Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!mnetor!seismo!think!husc6!h-sc4!hadeishi From: hadeishi@h-sc4.harvard.edu (mitsuharu hadeishi) Newsgroups: net.micro.amiga Subject: Re: Ultimate Computers Message-ID: <235@husc6.HARVARD.EDU> Date: Mon, 22-Sep-86 15:58:52 EDT Article-I.D.: husc6.235 Posted: Mon Sep 22 15:58:52 1986 Date-Received: Mon, 22-Sep-86 21:25:17 EDT References: <1757@well.UUCP> <251@plx.UUCP> <180@zen.BERKELEY.EDU> Sender: news@husc6.HARVARD.EDU Reply-To: hadeishi@h-sc4.UUCP (tom corcoran) Organization: Harvard Science Center Lines: 129 Summary: Review of //GS Someone requested a review-comparison of the //GS and the Amiga. I've read the press release from Apple about the //GS so this is pretty reliable information, but it's all coming from memory. The //GS has a 65C816 microprocessor (designed by Western Digital). This is an internal 16-bit microprocessor with an 8-bit data path. The processor is a bit of a kludge, and it includes "mode bits" to switch between 8- and 16-bit modes. The //GS implements a 16 megabyte address space, and runs the 65C816 at a speed of 2.8 Mhz, about three times that of a regular //e. The 65C816 is code compatible with the 65C02. Apple says about 90% of //e software will run unaltered on a //GS. The //GS comes with 256K RAM standard, expandable to 1 Meg without using up slots, and up to 1 Meg per slot, for a maximum of 8 Meg RAM. The //GS supports all //e graphics modes, and adds two extra high-quality RGB modes: 320x200 in 16 colors per scan line and 640x200 in "4-16 colors per scan line." I suspect the latter really means "4 colors per scan line unless you use some weird tricks," since another press release simply says "4 colors per scan line" in that mode, but I don't know for sure. This means that the graphics modes are comparable to a color Atari ST, and are much less flexible than the Amiga graphics modes (for those of you who don't know, that's 320x200 and 320x400 in 32 colors, 640x200 and 640x400 in 16 colors, and you can change palettes and modes after any scan line, right in the middle of the screen. The Amiga also supports a 6-bit plane mode that can do a VERY good job of simulating 12 bit planes at 320x200 and 320x400 resolutions, producing near-broadcast-quality color images. If you've seen the latest version of the Digi-View software, you know what I mean; the latest version uses image processing techniques to eliminate the ragged edges that sometimes crop up in this mode. This mode is called HAM mode, and supports 4,096 colors on-screen at once. This mode has no counterpart on the //GS or ST.) Both the Amiga and the //GS use a color palette of 4,096 colors but the //GS is restricted to 512 colors on the screen at any given time (in addition to the scan line restrictions). I should point out that these modes could be easily achieved on a stock Amiga 1000 (using raster interrupts), and the Amiga graphics are significantly faster due to the existence of a hardware graphics chip (blitter) and a 16/32 bit microprocessor running at 7.1 Mhz. In sound is where the //GS excels. It has an Ensoniq sound chip, which is a full 16-bit digital sampling synthesizer, and it supports both playback and record at high speed (the sample rate was not mentioned in the press release). The chip has 64K of dedicated memory (this is a very small amount of memory, however, for 16-bit samples; approximately 1 second of high-speed (CD quality) 16-bit sound could be recorded in 64K of memory.) The chip has 32 oscillators and is capable of producing 15 simultaneous voices. I do not know if the chip is capable of addressing ore than 64K of memory; one would hope so, since 64K is a VERY small amount of memory to work with if you are doing digitally sampled sound. The Amiga has a custom sound sampler which is capable of playing 8-bit samples at a rate of up to 24 KHz, in up to four voices with separate 6-bit volume controls (producing a pseudo-14-bit maximum resolution in each voice.) This is not nearly as good as the Ensoniq chip, but the Amiga sound chips have 512K address space, and are approximately equivalent to some of the cheaper sampling synthesizers on the market (the Emulator, for example, is also an 8-bit sampler). I've heard samples played on the Amiga and it sounds surprisingly good for sounds that do not have a large number of high-frequency harmonics; presumably the Ensoniq chip can handle high harmonics much better (but limited to 64K RAM?) The Amiga sound is good for hobbyists, and the Ensoniq is near-professional-quality. Here the //GS is clearly the leader. The //GS comes with 128K of ROM expandable to 1 Meg, including a version of QuickDraw sometimes referred to as QuickDraw II. This should make writing graphics programs much easier before. I do not know if QuickDraw II supports the older graphics modes; I suspect it is limited (rightly so) to the new graphics modes. There are various small points; the //GS has a new thing called the "Apple Desktop Bus" which allows you to daisychain input peripherals, up to 16 devices I believe, which hang off of the same connector. The keyboard and mouse are connected to this bus, although the mouse must always be at the end of the daisychain. This allows lightpens, graphics tablets, et cetera to all be connected simultaneously in a clean fashion to the computer. The Amiga has two mouse/joystick ports, and as far as I've seen graphics tablets tend to be daisychained off of the parallel port. Lightpens may be connected to the Amiga's mouse ports as well. But now for the weird news: a color //GS system will cost MORE THAN A Mac 512E!!! Yes, the 256K box plus RGB monitor plus one 3 1/2" disk drive will retail for $1900!! This is as compared to the retail of $2000 for a similar Amiga configuration and a street price of $1300 for that same configuration (with 512K RAM). There is no way you are going to get the //GS for less than $1500 for that configuration, which means the //GS will ALSO cost MORE THAN AN AMIGA. The Amiga, however, has more flexible graphics modes, a MUCH faster processor, a MUCH more sophisticated multitasking windowing operating system, and MUCH faster animated graphics. The //GS has compatibility as its main selling point, and that may be a pretty big selling point to some people. The unbundled prices are as follows: //GS system unit with 256K is $1000, composite color is $300, RGB analog color is $500, 3 1/2" 800K disk drive is $400, 5 1/4" 140K disk drive is $300. And again, the retail for a Mac 512E is now $1700. Curiouser and curiouser . . . ? Or is it . . . ? I thought about this strange high price for awhile before I remembered that there is another, much more interesting, product at the moment, also released by Apple: The //e GS UPGRADE CARD. This card is a mere $500, and with it you get 3X speed improvement, RGB colors, fantastic sound, and 256K RAM. There are 2 million or so //e owners out there, and I suspect a large fraction of those will choose to buy the upgrade. There are several good things about this, for everybody: first of all the software developers will be encouraged to develop for the machine because so many people will have //GS compatible machines. Users are happy because at the LEAST they get a 3X speed improvement (and even Appleworks users will find that useful, and though you can get acceleration elsewhere, getting all that extra capability to boot might convince them to buy this card with the excuse that it speeds up Appleworks.) At the MOST they get a whole new world of color computing (and Apple is supporting a new Mac-like user interface called "Human Interface" or something like that) and whiz-bang color software. Amiga owners and developers would benefit at least to some degree because more attention would be focussed on the whole realm of new color computers, and comparisons between machines would start to fly, meaning the Amiga will get more attention, since it is clear the //GS is being positioned to compete with the ST and the Amiga. The Amiga might well sell MORE machines as a result, and Apple still has the vast market for its //GS upgrade cards and supporting hardware (RGB monitors, 3 1/2" disk drives) and software. So perhaps everyone can win (and IBM can lose, yay!) -Mitsu (hadeishi@h-sc4.UUCP)