Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!think.com!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!unix.cis.pitt.edu!dsinc!bagate!cbmvax!daveh From: daveh@cbmvax.commodore.com (Dave Haynie) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.misc Subject: Re: 8520 (was: Re: Revised Amiga line) Message-ID: <22037@cbmvax.commodore.com> Date: 30 May 91 08:14:16 GMT References: <4822@orbit.cts.com> <21457@cbmvax.commodore.com> Reply-To: daveh@cbmvax.commodore.com (Dave Haynie) Organization: Commodore, West Chester, PA Lines: 31 In article horneff@ikki.informatik.rwth-aachen.de (Martin Horneffer) writes: >daveh@cbmvax.commodore.com (Dave Haynie) writes: >>8520s, for example, have been made practically forever. The 6526 used on the >>C64 is practically the same chip. So they're as cheap as sand, and while ^^^^^^^^^^^^^ > They are WHAT??? > So, why do I always have to pay a fortune (about $60) to get one? >Or is this problem specific for Germany? Commodore always charges annoying amounts for replacement parts. The main reason seems to be to prevent clone makers from using the parts in competing hardware. Not that anyone's making Amiga clones, but there were a number of 1541 (C64 floppy drive) clones. Nothing C= could do about this, since the 1541 was made from off the shelf or easy to duplicate parts, except for the actual ROM code. When the 1571 and 1581 hit the market, though, they were more difficult to clone, since they used a hardware serial port rather than a software driven one. The 6522 chips used in the 1541 had such a port, but it didn't work without some heavy external ju-ju applied. The 6526, on the other hand, worked just dandy, but is a C= only part (GTE and Rockwell, probably other too, second source the 6522). However, at the right price, the 6526 (or 8520, which is the same for 1571 cloning purposes), such clones would be practical for a low overhead garage shop. Anyway, that's the theory behind the cost of replacement parts. -- Dave Haynie Commodore-Amiga (Amiga 3000) "The Crew That Never Rests" {uunet|pyramid|rutgers}!cbmvax!daveh PLINK: hazy BIX: hazy "This is my mistake. Let me make it good." -R.E.M.