cmm1@CUNIXA.CC.COLUMBIA.EDU (Christopher M Mauritz) (10/20/89)
Well, unless you are a diehard Atari fan (I know, there are still a few left), I would advise you to buy the 25mhz 386 now (if you do indeed need it now). Besides, if you want to use it for work you would be much better off with an industry standard 386 rather than the TT (if it ever does hit the market). You'll be able to get software for nearly every application at reasonable cost and not have to worry about the lagging support of Atari Corp and vaporware promises. It is really to bad. The 68030 is such a nice mpu compared to the Intel mpu's. (add ^ an o here) Besides, who needs another workstation with non-industry standard 16 bit slots. C'mon...what a waste...Although I would like to see the TT fly, I don't think you will see it happen (That is IF you ever see a TT up close and personal...Ha!) Now that I've got my own little 68030 worksation (named after a popular red fruit <grin>) and have it actually in front of me (yes, you can actually see and touch it!), I can't believe how slow my ST seems in comparison. All I use my ST for now is Air warrior and an occasional game. Best of luck in your computer search! Chris Mauritz ------------------------------+--------------------------- Chris Mauritz |Where there's a BEER, cmm1@cunixa.cc.columbia.edu |there's a plan. (c)All rights reserved. | Send flames to /dev/null |Need I say more? ------------------------------+---------------------------
stephen@oahu.cs.ucla.edu (Stephen Whitney) (10/20/89)
In article <CMM.0.88.624863922.cmm1@cunixa.cc.columbia.edu> cmm1@CUNIXA.CC.COLUMBIA.EDU (Christopher M Mauritz) writes: >Well, unless you are a diehard Atari fan (I know, there are still a few >left), I would advise you to buy the 25mhz 386 now (if you do indeed >need it now). Besides, if you want to use it for work you would be >much better off with an industry standard 386 rather than the TT (if it >ever does hit the market). You'll be able to get software for nearly >every application at reasonable cost and not have to worry about the >lagging support of Atari Corp and vaporware promises. However, I'm not independently wealthy. Not only will the TT be cheaper than its fruity computer equivalent, but I can save my _substantial_ software (not to mention programming time) investment and continue to use my hard disk without hacking it to bits first. > It is really to >bad. The 68030 is such a nice mpu compared to the Intel mpu's. (add ^ >an o here) Besides, who needs another workstation with non-industry >standard 16 bit slots. C'mon...what a waste...Although I would like to >see the TT fly, I don't think you will see it happen (That is IF you >ever see a TT up close and personal...Ha!) You're right about the 68030. I'm not going to buy an Intel chip based machine. Yecccch! Even though the 80386 _can_ have a flat address space, about 95% of the machines out there are running 8086s so the software people don't yet have much incentive to write '386 enhanced software. >Now that I've got my own little 68030 worksation (named after a popular >red fruit <grin>) and have it actually in front of me (yes, you can >actually see and touch it!), I can't believe how slow my ST seems in >comparison. All I use my ST for now is Air warrior and an occasional >game. Best of luck in your computer search! > Sure, Mac IIx, cx, and ci machines are nice. They're also _really_ expensive. If the TT truly has VME slots (yes, they _are_ a standard, even at 16 data bits)and SIMM-based memory along with 512k of ROM space, it will be quite user expandable. We'll be able to plug in new and better graphics cards, run UNIX with hardware memory protection (built into the '030), and expand our memory quite effectively. With the SCSI port, we'll have cheap hard disks, and the built-in video modes are nothing to sneeze at. >Chris Mauritz > >------------------------------+--------------------------- >Chris Mauritz |Where there's a BEER, >cmm1@cunixa.cc.columbia.edu |there's a plan. >(c)All rights reserved. | >Send flames to /dev/null |Need I say more? >------------------------------+--------------------------- Who's flaming? I just don't have the option you chose available to me. If I weren't a student, I might buy whatever they use at work, but I enjoy being different anyway... :-) --Steve
stefan@db7.CS.Concordia.CA (BUCHHOLZ) (10/20/89)
Gee now Chris, If only Apple would come out with a true multitasking OS for your $10 000 PC. ****************************************************************************** * * * My lady friend does lots of wonderful things for me, and all at once!! * * * * Stefan Buchholz * ******************************************************************************
covertr@force.UUCP (Richard E. Covert) (10/21/89)
