know >of some articles which compare the various expansion boxes, I would >appreciate an email response. Specifically, I would like to know: > Does it work with A1000 or A500? I've had one for about a month now with no problems at all. The only thing I had to do was ground the PAL's according to their instructions. > How much does it cost? Depending on where you get it, between $200 and $299. The older units use to come with a linear power supply, they now have switching power supplies. Make sure you get one with a power supply, or at least install one yourself if you think you can save money that way. To test the effectiveness of the power supply, I turned everything on but the ToolBox's power. With a 2058 2 meg unit installed, I had problems using the modem, apparently not enough juice to drive the serial port. > How compatible is it? I'm getting in a harddrive soon, 40meg with IVS trumpcard (picked because I hope to use it with AMAX and felt it had a better chance since it uses the same controller chip as the Mac)...so I'll let ya know. From: bjames@lehi3b15.csee.Lehigh.EDU 1. Bill Boards makes one, for about $600. Comes with 6 slots, 3 for the amy and 3 for peecee! 2. The Surgeon. I don't know who makes it but it has 7 slots, 3 for Amy, 3 for AT and 1 slot for XT! Quoting..... [from August 89 of AmigaWorld] "All three boxes (toolbox 500 and 100, and phoenix PEC 2500) are made by Phoenix electronics." "I am disappointed by the apparent lack of quality control, and suggest that you verify the fuse amperage on your unit, should you buy one!" -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------ // Bill Dimm wdimm@lehi3b15.csee.Lehigh.EDU wcd0@lehigh.BITNET \X/ "It's not the facts but the explanation that counts." - unknown ------------------------------------------------------------------------