kim@amdahl.UUCP (03/04/87)
[ ... go ahead, eat my bits ... ]
In an article I read on Compu$erve (sorry, it's copyrighted, so I can't
post it), Sheldon Leaman <sp?> states that initially, there will be two
flavors of the A2000!
The earliest machines will be based on the German design, with later
machines (after the first few thousand) being based on the Westchester
design.
The designs are said to be equivalent, with a couple of important
exceptions:
o The Westchester design will provide all 12 bits of RGB information
to the video slot (and maybe a couple of other signals); the German
design will not.
o There was reportedly some difference between the two designs with
respect to monochrome output (sorry, I can't recall the specifics
as well as on the above item).
If there is any truth to the first bullet, it could have a big impact
on genlocks/digitizers/frame-buffers/etc. that may be developed to go
into that slot. The second bullet didn't seem to bother me much (but
then, I don't care much about monochrome).
Something to keep in mind (and check on) before writing out a check for
one of the early 2000's, anyway.
Comments? (CBM?)
/kim
P.S. I don't have a copy of the article handy, so this is from memory.
I apologize if it wasn't Sheldon's article, of if I misunderstood
the article. I think I got the gist of it correct though.
--
UUCP: kim@amdahl.amdahl.com
or: {sun,decwrl,hplabs,pyramid,ihnp4,seismo,oliveb,cbosgd}!amdahl!kim
DDD: 408-746-8462
USPS: Amdahl Corp. M/S 249, 1250 E. Arques Av, Sunnyvale, CA 94086
CIS: 76535,25
[ Any thoughts or opinions which may or may not have been expressed ]
[ herein are my own. They are not necessarily those of my employer. ]grr@cbmvax.UUCP (03/05/87)
In article <5800@amdahl.UUCP> kim@amdahl.UUCP (Kim DeVaughn) writes: > >The earliest machines will be based on the German design, with later >machines (after the first few thousand) being based on the Westchester >design. >Something to keep in mind (and check on) before writing out a check for >one of the early 2000's, anyway. > >Comments? (CBM?) Chances are all production machines sold in the US will be of the second variety. The other major difference is that they will have 1MB of memory on the main board... -- 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)
keithd@cadovax.UUCP (03/11/87)
In article <5800@amdahl.UUCP> kim@amdahl.UUCP (Kim DeVaughn) writes: >The designs are said to be equivalent, with a couple of important >exceptions: > > o The Westchester design will provide all 12 bits of RGB information > to the video slot (and maybe a couple of other signals); the German > design will not. > > o There was reportedly some difference between the two designs with > respect to monochrome output (sorry, I can't recall the specifics > as well as on the above item). > >If there is any truth to the first bullet, it could have a big impact >on genlocks/digitizers/frame-buffers/etc. that may be developed to go >into that slot. The second bullet didn't seem to bother me much (but >then, I don't care much about monochrome). Another thing that may have an impact on genlock, did anyone spot room for one in the Byte picture of the A2000? It would seem that genlock for the A2000 goes INSIDE the box, unlike where it goes in the A1000. This means when you upgrade from an A1000 w/genlock to an A2000 w/genlock, you probably have to buy a new genlock, among other things. I don't know, so far there is not much an A2000 buys me, not being the least interested in EYE BEE EM compatibility. I can't even get too interested in hard disks, as I have close to 50 megs of DATA files I would want online if I had one. And that's just this week. I'd end up spending all my time unloading and loading various data files for each 'project' I am working on, and I tend to flit from project to project at a moments notice. The best I would ever expect from a hard disk is just a place to keep all of the utility programs I use, the compiler, DPaint, animation and sound programs etc. and have to keep all the data files on floppy anyway because I would too soon run out of hard disk space even with a 150meg drive too soon anyway. Normal spreadsheet and word processor use have a little different data storage requirements than animation and sampled-sound programs. So just give me a 2MB add-on-the-side card, the recoverable ram disk, and I'm happy. Though I am glad to see the A2000. Just look at the pictures in Byte. It LOOKS like something a businessman would buy, and therefore may sell more Amigas. It also may inspire Amiga developers to keep working on programs that take advantage of special Amiga features, rather than to write 'clone' programs of stuff you can already get for the PC. Still, when I look toward the future, I'm inclined to think: "Ok, Westchester, now that you had the worlds foremost custom-graphics-chip think tank in your hands (you know, the one that Intel, Nec, Motorola, TI and Hitachi have been trying to keep up with for years with their comical imitations) and let it slip through your fingers, What's your next trick?" :-] Keith Doyle # {ucbvax,ihnp4,decvax}!trwrb!cadovax!keithd # cadovax!keithd@ucla-locus.arpa
grr@cbmvax.UUCP (03/12/87)
In article <1426@cadovax.UUCP> keithd@cadovax.UUCP (PUT YOUR NAME HERE) writes: > >Another thing that may have an impact on genlock, did anyone spot room >for one in the Byte picture of the A2000? It would seem that genlock for >the A2000 goes INSIDE the box, unlike where it goes in the A1000. This >means when you upgrade from an A1000 w/genlock to an A2000 w/genlock, you >probably have to buy a new genlock, among other things. Well, if you already have a genlock and you are a clever person, then you can make a cable connect the genlock to the video connector, which hasn't changed. The A2000 has a little slot over on the right hand side that has the video signals available. We will offer an internal genlock board to go there, and also hope to see some third party advanced video/audio stuff. -- 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)