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From: rick@tetrauk.UUCP (Rick Jones)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st,comp.sys.amiga.misc
Subject: advice please - Atari-ST or Amiga
Message-ID: <1084@tetrauk.UUCP>
Date: 4 Feb 91 17:52:52 GMT
Article-I.D.: tetrauk.1084
Reply-To: rick@tetrauk.UUCP (Rick Jones)
Organization: Tetra Ltd., Maidenhead, UK
Lines: 72

I suspect this could be a religious issue for some people, but as an agnostic
on the subject I'm just looking for a bit of objective advice.

I'm planning to buy a system for home use, on a small budget, and the Amiga and
Atari systems look pretty much comparable to me.  What I'd like to hear are any
more subtle insights into which (possibly neither!) is more likely to suit me
better, especially in the long run.

Just so you know what level to pitch at, I'm a professional software engineer
and systems programmer, working on Unix on anything from 386 top-end PC's
upwards.  The home machine is going to be used mostly by my family (I like to
take a break from the things when I get home :-).  If I had the budget I'd get
a nice 386 Compaq with plenty hard-disk or similar, but I haven't - sigh.


Likely uses:

Games playing, mostly by the children
WP, my wife and myself a bit (I'd probably be happier with a vi clone!)
Household accounts
By my wife (an accountant) to handle client accounts
	this is fairly small-scale, and I'd anticipate adding hard disk, etc
    (I'd probably want to write s/w, or adapt PD stuff for these last two)
By children to learn programming, and "real" computing
Datacomms - remote login to the office, etc. (even Usenet!)


Things I'd like to know about:

What you REALLY get for the price with the cheapest model - any "optional
extras" that you can't really live without.
Relative costs of upgrading RAM, adding disks (floppy and hard), printer and
comms interfaces.
Limits to such upgrades (max RAM, max MB disk, etc)
Video quality a) via TV modulator, b) using monitor.
Costs of monitors, including availability of 3rd party monitors.

What's the standard OS, and how useful (and easy to use) is it?
What alternatives are available (both commercial and PD)
Availability of software - games, packages, programming languages
		(interpreters & compilers), teaching aids, etc.
General quality and relative prices of such.

Any significant performance comparisons.
Anything you think is significant that I haven't mentioned.
Why I shouldn't get either and get something else :-)


I'd like to be able to start small but have the option to expand if I feel it's
justified, so the point at which the cheapest machine becomes a dead-end is
important.  I know the Amiga comes in various models, but I'm not clear what
upgrade there is, if any, between them.

I'd also appreciate any advice on low-cost letter-quality (even graphics)
printers that would be suitable.  I have very little experience at this end of
the market.

Please bear in mind I live in England, so any super bargain deals available in
the US aren't going to help me much!  And from anyone in the UK, comments on
the chances with either system of getting a good second-hand deal would be
welcome (from a quick scan of the newsgroups, I suspect the Atari has the edge
here - presumably as it's been around longer).


Please respond by e-mail, as I don't generally follow these newsgroups.

Thanks in advance
-- 
Rick Jones
Tetra Ltd.  Maidenhead, 	Was it something important?  Maybe not
Berks, UK			What was it you wanted?  Tell me again I forgot
rick@tetrauk.uucp					-- Bob Dylan