In article <CMM.0.88.624863922.cmm1@cunixa.cc.columbia.edu>, cmm1@CUNIXA.CC.COLUMBIA.EDU (Christopher M Mauritz) writes: > Well, unless you are a diehard Atari fan (I know, there are still a few > left), I would advise you to buy the 25mhz 386 now (if you do indeed > need it now). Besides, if you want to use it for work you would be > much better off with an industry standard 386 rather than the TT (if it > ever does hit the market). You'll be able to get software for nearly > every application at reasonable cost and not have to worry about the > lagging support of Atari Corp and vaporware promises. It is really to > bad. The 68030 is such a nice mpu compared to the Intel mpu's. (add ^ > an o here) Besides, who needs another workstation with non-industry > standard 16 bit slots. C'mon...what a waste...Although I would like to > see the TT fly, I don't think you will see it happen (That is IF you > ever see a TT up close and personal...Ha!) Not only are 80386 PC computers available there have been some really great prices in misc.forsale for 25 MHZ 80386 computers with 1024 x 768 x 16colors color graphics. something beyond the power of a TT, I believe. Also, the ads I have seen indicate that the 80386 PCs have 32 bit, 16 bit, and 8 bit motherboard busses, so can use a whole spectrum of IBM PC plugin boards (things like hard disk on a card, internal modems, additional serial i/o, eprom burners, geez just all sorts of things that Atari customers are too cheap to want to buy!!). I am waiting for UNIX Sys V with X Windows to hit it big on the IBM PCs. I expect my next computer will be an Intel 80486 with UNIX and X Windows. And plenty of card slots. So, that kinda leaves Atari and the VaporWare TT/P (for Plastic, sheez what a great name for a computer. A Plastic computer. Oh boy!!) for someone else to buy!! > > Now that I've got my own little 68030 worksation (named after a popular > red fruit <grin>) and have it actually in front of me (yes, you can > actually see and touch it!), I can't believe how slow my ST seems in > comparison. All I use my ST for now is Air warrior and an occasional > game. Best of luck in your computer search! > > Chris Mauritz Actually, Chris Mauritz has a valid point that no one at Atari can deny. That is DELIVERY DELIVERY DELIVERY Atari announces a product and then Cries "FCC!! FCC!! FCC!!" as if no other computer maker is subjected to testing by the FCC. Only Atari has to be delayed by FCC testing!! So, Atari announces a product and months (or years in the case of the CD ROMS!!) go by and no delivery. And finally when they do deliver it is much less then the announced product. The Mega ST is an example of this. The Blitter is less powerful then it was promised. And even the DMA port isn't buffered, so you can overload it if you use a couple of hard drives and the Atari laser printer. Some robust business computer that Mega turned out to be!! So, from past experience we can expect a CHEAP 68030 machine from Atari that won't be expandable and will be margin in other aspects. Godd luck Atari!! Richard (The Whiner (tm) ) Covert P.S. As much as I am disappointed by the TT and what it implies about Atari I still like my ST better then a Mac. In that regard I like to close my posts with a description of a program that I like about the ST. This message ends with my endorsement of the WERCS Resource Construction Set marketed by MICHTRON. It is very easy to use to build RSC files for a whole host of langauges. WERCS has a utility to convert DEGAS pictures into icons that can be included in your RSC. WERCS has a TEST mode where you can see if your buttons work. WERCS can convert RSC from other RSC editors. All in all, I find WERCS to be an excellent tool for the ST programmer!! rec
news@laas.laas.fr (USENET News System) (10/30/89)
In article <46587ca5.14a1f@force.UUCP> covertr@force.UUCP (Richard E. Covert) writes: | Atari announces a product and then Cries "FCC!! FCC!! FCC!!" as if no other | computer maker is subjected to testing by the FCC. Only Atari has to be delayed | by FCC testing!! So, Atari announces a product and months (or years in the case of | the CD ROMS!!) go by and no delivery. Just to keep the rumor mill going... :-) Maybe, these items can be bootlegged. Even though I've never posted on this subject, one of our local dealers has an Atari CD ROM for sale that I saw over a year ago. It's probably not selling for lack of software. :-) If I remember right, it was going for 4000 to 4500 FF (French Francs). Then again, us Europeans are lucky. But not as lucky as those Germans. Win a few, lose a few. :-) I'm still waitng for TOS 1.4 ;-( Ralph P. Sobek Disclaimer: The above ruminations are my own. ralph@laas.laas.fr Addresses are ordered by importance. ralph@laas.uucp, or ...!uunet!mcvax!laas!ralph If all else fails, try: SOBEK@FRMOP11.BITNET sobek@eclair.Berkeley.EDU =============================================================================== Upon the instruments of death the sunlight brightly gleams. -- King Crimson
rjk752@uxf.cso.uiuc.edu (11/16/89)
Here is some text from the Oct 89 issue of ST Log. " As most of you know, this is the last issue of this magazine in its current form. As of next month, ST-LOG will be merged with ANALOG Computing to form a comprehensive Atari-specific publication. If you read... The U.S. Atari market is not large enough to support two Atari-specific magazines from the same publisher. Specifically, advertising, which provides an important portion of every magazines earnings, is an at [sic] all-time low. ... The new ANALOG Computing will be much larger than the magazine you're holding in your hands. It will contain 132 pages, 48 of which will be in full color. ..."