wtm@neoucom.UUCP (Bill Mayhew) (06/11/87)
I just got back from the local dealer who just got in its first Amiga 500. Over all, I was pretty pleased. It works about the same as a single disk Amiga 1000 with the KS eliminator. The best part is that it comes with a decent manual. I didn't think that C-A knew how to produce documentation. The 500's manual is well put toghether and has the information to get initial users up an running. The chapter on using CLI is a welcome addition. Neatest of all is that the schematics are in the back for inveterate hackers! There is even a technical reference section that goes into the basics of what the LSI chips do! Bravo. Now, all they have to do is crank 'em out, ADVERTISE!!, cut the price, and we could possibly have the next generation of the C-64 phenomenon. Only one gripe: I whish the power switch were on the computer rather than on the cordbrick power pack. Bill Mayhew NEOUCOM Division of Basic Medical Sciences (wmt@neoucom.UUCP ...at least for the moment)
keithd@cadovax.UUCP (Keith Doyle) (06/17/87)
In article <610@neoucom.UUCP> wtm@neoucom.UUCP (Bill Mayhew) writes: >Only one gripe: I whish the power switch were on the computer >rather than on the cordbrick power pack. I'll add a second one. It seems to me that the lack of a color NTSC output is a mistake. Everyone has a VCR, and seems like a lot of people would want to record Amiga output. Anyone know if the appropriate 'adapter' module is available, and how much it costs? Keith Doyle # {ucbvax,ihnp4,decvax}!trwrb!cadovax!keithd # cadovax!keithd@ucla-locus.arpa Contel Business Systems 213-323-8170
bryce@COGSCI.BERKELEY.EDU (Bryce Nesbitt) (06/19/87)
In article <> keithd@cadovax.UUCP (Keith Doyle) writes: > > I'll add a second [A-500 gripe]. It seems to me that the lack of a color > NTSC output is a mistake. [...] When I first heard of this I was surprised. What reason could there be for hardware-disabling colorburst on the connector when there was already a bit to do that on the custom chips?? (Almost as good) In fact, it should have been even easier... The COLORON bit is a part of gb_system_bplcon0, that magic location that gets or'ed into all copperlists. What this means is that setting that would turn burst off for all screens, clearing it would add burst. Sort of like Interlace. For the default of the Amiga 500 you would turn burst off. Anyone that wanted color could change that state. That was theory. Reality is somewhat removed. While COLORON's nearby neighbor, INTERLACE works as planned, the COLORON bit gets and'ed out when the copperlists are rebuilt. The result is that a little utility I wrote to twoggle burst does not. The little copper list scanner that came next DOES work, but any utility that directly mangles copperlists is far too dirty in INTENTION to actually release. This has only been tested on an Amiga 1000, if the 500's connector is actually monochrome, then there is no need to even TRY to switch burst on and off. --------- Ack! (NAK,EOT,SOH) |\ /| . {o O} . bryce@cogsci.berkeley.EDU -or- ucbvax!cogsci!bryce ( " ) U Single-tasking? Just say *NO!* Try twiddling ALL the bits in a copper MOVE to blpcon0 instruction. Some combinations of the upper bits have interesting side effects.
bryce@COGSCI.BERKELEY.EDU (Bryce Nesbitt) (06/19/87)
[ eat me ] In article <> keithd@cadovax.UUCP (Keith Doyle) writes: > > I'll add a second [A-500 gripe]. It seems to me that the lack of a color > NTSC output is a mistake. [...] When I first heard of this I was surprised. What reason could there be for hardware-disabling colorburst on the connector when there was already a bit to do that on the custom chips?? (Almost as good) In fact, it should have been even easy... The COLORON bit is a part of gb_system_bplcon0, that magic location that gets or'ed into all copperlists. What this means is that setting that would turn burst off for all screens, clearing it would add burst. For the default of the Amiga 500 you would turn burst off. Anyone that wanted color could change that state. That was theory. Reality is somewhat removed. While COLORON's nearby neighbor, INTERLACE works as planned, the COLORON bit gets and'ed out when the copperlists are rebuilt. The result is that a little utility I wrote to twoggle burst does not. The little copper list scanner that came next DOES work, but any utility that directly mangles copperlists is far too dirty in INTENTION to actually release. This has only been tested on an Amiga 1000, if the 500's connector is actually monochrome, then there is no need to even TRY to switch burst on and off. Ack! (NAK,EOT,SOH) |\ /| . {o O} . bryce@cogsci.berkeley.EDU -or- ucbvax!cogsci!bryce ( " ) U Single-tasking? Just say *NO!* Try twiddling ALL the bits in a copper MOVE to blpcon0 instruction. Some combinations of the upper bits have interesting side effects.
grr@cbmvax.UUCP (George Robbins) (07/08/87)
In article <1601@cadovax.UUCP> keithd@cadovax.UUCP (Keith Doyle) writes: > In article <610@neoucom.UUCP> wtm@neoucom.UUCP (Bill Mayhew) writes: > >Only one gripe: I whish the power switch were on the computer > >rather than on the cordbrick power pack. Well, it saved a little money - 3-pole DC rated switches are expensive, and you don't turn it on and off very often... Someday, we'll probably roast in hell for that little feature... It does give the ST owners something to sneer at though! 8-) > I'll add a second one. It seems to me that the lack of a color NTSC output > is a mistake. Everyone has a VCR, and seems like a lot of people would > want to record Amiga output. Anyone know if the appropriate 'adapter' > module is available, and how much it costs? Could be. In the original product planning we our thinking was that the composite color wasn't "good enough" for the Amiga - even the C64 and C128 use separate luma and chroma to get better resolution. We saw the the A1000 and A2000 as being the "video" machines for the VCR/home video crowd, rather than the A500. Also there was concern for a low cost, high-definition non- flickering video mode that would make the machine suitable for productivity software/terminal emulation types of tasks. The monochrome output is nice, and with the color-weighted grey-scale can be used with "color" applications without difficulty. Check it out sometime... Anyway, the adapter combines the RGB-Composite circuitry and an RF modulator (separate outputs). It's not available yet, but isn't supposed to be very expensive when it does come out. -- George Robbins - now working for, uucp: {ihnp4|seismo|rutgers}!cbmvax!grr but no way officially representing arpa: cbmvax!grr@seismo.css.GOV Commodore, Engineering Department fone: 215-431-9255 (only by moonlite)
ali@rocky.UUCP (07/09/87)
In article <1601@cadovax.UUCP> keithd@cadovax.UUCP (Keith Doyle) writes: > I'll add a second one. It seems to me that the lack of a color NTSC output > is a mistake. Everyone has a VCR, and seems like a lot of people would > want to record Amiga output. Anyone know if the appropriate 'adapter' > module is available, and how much it costs? Just saw an ad for the Mimetics "ImaGen" genlock. It claims to work with all Amigas (including 500), and also provide NTSC color out. That seems to solve A500's video out problems, and you also get genlock. List price is $179! So, are these wonderful little ImaGen beasts out yet? Has anyone played with one? Ali Ozer, ali@rocky.stanford.edu