Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!usc!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!sol.ctr.columbia.edu!cunixf.cc.columbia.edu!cunixa.cc.columbia.edu!cmm1 From: cmm1@cunixa.cc.columbia.edu (Christopher M Mauritz) Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st Subject: Re: TT sold in Germany Message-ID: <1990Nov25.161636.13259@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu> Date: 25 Nov 90 16:16:36 GMT References: <1990Nov21.214357.12480@ns.network.com> Sender: news@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu (The Daily News) Organization: Columbia University Lines: 91 In article sarnila@tukki.jyu.fi (Pekka Sarnila) writes: > >TT 030 is now available to ordinary customers in Germany. The basic package >includes: > - CPU 32 MHz (not 16 Mhz as in the prereliese) Yawn....Can someone explain to me what this 32mhz figure is all about? The DRAM is far too slow to take advantage of it and I'm sure that Atari's custom chips can't keep up as well. Is it just hype? > - 4 Mb ram (all slow ST-ram) Expected... > - 68882 32 MHz is included Surprise! And a pleasant one at that. > - Hard disk ST157N-1 46,3 Mb 28 ms Ho hum.... > - VGA monitor A little wimpy IMHO. How about some REAL graphics? > - DEM 7298,- Reality check: that is US$4900 folks. You could buy a MacII ci system for that and have FAR better graphics capabilities (not to mention a HUGE software base). >FAST-ram can be upgraded to 26 Mb. How? Using 4 meg SIMMs? > >Other options: > - 110 Mb, 15 ms, 32Kb hard disk cashe (with 8 Mb memory DEM 8798,-) This is more like it. However, it will cost you an additional US$1,000. Is it worth it? Probably cheaper to upgrade yourself I suspect. > - 21" B/W monitor (1280x969) (with above DEM 11298,-) A little better, but at US$7550????? That could easily get you a Mac IIfx system or a SPARCstation SLC or a NeXT 68040 box, etc... >While price is higher then anticipated, the shift from 16 to 32 MHz, >2 to 4 Mb ram and 30 to 46 Mb hardisk is significant. While it may be "significant" to you that Atari is finally switching away from a 16mhz 68030, every other manufacturer has done so a LONG (in computer hardware terms) time ago. Sticking with the 16mhz version would have been a virtual guaranty for failure. 15mb extra of HD space is hardly significant. I suspect, anyone willing to pay THAT much for a PC will want more. >Still with 33MHz 386 PC prices coming down the price seems too high. Agreed. If Atari wants to cultivate the Power Without the Price buyers, then they will have to live up to that slogan. >It is about 4 to 10 times faster then ST. A lot of ST programs (the clean >ones) run as such (Calamus works fast and nice). Ah, but many of them aren't. There are still a lot of programs that break on a NORMAL ST when switching to TOS 1.2/1.4!!! >Next year the Unix version will have A32/D32 full size VME/Eurocard slot. Forgive me if I'm a little skeptical. I'll beleive it when I see it. >------------------------------------------------------------------- >Pekka Sarnila, University of Jyvaskyla Finland >sarnila@tukki.jyu.fi >------------------------------------------------------------------- Best regards, Chris ------------------------------+--------------------------- Chris Mauritz |D{r det finns en |l, finns cmm1@cunixa.cc.columbia.edu |det en plan! (c)All rights reserved. | Send flames to /dev/null | ------------------------------+---------------------------