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From: ekrimen@ecst.csuchico.edu (Ed Krimen)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st
Subject: Re: Upgrade Hell -- a myriad of choices
Message-ID: <1991Feb13.061232.4099@ecst.csuchico.edu>
Date: 13 Feb 91 06:12:32 GMT
References: <1991Feb12.170959.13472@rice.edu>
Sender: news@ecst.csuchico.edu (USENET)
Organization: California State University, Chico
Lines: 86

bdm@fabry.rice.edu (Brian D. Moore) writes:

-    It's getting closer to THAT time -- the dreaded need to upgrade. 
- I'll avoid the IHDQ (Inevitable Hard Drive Question) and focus on the
- Meat and Potatoes.
 
Sounds like fun -- upgrade time!!

-  So, being of weak skill (and will),

Sounds like me: weak skill. :^)

- I shall most definitely send the unit to someone more qualified.  
- And I shall go for the whole 4 megs.  (Boy, I never thought 1 Meg
- could be so small :-)) So that is not the contention.  However, there
- is no point in having the unit cracked open without getting some other
- perks, like TOS > 1.2 .

Sounds good.  Rainbow TOS is definitely a must-have.

- So, what's available.  Can I (or will I) be able to get TOS 1.60?
- 1.62? 2.00?

Not for a 520, 1040, or Mega.

- Any pratfalls (i.e., is there a bug-free 1.60 chip source)?
- And (gulp) how much is that going to cost?  Who does it?  Who does 
- it WELL?

You can.  Read on.

- Should I wait for TT (or does TT == Godot)?

I don't know what Godot is (someone send me e-mail), I think most 
people on this net believe it will arrive.  Hmmm, it's the middle of 
February.  Well, yes, we're still waiting, but it's coming (to the 
U.S. that is) so we can actually purchase them at a mythical local
dealer.

- Your thoughts, O Wise One.

All righty.  I say, and I think a few people on here can back me up 
on this, if you you're in the upgrade mood, you should sell your 
current ST, be it a 520 or 1040, and get an STe.  (If you have a Mega, 
you'll have to decide for yourself; or maybe someone here who's gone 
Mega --> 1040STe can help you out.)  STe's are going for around $599, 
if not less.  With SIMM prices relatively low ($40-50) you can have a 
four meg STe for less than a thousand.  Plus, you'd be getting TOS 1.6
(probably 1.62, but can't confirm -- anybody know if they're 
installing 1.62 yet?), blitter, stereo sound, 4096-color palette, 
hardware scrolling, and don't forget those wonderful 15-pin analog
joystick ports!

OK, now, the hot rumor going around is that by the end of the year, 
all STe's -- dunno if this includes MegaSTe's -- will have an 
AT-Speed installed in them.  Someone (Mark Blackstad?) on the Fidonet 
ST echo says that Atari is trying to get away from the 
non-IBM-compatible problem is going to remedy it this way.  He adds 
that he's going to wait until the end of the year to get his MegaSTe. 
:^)  I bought my STe in July.  I'm glad I bought it then because I've 
been able to enjoy it for half a year and it will keep pumping along. 
Having a faster CPU and detachable keyboard would be nice, so I'm 
looking towards a MegaSTe or TT, but will certainly wait until the 
smoke settles.  I bought my STe so soon, it had the hard drive 
problem, so that was kind of a pain.  I'd say now is the best time to 
get an STe.  The prices have gone down, which indicates it probably 
won't go down again anytime soon.  The MegaSTe and TT still seem to 
be at least a month away, and then give them a two or three months after 
that to settle in.

So, if you're dying for an upgrade, I recommend selling your ST and 
getting an STe.

-     Also, on a related note:  are there any plans to put NeoDesk 3 
- on cartridge ?  It seems SOMEBODY should be using that damn port, why
- not them?
 
I asked Dan Wilga about this last year and he said it would be too 
expensive and raise the cost of purchasing the program to somewhere 
over $100.  

-- 
         Ed Krimen  ...............................................
   |||   Video Production Major, California State University, Chico
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