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From: ali@navajo.UUCP
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st
Subject: Re: r.e. Simons comments of 20 Feb '87...
Message-ID: <1403@navajo.STANFORD.EDU>
Date: Sun, 22-Feb-87 13:21:48 EST
Article-I.D.: navajo.1403
Posted: Sun Feb 22 13:21:48 1987
Date-Received: Mon, 23-Feb-87 05:46:57 EST
References: <8702220708.AA17612@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU>
Reply-To: ali@navajo.UUCP (Ali Ozer)
Organization: Stanford University
Lines: 35

In article <8702220708.AA17612@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU> Scott Udell writes:
>For the most part, I'm in agreement with Simon...  I can't comment on any
>possible effects the new Amigas  might have on Atari (this was the first time
>I'd ever even heard of the A500--I'm kind of out in the computer booneys...
A500 and A2000 are two new Amigas. Commodore hasn't announced them yet, don't
worry about not hearing about them. They were "rumor" until recently, but
not anymore. Some magazines just published articles about the A2000 --- The
March Byte, for instance, has a pretty long article about it. Both the A500
and A2000 are Amiga 1000 (the current Amiga) compatible, except the A500
is $600, and is a repackaged version, minus some parts but more memory,
and the A2000 is a highly open version with many expansion slots. But both
the A500 and the A2000 come with the same OS and same set of blitter chips
and 8.5 Meg memory expansion capability of the current Amiga.
The A2000 has provisions for hooking up 8088/8087 and 68020/68881
boards, and comes with 1 Meg RAM. With the 8088/8087 (or also, I think,
80286/80287) the A2000 becomes 100% IBM compatible (just like the current 
Amiga with the Sidecar expansion). Commodore will also make available a 
high-persistance monitor with the machine. Please read the Byte article
if interested; I don't know much more about these machines and haven't read
the article yet...

>Wouldn't it be great if Atari started an major tradein/upgrade policy?
>Take for instance Apple and the Apple II--I hear that you will be able to
>upgrade an Apple II+ to an Apple IIGS with a board upgrade that,  while still
>expensive, isn't the price of a new GS.  
There is a letter in Feb 10 issue of a Bay Area magazine called Computer
Currents. The letter is from an Apple IIe owner who is terribly excited about
hearing about this tradein for the IIGS. So he asks his dealer, asks Apple,
and comes up with a $1625 (+ tax) price tag for upgrading his Apple II into
a IIGS. That is almost the price of a new IIGS! Anyway, the story has a happy
ending. He gives his Apple IIe to his son, and buys an Amiga system instead,
which leaves with several hundred dollars and a much superior machine than the
IIGS.

Ali Ozer, ali@navajo.stanford.edu