fleabag@athena.mit.edu (Jeff Bellsey) (03/24/89)
Hello NetLand!
URGENT WARNING: Following is a long post by a desperate and ignorant
would-be Amiga buyer, asking for help from those who are into
answering REALLY basic questions. If this doesn't apply to you,
you should hit 'j' or 'n' as quickly as possible!
(i thought that was fair...)
For those that are still with me, here is a brainstormed list of questions/
ideas/worries/comparisons that I've come up with in my search for the ideal
computer. My `de-programming' from Macintosh-devotion is not yet complete,
so many comments question the relative benefits of the Mac and the Amiga.
Please help me out. Everyone grab one or more sections and send me
the cheap and dirty answers, at least to get me started. Otherwise, send
me full length essays with circles and arrows and footnotes on the back of
each one. Thanks in advance for all your help.
========= THE BASICS =========
1. Models. Since I was already prepared to spend numerous $K's, what does
the biggest bestest Amiga (2500?) have that others don't? Speed, colors,
interfacing, expandability/need for expansion, size, cost, whatever.
2. What seem to be the memory requirements in general? What is the maximum
the Amiga can access?
3. Apple has an annoying tendency to outdate their products very quickly.
How long is an Amiga good for until Commodore introduces a new model, one
you can't live without? Balance this, of course, against how long you have
to wait for major enhancements that are generally useful.
4. What are the street prices for Amigas? Where can I find them?
5. How can I keep up-to-date? Which magazines?
========= GENERAL CAPABILITIES =======
6. Can the Amiga run Mac software? (is this a silly question? I think
the Atari ST does to a certain extent)
7. How does laser-printing fare? Can it do good word-processing/DTP with
decent print-out?
8. Is there a reasonable amout of PD/shareware out there? Any public ftp
sites?
9. What is the maximum monitor resolution achievable? This is actually two
questions: maximum no. of pixels (640x280, for eg.) ; maximum dots per
inch (72 dpi on the Mac). Amiga monitors look pretty blocky; are there
better/cheaper third-party monitors?
10. Is there a built-in sound output port so I can plug it into a real
amplifier?
11. The Macintosh has these neat little programs called Desk Accessories
(DA's). Whenever you run virtually any Mac application (from HyperCard to
PageMaker) you can instantly access DA's from a pull-down menu. DA's can
typically be small text-processors, calculators, equation formatters and
solvers, debuggers, etc. DA's are run alongside the main application, and
interaction is minimal, but allowed (via the clipboard, see next question).
Is there ANYTHING at all comparable to these most useful programs?
12. Can you use generic cut-and-paste (a la the Mac's clipboard)? Can
different types of files be merged (ie, graphics in a text file)?
========= GRAPHICS & SOUND =========
13. It seems that insiders rave about Amiga animation. What makes it so
much easier, more flexible, faster, etc? I don't plan on exporting to
videotape, just on the monitor (hence my reason for question 9).
14. How easy is sound digitizing? I'll need both mic/line inputs, and
hopefully hear results on a stereo amp (hence question 10). Is sound
in stereo?
15. (could you guess?) Can animation and sound be bundled, even synchronized?
How easily?
======== PROGRAMMING ===========
16. What kind of programming environments are available? My main language
is Pascal.
17. Is there any "shell" program that simplifies implementing a
user-interface? That is, a half-built program which has already dealt
with setting up windows, menus, etc. This is a Macintosh idea which works
mainly because the user interface is standardized, so I'm not sure it's
applicable to the Amiga.
18. How "unlocked" is the Amiga? On the Mac, I feel like I have total
control over the system, using OS-modifying additions (inits, cdevs for those
who have heard of them). How customizable is the Amiga and its software, and
how much of it seems like a black box?
19. Are good reference books available? Books on programming mostly, but
any Amiga book would be useful. Any non-book ideas would be great too.
========= OTHER ==========
20. Pick the most glaring omission in this list. Name the question and
answer it. Or, just convince me to buy an Amiga.
***************************************************************************8
Thanks so much for your help!
Jeff Bellsey
fleabag@athena.mit.edu
fleabag%athena.mit.edu@mitvma.bitnet
{somewhere big}!bloom-beacon!athena.mit.edu!fleabag