murphyd@ecst.csuchico.edu (David L. Murphy) (06/06/91)
I have seen many posts here ragging on CDTV, and some of these seem to
be by people who have never seen/used/read anything about the unit. I
do not own one but have used one and read most the articles written about
the unit.
CDTV freatures:
* 8 x oversampling (NOT 4 like some think)
* 512k ROM
* 1 meg RAM
* All standard amiga ports
* MIDI ports
* S-video jack
* RF out (for easy connection to TV)
* Color composite out (Much better than the A1000)
* Keyboard port (Not pin compatible with A2000 but converter is available
check with your dealer)
* Runs all software an A500 runs with a external floppy drive
* CD drive boots multiple formats (ex. Music CD, CD+G, CDTV)
* CD drive supports mixed formats
* Audio CD can be played while playing Amiga games (I played "Wings" and
listened to "Top Gun" CD at the same time)
* Personal memory cards can be used to store information.
Third party
* ICD hard drive support (20 meg internal)
* Tiny Tiger hard drive work fine. (have seen it work)
* A2000 keyboard converter
Rummors (Things I have heard but can not garentee to be fact)
* There is a expansion port behind the little plate in the back that will
be used like the A500 expansion bus.
*
NOTE - This is by no way a complete list of CDTV features but it does
represent some of the ones I remember off the top of my head.
I feel CDTV has a lot going for it. Commodore is doing the right thing by
testing the markets, and not allowing Computer shops to represent the unit
as a computer. There are so many people out there that are afraid of
computers, and CDTV is the only real choice they will have. I had a
business for two years and I dealt with these people who computer store
dumped IBM, Macs, CPM, etc machines on and these people had on idea of
how to use it. CDTV presents a gradual working into the computer appoarch
most people who buy the unit will never know that there is an Amiga inside
and I feel it is better that they don't.
Do not sell CDTV for what it is, but sell it for what it can do. Consider
the price of an Encyclopedia set about $700-$800 is what I paided long
ago. With CDTV you can get the unit for $749 (ed price) and for about $70
you can get the electronic Encyclopedia put out by CDTV publishing.
Anyways before you kiss CDTV off as a dead product give it some time.
Commodore hasn't even started mass marketing it yet. If they were to
advertise CDTV now they would do more harm than good. I feel that they
should have waited longer, and had more software ready on CD. The public
is only going to take one look at CDTV, so when you present it too them
you have to have a solid product, with software to back it. When I bought
my A1000 way back in Oct 1985 there was ZERO software and a lot of other
people said the Amiga was dead then. If Commodore would have waited back
then I think more people would have bought Amigas, hopefully they have
learned from this and other mistakes, and CDTV will enjoy the sucess
it deserves.
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/// __ __ __ __ | \\\
/// /\ __|| || || | | David L. Murphy \\\
\\\ /// /--\miga |__ |__||__||__| | murphyd@csuchico.edu \\\ ///
\\\// | murphyd@cscihp.UUCP \\///bj@cbmvax.commodore.com (Brian Jackson) (06/06/91)
In article <1991Jun05.211508.22457@ecst.csuchico.edu> murphyd@ecst.csuchico.edu (David L. Murphy) writes: >I have seen many posts here ragging on CDTV, and some of these seem to >be by people who have never seen/used/read anything about the unit. Really. Also, given that the CDTV unit is neither an Amiga (not really) nor a computer, why are we all wading through this CDTV stuff in comp.sys.amiga.xxx ?? Surely if there is this much desire to talk about it, it deserves it's own place on the net (and the 'comp' newsgroups is not where that place would be.) Brian ----------------------------------------------------------------------- / Brian Jackson Software Engineer, Commodore-Amiga Inc. GEnie: B.J. \ \ bj@cbmvax.cbm.commodore.com or ...{uunet|rutgers}!cbmvax!bj / / "Anyone considering the purchase of a high-end Macintosh or IBM- \ \ compatible computer should try an Amiga 3000 for a few hours before / / making the final decision." - Consumer Reports ('91 Buying Guide) \ -------------------------------------------------------------------------
rblewitt@sdcc6.ucsd.edu (Richard Blewitt) (06/07/91)
In article <22196@cbmvax.commodore.com> bj@cbmvax.commodore.com (Brian Jackson) writes: >In article <1991Jun05.211508.22457@ecst.csuchico.edu> murphyd@ecst.csuchico.edu (David L. Murphy) writes: >>I have seen many posts here ragging on CDTV, and some of these seem to >>be by people who have never seen/used/read anything about the unit. >Also, given that the CDTV unit is neither an Amiga (not really) nor a >computer, why are we all wading through this CDTV stuff in >comp.sys.amiga.xxx ?? Surely if there is this much desire to talk >about it, it deserves it's own place on the net (and the 'comp' >newsgroups is not where that place would be.) So what are you suggesting? CDTV affects the amiga community, and as such belongs here more than anyplace else. Of course you could create an alt.sys.cdtv, or perhaps a rec.cdtv group that would solve the problem Rick _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________.sig____________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ The generic .sig Rick Blewitt rblewitt@ucsd.edu
mykes@amiga0.SF-Bay.ORG (Mike Schwartz) (06/07/91)
In article <1991Jun05.211508.22457@ecst.csuchico.edu> murphyd@ecst.csuchico.edu (David L. Murphy) writes: >I have seen many posts here ragging on CDTV, and some of these seem to >be by people who have never seen/used/read anything about the unit. I >do not own one but have used one and read most the articles written about >the unit. > I'm not ragging on CDTV, just clarifying some points: >CDTV freatures: > * 8 x oversampling (NOT 4 like some think) It is 4x > * 512k ROM > * 1 meg RAM 800K after the OS is running > * All standard amiga ports Many non-standard amiga ports. No DB9 mouse/joystick inputs, no standard keyboard input, no standard bus pass-through (can't use A500 peripherals). > * MIDI ports > * S-video jack > * RF out (for easy connection to TV) > * Color composite out (Much better than the A1000) > * Keyboard port (Not pin compatible with A2000 but converter is available > check with your dealer) > * Runs all software an A500 runs with a external floppy drive > * CD drive boots multiple formats (ex. Music CD, CD+G, CDTV) > * CD drive supports mixed formats > * Audio CD can be played while playing Amiga games (I played "Wings" and > listened to "Top Gun" CD at the same time) > * Personal memory cards can be used to store information. I'm not sure if these are actually available or supported by any software. > Add to features: * Allows Amiga audio and CD Audio to be mixed (I played CSN CD and SpeachToy at the same time). * Reads ISO standard format CD ROM Add to negatives: * Two player games are not as possible, since it can only read one remote controller Possible other use for CDTV: * Chilton manuals (for Auto Repairs) * Network CD-ROM server (share those dictionaries etc.) * Review of every movie ever made -- **************************************************** * I want games that look like Shadow of the Beast * * but play like Leisure Suit Larry. * ****************************************************