acm@valhalla.cs.ucla.edu (02/17/89)
A friend of mine is planning to buy a 2000 along with a 5.25 drive, but
first wants to know just how much of his old PC software he can use (I
tell him he won't WANT to run any of it after a while, but he insists).
Here's what he wants to know:
How compatible is the Bridgeboard (if that's what it's called) at its fastest
speed? What *doesn't* it run?
What bus cards *can't* be used in the compatible slots?
What Amiga-based peripherals can't be used (5.25 disks, parallel port hard
disks, printers, etc.)?
How fast is it:
(4.77/8 Mhz i8088 or v20 or what)?
Is disk I/O throughout emulation as fast as a real PC?
Is screen I/O as fast?
What IBM graphics modes does it support (CGA, EGA, etc...), and are these
shown in as much detail on the screen as on the original (Hercules mono is
probably tough to do)?
Finally, what's a good price range for the whole setup (2000 + Bridge +
5.25 disk)?
WSR as appropriate. Thanks in advance.
--Plinio
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VOICE: (213) 825-5879, 825-7597higgin@cbmvax.UUCP (Paul Higginbottom MKT) (02/18/89)
In article <20702@shemp.CS.UCLA.EDU> acm@CS.UCLA.EDU (Association for Computing Machinery) writes:
$How compatible is the Bridgeboard (if that's what it's called) at its fastest
$speed? What *doesn't* it run?
The Bridgeboard is essentially an entire PC XT compatible on a card, so it is
VERY compatible. It is one speed only: 4.77Mhz. It has 512K RAM and some
programs need 640K, but the extra RAM can be added with any PC multi-function
type card. We will be coming out with an 8Mhz 1M AT Bridgeboard in the very
near future.
$What bus cards *can't* be used in the compatible slots?
Only one COM port possible (I/O space is used by Amiga-PC communications I
believe [Bill?]). Networks have been tried and work, as have many display
adaptors.
$What Amiga-based peripherals can't be used (5.25 disks, parallel port hard
$disks, printers, etc.)?
How about what CAN be used - Amiga storage devices can
be used from MS-DOS as virtual devices (like a network would appear), not
as transparent normal 720K or whatever devices. New software we will be
releasing soon will allow transparent PC partitions on Amiga hard drives.
The Amiga parallel port can be used as LPT1: PROVIDED the application sends
its output through the BIOS. Direct hardware bashing can't be intercepted.
Fortunately, not much software does this with parallel output. The same
cannot be said for serial, so serial redirection is not supported.
Additionally, the Amiga can use PC hard drives also.
$Is disk I/O throughout emulation as fast as a real PC?
On the PC side, yes - it's just the same as a regular XT clone.
From the Amiga side, there is some performance penalty but not much.
$Is screen I/O as fast?
It's buffered so while it does keep up, it 'looks' different, i.e., it
can happen in "chunks".
$What IBM graphics modes does it support (CGA, EGA, etc...), and are these
$shown in as much detail on the screen as on the original (Hercules mono is
$probably tough to do)?
CGA & MONO emulation are supported. They all look like CGA.
$Finally, what's a good price range for the whole setup (2000 + Bridge +
$5.25 disk)?
Check with your local dealer.
Paul.