Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!lll-winken!lll-tis!ames!mailrus!umix!umich!mibte!gamma!ulysses!thumper!faline!bellcore!tness7!petro!swrinde!ut-sally!utah-cs!utah-gr!uplherc!esunix!blgardne
From: blgardne@esunix.UUCP (Blaine Gardner)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Silly B2000 trivia
Message-ID: <784@esunix.UUCP>
Date: 4 Apr 88 05:59:46 GMT
Distribution: na
Organization: Evans & Sutherland Computer Corporation
Lines: 72
Keywords: 1.2a, stickers, ugly kludges

I've had my B2000 for a couple of months now (thanks for the Family
Computer Center tip, it only cost $1100, but it was a 10 week wait), so
here's a few trivial observations about the machine.

First off, there is a new Kickstart ROM in the later machines (1.2a ?).
Remember the five finger trick that produces a single finger salute?
Well the shift-shift-alt-alt-fkey-insert-a-disk gag no longer produces
the message "Amiga, we made it, they f**ked it up." Now it says "Still a
champion."

If you remember, the message when ejecting a disk was "Amiga,
born a champion.", this a clever way of covering up the original
message. If anyone goes to the trouble to see the hidden messages they
get "Amiga, born a champion. Still a champion." Almost sounds like it
was meant to be that way. I wonder how much it cost Commodore to change
the uncomplimentary message to something easier to swallow?

The sticker on the case has been changed. The "Amiga 2000" is very large
now, and the "C= Commodore" is very small. (Note to Dave Hayne here, a
Boing! with the background trimmed off covers the C= nicely. Thanks!)

The machine has a C= key instead of a Left-Amiga. BOO, HISS! If
Commodore will provide a part number for a Left-Amiga key, I know quite
a few people that want to order one.  No :-) here, I'm serious.
 
The fan sounded like a jet on takeoff. Since it's a skinny (3/4") 12VDC
fan, replacing it isn't easy. Radio Shack has one that fits nicely, but
is even louder than the stock fan. My solution was to mount a fan from a
surplus A1000 power supply on the outside of the case. This is the
quietest fan never heard by man, and the power supply was only $15. The
one gotcha is the 2000's power supply shuts down unless the 12V supply
for the stock fan is loaded. A resistor across the fan terminals keeps the
power supply going with the 110VAC fan from the 1000.

Also, there is this incredibly ugly blob on the mouse cable next to
the DB9 connector. It's about 0.5" in diameter and 1.5" long. White heat
shrink over something round and hard, with a cable tie on one end.
What the heck is this here for? Surge protection on the mouse??? 
Will anything break when I cut it off after my warranty expires?

Other nits: The clock was gaining about 7 minutes a week, I've tweaked
it down to about a minute a week, and it will get another tweak the next
time the case is open. I was going to set it up with a frequency
counter, but when the reference signal is 1 Hz, and the bottom end on
your freq counter is 5 Hz, there's not much you can do. (Is it possible
to use the oscillator frequency to setup the clock, instead of pin one
on the clock chip?)

Last (and worst), there were 2 pins on the joystick connector and 1 on the
mouse connector that weren't soldered to the motherboard. This was an easy
fix for me (Warranty? Didn't he mention Warranty a minute ago?), but it
would have been a trip to the shop for Joe Q. Public.

On the plus side, the keyboard is much better than the one on my 1000,
and the top of my monitor has become the new keyboard garage. The angle
of the 2000's keyboard with the feet retracted is identical to the angle
of the 1000's with the feet extended. Someone was thinking here.

In spite of the little problems, it's a great machine. I'm even getting
to like it's looks. I'd like it to look a little flashier, but I guess
this is the "respectable" look that busineses like. I'm going to have to
do something to dress it up when I finally get an A2620 in it. A friend
has suggested the perfect name for a 32 bit Amiga. 

		Amigo (This one's got BALLS!)

Well, I like it.

-- 
Blaine Gardner @ Evans & Sutherland    540 Arapeen Drive, SLC, Utah 84108
UUCP Addresses:  {ihnp4,ucbvax,allegra,decvax}!decwrl!esunix!blgardne
        	 ihnp4!utah-cs!esunix!blgardne        usna!esunix!blgardne
"Nobody will ever need more than 64K."    "Nobody needs multitasking on a PC."