daves@fs1.ee.ubc.ca (Dave Small) (03/23/91)
I'm in much the same situation as another recent poster: about to make the proverbial floppy to hard drive upgrade. I'd like to explain the reasoning behind what seems the best choice to me, and let people poke holes in it _before_ I make the purchase. I have an Amiga 2000, with 1Meg chip ram, two internal floppies + AMAS audio digitizer (if that's relevant). I've read over the ads in Amiga World advertising many and varied hard drive controllers (SCSI and IDE), but from all the trouble I hear on the net with people trying to get 3rd party SCSI controllers to cooperate with new OS releases, AMAX, etc., it seems to me that it might be better to just go with the official "guaranteed-to-be-supported" Commodore A2091 product. The prices are comparable, and I figure that before I need more than an extra 2meg of RAM (the A2091 capacity), I'll want a 68030 upgrade, necessitating faster 32-bit wide RAM, so having 8meg of 16-bit memory expandability on the SCSI controller card doesn't do much for me. After that is considered, my question is: what do the third party SCSI controllers have going for them? My perception from reading the net is that they're not any faster than the A2091, as the hard drive itself is the limiting factor... what gives? Is it that mail order houses are forbidden from advertising Commodore hardware, supplying an advertising niche for these third party manufacturers? Please let me know of any flaws in my reasoning! Much appreciated, Dave Small; EE Dept, UBC; 2356 Main Mall; Vancouver, BC; V6T 1Z4 Canada daves@ee.ubc.ca FAX(604)228-5949
DXB132@psuvm.psu.edu (03/23/91)
In article <1574@fs1.ee.ubc.ca>, daves@fs1.ee.ubc.ca (Dave Small) says: >releases, AMAX, etc., it seems to me that it might be better to just go with >the official "guaranteed-to-be-supported" Commodore A2091 product. The prices As a 2090 owner, I can say it isn't always so. Remember that peripherals like HD controllers are just a sideline for Commodore. I'm planning to get a GVP series II when I can afford it. It's a technically superior product, and I don't worry about the support. -- Dan Babcock
rbabel@babylon.rmt.sub.org (Ralph Babel) (03/23/91)
In article <1574@fs1.ee.ubc.ca>, daves@fs1.ee.ubc.ca (Dave Small) writes: > but from all the trouble I hear on the net with people > trying to get 3rd party SCSI controllers to cooperate with > new OS releases, Mostly pirated OS versions that have not yet been released? GVP's boards work fine under 2.0, even on the A3000. > AMAX, GVP also provide drivers for A-Max II. > etc., What's "etc."? > it seems to me that it might be better to just go with the > official "guaranteed-to-be-supported" Commodore A2091 > product. What about the official "guaranteed-to-be-supported" A2090? :-| > what do the third party SCSI controllers have going for > them? Disconnect; removable-media support even under 1.3 FFS; wider range of peripherals supported (V3.10 and later revisions even support this !@#$%^&* Adaptec ACB-4000 SCSI controller); DMA to on-board RAM not tying up the Zorro bus. Ralph
kwidener@darkstar.UUCP (Kyle Widener) (03/28/91)
I agree with your thoughts on the 2091 and have had one for a year now and
love it. I have some insight into the dealer's point of view that may help
your understanding of why most of the mail-order houses don't carry the 2091:
CBM requires either an open order contract where you have to have $25000 on
deposit with them, or a minimum order of $2500 dealer cost. If you don't deal
a large volume of CBM hardware and don't have that kind of cash to invest, or
if you can't get rated as a dealer by Commodore then you have to order in
$2500 lots. This is very inpractical for a mail order house. They have to turn
around their orders fast to stay in the running and it's so much simpler for
them to order from smaller third party places with lower requirements.
I think the 2091 is a good card and CBM just droped the price again
(saw it in a message somewhere). Go for it!
from Kyle Widener aka "Spacer" Shreveport, LA
Call DarkStar BBS at 318-933-8601 for the latest in Amiga messages & UD.