witting@topaz.rutgers.edu (Paul K Willing) (03/02/89)
NOTE: The following is a summary of replies concerning my future purchase of an Amiga 2000. I want a Hard Disk, and was inquireing into advantages/disadvantages of the different cards, esp in ref to the new Amiga 2000HD, which came with a CBM 2090A cantroller and HD The 2000HD will sell about $100 less than a system built with third party components. Of course, shop around to find the price diff you will actually be working with. BTW, tech note. SCSI interface transmits 1 byte at a time, ST506 1 bit at a time. ST506 is the IBM standard, SCSI looks to be the new standard. 2000HD- Basic a 2000 with a CBM 2090A Hard Disk Controller and a 40meg HD connected through a ST506 interface, leaving one more ST506 and 6 SCSI connectors open. The 2090A uses a DMA to controll the hard disk, leaving the processor free to do other things. The GVP HardCard is heavily recommended, clearly the best of the established third Party cards. It has been around a while, so all the bugs are gone, but it supposedly relies upon the processor to do a lot of the work. The Quantum Drives are supposedly the Best on the market, and is available in 28ms and 11ms types. Expect it to last twice as long as typical drives. May require EEPROMS to Autoboot. The Microbotics card is impressive, claiming to transfer data at bus speeds (as fast as the Amiga can handle it, not 65mph hiway, 15 mph city ;) It uses a DMA to controll the drives, leaving the processor free like the 2090A. It is a half sized card, so it can used in expansion boxes, has power hookups for a card mounted drive, and several extra SCSI interfaces. There are a few other points to consider: 1. The CBM card has its own processor, the GVP can bog the processor down if you are working processor intensive tasks, otherwise the GVP is faster. The microbotic is like the CBM card in that it doesnt harass the processor, and is the fastest and newest design of the three. 2. The CBM comes pre-installed. The cards should not be hard install, but I understand dammage done by improperly installed cards is not covered by warrantee. But the 3rd party warrantees are tiypically longer, CBM offers only a 90 dayer. This does not apply if you already own an Amiga, but having an authorize service rep install it should keep warranty problems away. It can also put you out another 60 or 70 bucks. 3. The CBM must boot to the old file system, not the newer fast filing system. While this only affects a small section of the Disk (The rest can be configured fast filing) The others don't have this weakness. K1.3 was designed for autobooting to HD's but some GVP cards may still require additional PROMS. Personally, I'd like the microbotics with the Quantum 11ms, but 1st I gotta check prices. I also want to investigate the possible bug. *I have heard from a few people who own the microbotics, and so far they are extremely happy with them* apologies for repitions, this has been modified to be posted and keep up with current information. Anybody who disagrees or has additions to make is welcome to respond via e-mail. If enough new info of significance is recieved I will post corrections. a soon to be Amiga owner... paul -- "Run, Run, as fast as you can, you cant catch me, Im the gingerbread man" "Lets do some crimes. Yeah, lets get sushi and not pay" 6 6 Witting@topaz.rutgers.edu `--'