[comp.sys.atari.st.tech] In the mean time, NO MAC ROMS

moses@hao.ucar.edu (Julie Moses) (02/14/91)

I am interested in purchasing a SPECTRE cartridge but I have been
unable to find a set of MAC ROMS. They are indeed very scarce.
Several places I have called have been out of stock for weeks.

Can anyone direct me to a source for the MAC ROMS? I can tell you
a dozen places that have had them in the past but do you know of 
any at the moment??

Having spoken to Gadgets personnel, there attitude is that they are
not concerned because they have a backlog of orders anyway. They
could not offer any definitive source nor did it mattered to them
because they are backlogged anyway.  Simply a bad attitude!

Nutek's clone of the MAC system is not a near term solution to this
problem maybe not a solution at all. In the mean time Gadgets by
Small should maintain an up to date list of suppliers for the ROMS
as a service to their potential customers. 

Julie Moses

ekrimen@ecst.csuchico.edu (Ed Krimen) (02/14/91)

moses@hao.ucar.edu (Julie Moses) writes:

- In the mean time Gadgets by Small should maintain an up to date list
- of suppliers for the ROMS as a service to their potential customers.

Maybe they can't find them either, unfortunately.

I remember when Dave Small was asked about the availability of Mac 
ROMs, he seemed so confident that they would be available for months 
after Apple's decision to stop distributing them and after they 
canned Denny Hayes.  It's a good thing he's starting up on the 68030 
stuff.

-- 
         Ed Krimen  ...............................................
   |||   Video Production Major, California State University, Chico
   |||   INTERNET: ekrimen@ecst.csuchico.edu  FREENET: al661 
  / | \  SysOp, Fuji BBS: 916-894-1261        FIDONET: 1:119/4.0

thaanuj@prism.cs.orst.edu (John Thaanum) (02/14/91)

I have found one source for mac roms:  IB computers in Eugene, OR.
The price is about double what they were selling for before 'The Great
Apple Embargo of 1991.'

IB Computers
2511 B West 11th Ave.
Eugene, OR 97402
(503) 485-1424

Of course I have no relations with this company other than having bought a
bunch of stuff from them this last year or so.  I talked to them on the phone
just a couple of days ago, and it sounded like they were almost out as well.
If you have the money, they might be able to help.

John Thaanum     thaanuj@prism.cs.orst.edu
 

news@ccncsu.ColoState.EDU (USENET News) (02/16/91)

of bussiness). I am not sure how far the copy right law can go, may be they
try to avoid been tie to the sell of ROM by Apple.
 Their service might not be perfect, but not that bad compare to many company
that made software or hardware ( not only ST but also IBM, Mac ).
 I have no connection with them except I have been happy user of Mac emulator
ever since the Magic Sac to the GCR 3.0 at this moment. To me, they do not seems
to have much time in answering every question individually, ( yes, they did not
answer individually to most my question), but Mr. Small do answer quite a few
question on the newsgroup in  summary. (The SST is one example).
 Nothing personal. They have done a good job in produce a soild good product for
us, and the news letter they send has a lot of informations in it. And the update
has been very good. 
 Tang
 sytang@lamar.colostate.edu
From: sytang@lamar.ColoState.EDU (Shoou-yu tang)
Path: lamar!sytang

moses@hao.ucar.edu (Julie Moses) (02/17/91)

>    I really don't think so.  First of all the implementation is
>not really ST accessible.  Mainly because as so many other people
>have pointed out it uses the Motif/X Release 4 interface which is
>so large that you people would need 4 megs for just a good (complete)
>implementation.   And a 8Mhz 68000 running X is something I don't
>want to think about using.

>      Spectre GCR 299 + MAC ROMs 273 = ~600, another hundred I could get
>a Mac Classic at dealer cost.  And from what I here 273 is an excellent
>price for the ROMS.

Lets put some things aside:

1) I am as religious about my car, my favorite TV show and my Atari
   ST as is the next person.
2) Disregarding that GBS has taken customers away from ST software
   producers(granted there's not much), they do support their product
   well.
3) Their product is well designed, reliable, very compatible.

Lets see Gadgets offer one small favor to their potential customers -
two or three MAC ROM suppliers that they know have had the chips
in stock within the week. Right now people are suggesting this source
or that, stating that yes I bought some there 5 months ago. The
problem of finding MAC ROM chips is hitting the fan.

For a few hundred more bucks, a complete MAC system is looking very
appealing compared to buying a Spectre GCR for which one has to buy
MAC ROM chips at between $200-$300 a set. A blank ROM chip is  $3,
right? But first things first, give me a supplier so that choosing
between a Spectre GCR and a MAC is within the realm of possibilities!

Julie Moses