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From: jkh@MEEPMEEP.PCS.COM (Jordan K. Hubbard)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.hardware
Subject: Is the A3000 Really Worth Buying? An honest question.
Message-ID: <m0jcgo3-0003IVC@meepmeep.pcs.com>
Date: 13 May 91 17:35:24 GMT
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X-Unparsable-Date: Mon, 13 May 91 19:35 MSZ

First off, let me stave off the bad initial impression that subject
line is going to make by saying that this is NOT another Advocacy
article creaping into c.s.a.h, or an ANTI-Amiga flame (I have a hot-rodded
A500 that I'm very very happy with). I just wanted to clear up a few
points to my own satisfaction.

First off, to quote off the top of my head (meaning some of this may
be wrong and should be taken with a pinch of salt):


1. The A3000 comes (typically) with a 25Mhz 68030, 2MB Agnus (+PAL/NTSC),
   Enhanced Denise, 32 bit wide memory controller and built-in SCSI
   interface, to quote some of its major features.
   It provides several expansion slots, and has some internal room for 2
   additional drives.  2.0 and 1.3 are options. Amiga UX comes extra.
   Typical pricing is ~2.5K US Dollars in the U.S., though substantially
   higher (around DM7000 minimum) in Europe.

2. The A2000 comes with a 7Mhz 68000, 1MB Agnus (newer models) and normal
   Denise.  No special memory burst mode features, no clever 1.3/2.0 boot
   options.  Provides more slots than A3000 and is currently compatable
   with the video toaster and several other peripherals who's A3000
   compatability is currently in doubt (note: I'm not saying that things
   will stay that way; they can't.  But it's a current "feature" of the A2000
   that should be mentioned, to be fair).  Amiga UX is not yet announced.
   Typical pricing is DM1700 in Europe, unknown pricing in U.S
   (though with all the used ones flooding the market, it can't be much).

Now if we look at the cost of a 68030 upgrade (which have become much more
aggressively priced, thanks to the A3000) + Enhanced Denise + 2.0 ROMS
(which will probably be installed on a switcher board with the original 1.3
ROMS, by most folks) + SCSI Controller + Flicker fixer, you're probably
looking at another DM3000, at conservative estimate.  This brings the total
price up to around DM5000 (again, rounding up conservatively).  This is pretty
competitive, considering that the only feature you're really missing
out on is the special memory controller.  This will be offset somewhat, for
some people, by a 68000 fallback mode for unruly programs and additional
expansion capabilities.  Relative importance is hard to judge, but
I would think that it would be far easier to put up with a slower
memory bus than it would be to deal with an software failure rate of
as little as 10%, especially if one of the failing programs was
a former workhorse for you.

So, assuming that one has a couple of months more to wait for 2.0 and
ECS chips to become available for the A2000, can you really tell me
where the the major win lies in getting an A3000?  This goes double
in Europe, where prices are still rather hallucinogenic.

Again - please no flames, this isn't a "Oh Gee, Commodore has really
screwed us now" polemic on the merits of the A2000/A3000, this genuine
bewilderment about where my money is best spent.

!					Jordan

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