wrd@tekigm2.UUCP (11/07/86)
1 - cannot answer as to how good omniview is, if it is as good as the new Atari
XEP80, then it is excellent. However, most 80 column readouts are much
better if you use a non-composite video output and monitor for same. Atari
is not composite only output! You can get separated video which is much
better. Both a Commodore 1702 and the C.Itoh CM1000 monitors will accept a
separated video output signal in lieu of the normal NTSC composite video,
and believe me the difference is amazing.
2 - it depends upon which 256k upgrade that you use. Both the Newell and the
RAMBO XL upgrades require one resistor unsoldered, and from 4 to 6 wires
soldered at various places. Generally the wires can be soldered to
existing thru plated holes. Both of these upgrades want you to bend up 4
pins on one of the IC's (either PIA or ANTIC, I forget) and solder wires to
them--DON'T. It is much easier to trace where the pins go to and solder to
a thru plated hole on the same run. There is another 256k upgrade now
being sold in the Portland area that I have seen that utilized a four pin
connector to go to the IC without any soldering. (May have been sold by
Best Electronics when they were up here for show???) Also, Best
Electronics has a series of upgrades for any Atari, but these involve heavy
amounts of wiring. Both Newell and RAMBO XL involve essentially
piggybacking a new ecboard with some additional wiring.
3 - Regardless of how much David Young protests, neither the Newell upgrade nor
the RAMBO XL are absolutely 100% compatible with an Atari 130XE as neither
uses the "Freddy" chip. RAMBO XL has a lot of compatability problems
regarding what is shown on the screen, it does not maintain the proper
display, David can explain this better then I can. Newell is about 99%
compatible, however, it takes a toggle switch installed to allow its use
with XLent's Typesetter program (I may have name wrong) -- if you do not
plan on purchasing this then don't worry. HOWEVER, it also is not 100%
compatible with the Atari Planetarium program. Planetarium will work on a
800XLE (my nomenclature for a 256k 800XL) but during the "slewing" command
and during other calculations, it allows garbage on the screen, whereas a
130XE shows a different colored screen during the calculations. (I have
tried Planetarium on my 130XE, 800XLE and 1200XLE, it works 100% with the
130XE, as above on the 800XLE, and has a lot of bugs on the 1200XLE. In
fact it will not load on a 1200XL or XLE without a translator disk. Both
of my XLE's are Newell upgrades.) When Newell or someone else starts using
the Freddy chip as Neil @ Atari suggests, then they should be 100%
compatible. 99% is not bad, however.
4 - I would suggest getting and installing both omniview and 256k togeth
5 - "RAMROD XL" is "RAMBO XL", I believe. At any rate, it is a competitor to
the Newell upgrade and is not as compatible.
Suggest that you talk to David Young or John Sangster, they can help with some
of the more technical aspects of this, I am merely a hardware kludge installer,
read kit-basher, I merely follow the instructions. Connect wire a to pin b,
etc.
--Billwrd@tekigm2.UUCP (11/07/86)
As usual, my IBM-XT dropped several words/lines. In talking about installing one or the other I suggested 256k first, then Omniview, or both together. What is missing is a suggestion that David Young comment, as he is the originator of all of the Omni*** software and has worked with Newell on his upgrade and in fact sells the Newell upgrade to go with some of his Omni*** line. Please excuse me for using an IBM-XT, at work my 8 bit machine is frowned upon. They do work much better and more reliable.
wilmott@topaz.RUTGERS.EDU (Ray Wilmott) (11/20/86)
A few weeks ago I posted a request for information on Omniview. I received many responses which told me verything I wanted to know. However, I just thought of one more thing that I'd like to know before I take the plunge- Is SpartaDOS compatible with Omniview? In the SpartaDOS manual it says that it's not compatible with "some Operating System modifications". Is Omniview one of the ones it won't work with? Thanks in advance. -Ray Ray Wilmott Wilmott@topaz.rutgers.edu -------------------------------