Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!yale!root From: root@yale.UUCP (Root Of All Evil) Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st Subject: Re: Buying an ST in Europe for US - should I? Message-ID: <70411@yale-celray.yale.UUCP> Date: 23 Aug 89 15:24:55 GMT References: <959@pedsga.UUCP> <11490@yendor.phx.mcd.mot.com> Reply-To: fischer-michael@CS.YALE.EDU (Michael Fischer) Organization: Yale University Computer Science Dept, New Haven CT 06520-2158 Lines: 43 In article <11490@yendor.phx.mcd.mot.com> stefan@yendor.UUCP (0000-Admin) writes: >In article <959@pedsga.UUCP> mikes@pedsga.UUCP (Mike Shulman,SPCSYS,7586) writes: >>I've heard that ST's are MUCH cheaper in Germany then in US. Is that > >Don't know about that, maybe. > >>true? If it is, would it take much to get a German-made ST to work in US? >>Would it simply involve moving some jumper on the mother board from 50 >>to 60 Hz? What about the monitor (color and mono)? I presume all the docs >>will be in German, but I guess I could photocopy them from somebody here >>in US. What about OS prompts, error messages, etc. Will they all be in >>German as well? Can that be changed? > >Don't worry about hertz -> they don't count. Docu, system prompts and so >on will be (partially as far as I remember) in German, but it shouldn't >be to difficult to understand them. You always can ask somebody on the >net (me, for example, I'm German ). > >> Is there anything else I am missing? Does anybody know what's the You should also be aware that the German TOS and keyboards are different. The German keyboard has an extra key at the left end of the bottom row that is not present on U.S. machines, the letters "y" and "z" are interchanged, and many of the special characters are in different positions. Also, the desktop's menus, error messages, etc. are in German. It is possible (with appropriate software) to redefine the keyboard translation tables so that the keyboard works more or less like the US keyboard, but then the keycaps will be wrong. Alternatively, you can replace the ROMs with US ROMs and then it should work exactly like the US machine (ignoring the extra key), but the keycaps will still be wrong. Another possible hitch is the FCC regulations on RF emissions. I don't know if the German ST's have the same shielding as the US machines and whether they meet the FCC requirements. If not, it's conceivable you could have trouble bringing it into this country. ================================================== | Michael Fischer | | Arpanet: | | Bitnet: | | UUCP: | ==================================================