Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!mnetor!seismo!caip!cbmvax!grr From: grr@cbmvax.cbm.UUCP (George Robbins) Newsgroups: net.micro.amiga Subject: Re: Sidecar Message-ID: <718@cbmvax.cbmvax.cbm.UUCP> Date: Wed, 10-Sep-86 04:31:04 EDT Article-I.D.: cbmvax.718 Posted: Wed Sep 10 04:31:04 1986 Date-Received: Thu, 11-Sep-86 06:03:23 EDT References: <5242@decwrl.DEC.COM> Reply-To: grr@cbmvax.UUCP (George Robbins) Organization: Commodore Technology, West Chester, PA Lines: 41 In article <5242@decwrl.DEC.COM> banks@viking.dec.com (Dawn Banks) writes: > >So, youse guys at Commodore Amiga, what's the deal? Are we in the Amiga >business, or the PC clone business. The Sidecar is a neat hack, but if you >were serious about selling PC alternatives (like Amigas), you'd be introducing >products that make the Amiga a nicer machine to work on, rather than making >it a front end for yor competitor's architecture. In the mean time, the only >reasonable hard disk alternatives we've seen cost as much or more than the >Amiga does in the first place. It wouldn't be so bad if that were the going >rate for hard disks, but from what I've seen on the market, it's highway >robbery. > >(UUCP) {decvax, ucbvax, allegra}!decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-Viking!Banks If you look at the organization of the Sidecar, it is a PC that interfaces to the Amiga via a dual-port RAM. This addresses the dissapointing performance of the Transformer software, and provides 'MS DOS in a an Amiga window' with considerable software transparency. Having the 5.25 floppy controlled by the 8088 thru a NEC disk controller avoids 99% of the copy protection problems the would be encountered trying to emulate a drive. Now it just happens that the provided software allows Amiga to access a partition of the Hard Drive on the PC side of things, as if it were a native Amiga disk. There are other resource sharing options, but I'm not 100% up on them. So is the Sidecar what you want? If you don't give a fig for PC compatiblity, then perhaps not. If you want a hard disk, and don't mind the rest, perhaps yes. Why no cheap 'Amiga Hard Disk' from Commodore/Amiga? Good question. C/A has opened the doors for third parties on things like memory expansion, expansion boxes and disks. Hopefully, a lot of the products we've all heard about will arrive for Christmas? ad on the PC side/MS DOS hard drive. at -- George Robbins - now working with, uucp: {ihnp4|seismo|caip}!cbmvax!grr but no way officially representing arpa: cbmvax!grr@seismo.css.GOV Commodore, Engineering Department fone: 215-431-9255 (only by moonlite)