CSULLOGG@CRL.AECL.CA (05/10/91)
Netters were asking about the difference between a 4 meg 1040STE and the Mega4STE. Since I am an Atari dealer, I feel qualified to answer this one. I retail the 1040STE with an SM124 monitor for $CDN 679. To boost this to 4 megs costs about another $CDN200. Since external hard disks are a must, adding an ICD FA.ST 85 costs $CDN 999. Total cost for the system (8 MHz, TOS 1.6) = $1878. I retail the Mega1STE with SM124 for $CDN1079. For an additional $CDN 699, the buyer gets an ICD host adapter, an 85 meg Seagate ST1096N and 4 megs or RAM for a total cost of $CDN1778, cheaper than the 1040 system because it costs a lot less for an internal HD. This system also has a detached keyboard, a 16 MHz CPU and TOS 2.n. Best of all, with the VME slot, there are many boards, such as video cards, that are available for the MegaSTE (see ZNET posting 91-15 or 91-16, cannot remember which one). The Mega4STE with a 48 meg SCSI bundled from Atari sells for $CDN 1879 because it costs me more to buy this bundle from Atari than it does to build my own systems. I recommend the purchase of a Mega STE unless the user wants to stick with a floppy system. Finally, this posting is not for commercial purposes, therefore, I have not mentioned my company name. It was posted for information only to help netters make informed choices.