ergo@netcom.UUCP (Isaac Rabinovitch) (10/30/90)
In <6841@hub.ucsb.edu> 6500boo@ucsbuxa.ucsb.edu (William Bushing) writes: >Greetings netters! >Everyone seems so hyped up on color sVGA. Doesn't anyone do >mono any more? >As some of you know, I've been pretty much a Hercules mono >man and am even (dare I say it) thinking of using it on my >new 386. Gasp! Stone Age technology but so's the word proces- >sor I use (WordStar 3.3). I share your prejudices: 90% of PC users just don't need color. Looked at in terms of initial costs, Hercules would seem to be the only choice for anybody on a budget. After all, you can get a cheap Herc. clone adapter *and* an amber monitor for less then you'd spend on just a VGA card. Which is why I've used nothing but Hercules for the last 3 years. All the same, I'll never buy another hercules-TTL set again, nor would I recommend same to others. Why? (1) A lot of programmers, especial gamesters, shareware people, and free software types, just assume that *everybody* has CGA compatibility. Run on a Hercules board, it may just not work, or it may lock up your system. All this for trivial stuff like cyan-colored footnotes! (2) Reason (1) is symptomatic of Hercules Inc.'s total inability to deal with software problems. Thus they've never got round to the trivial chore of providing a hardware mod (or at least a TSR) that'd make their card look like a CGA card, at least in text mode. Thus they've never provided programmers with the tools they needed to program Hercules cards. (3) Consequence of (2): There's damn little software written for Hercules cards. It doesn't help that VGA keeps getting cheaper and cheaper. (4) My hardware gurus tell me that the TTL technology in Hercules-compatible monitors is fundamentally flaky. That's consistent with my experience: 2 monitors destroyed by software problems, a third by a flaky hercules clone card. I'd like to develop a little graphic software myself -- but if I make *one* little typo in the code programming the card... And I've heard stories of Trojan Horse and virus software that does such things deliberately. (5) One can now get a gray-scale 800x800 VGA setup for $300 total, or a slightly lower resolution color setup for slightly more money. Yes, that's twice what you'd spend for a Hercules setup, but figure in the other costs and it begins to look like a bargain. -- ergo@netcom.uucp Isaac Rabinovitch netcom!ergo@apple.com Silicon Valley, CA {apple,amdahl,claris}!netcom!ergo WISE SAYING NEEDED. Must reflect positive human values. Gentle humor a plus. Cuties, pseudo-quotations, and jingoistic proverbs need not apply.
gwoho@nntp-server.caltech.edu (g liu) (10/31/90)
i have a hercules mono card+$50 amber monitor, which i really like. i am thinking of getting a cheep ega card so i can play games. would i still be about to use the mono card+monitor if i put in a ega card? i want games to run on the ega card, everything else on the mono. also, i might be able to buy a cheep st251+card. i have a no-brand ide drive + card. is it possable to use both in one computer? gwoho liu.
leoh@hardy.hdw.csd.harris.com (Leo Hinds) (11/02/90)
In article <15827@netcom.UUCP> ergo@netcom.UUCP (Isaac Rabinovitch) writes: >(5) One can now get a gray-scale 800x800 VGA setup for $300 total, or >a slightly lower resolution color setup for slightly more money. >Yes, that's twice what you'd spend for a Hercules setup, but figure in >the other costs and it begins to look like a bargain. What might that combo be and where from? ... this is the type of thing I am looking for ... but locally all I can get is 14" 640x480 monitor for ~$125 & a card (paradise or something) for ~$150 ... your deal sounds better ! leoh@hdw.csd.harris.com Leo Hinds (305)973-5229 Gfx ... gfx ... :-) whfg orpnhfr V "ebg"grq zl fvtangher svyr lbh guvax V nz n creireg ?!!!!!!? ... znlor arkg gvzr
poffen@sj.ate.slb.com (Russ Poffenberger) (11/02/90)
In article <1990Oct30.193858.25746@nntp-server.caltech.edu> gwoho@nntp-server.caltech.edu (g liu) writes: >i have a hercules mono card+$50 amber monitor, which i really like. >i am thinking of getting a cheep ega card so i can play games. >would i still be about to use the mono card+monitor if i put in >a ega card? i want games to run on the ega card, everything else >on the mono. Yes, the PC architecture allows two monitors, one monochrome, the other color. You can even have a VGA or SVGA system AND a mono system ate the same time. This setup is required for debugging windows applications. You can use the "mode" command to shift focus between the two monitors while in dos. There are programs (like DoubleDos) that can even multitask (sort of) with I/O for one process going to one monitor and the I/O for the other process going to the other monitor. Russ Poffenberger DOMAIN: poffen@sj.ate.slb.com Schlumberger Technologies UUCP: {uunet,decwrl,amdahl}!sjsca4!poffen 1601 Technology Drive CIS: 72401,276 San Jose, Ca. 95110 (408)437-5254
phys169@canterbury.ac.nz (11/07/90)
In article <1990Oct30.193858.25746@nntp-server.caltech.edu>, gwoho@nntp-server.caltech.edu (g liu) writes: > i have a hercules mono card+$50 amber monitor, which i really like. > i am thinking of getting a cheep ega card so i can play games. > would i still be about to use the mono card+monitor if i put in > a ega card? i want games to run on the ega card, everything else > on the mono. I presume you mean adding an ega card *and screen*; ega cards will work with mono screens (and have a graphics mode), but very little software will support their graphics mode (and it isn't as good as the 720x348 you get with the Herc card). I find a cga emulation program with my Hercules card is better than the same screen plugged into an ega card, in the number of programs that will run. If you do have a 2nd screen, and have 2 cards in at the same time, pay a lot of attention to the "primary" and "secondary" selections on the DIP switches available on some cards (many cards have more options now than the original EGA card, so you need to be more careful). > also, i might be able to buy a cheap st251+card. i have a no-brand > ide drive + card. is it possable to use both in one computer? > gwoho liu. probably not. I tried it and couldn't get it to work. Mark Aitchison.