Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!umich!yale!think!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!usc!rutgers!columbia!cunixc!cunixb.cc.columbia.edu!es1
From: es1@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu (Ethan Solomita)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.hardware
Subject: Re: Questions from an Outsider
Message-ID: <2801@cunixc.cc.columbia.edu>
Date: 4 Feb 90 07:45:23 GMT
References: <945@mtk.UUCP>
Sender: news@cunixc.cc.columbia.edu
Reply-To: es1@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu (Ethan Solomita)
Distribution: usa
Organization: Columbia University
Lines: 53

I'll answer what I can:

In article <945@mtk.UUCP> marmar@mtk.UUCP (Mark Martino) writes:
>I've been trying to find out more about the Amiga in a casual way.  I
>haven't been to a dealer yet, but the ones I talked to on the phone
>didn't help much.  (so what else is new?)  Anyway, here's what I want to
>know:
>
>2)	How much do these suckers cost anyway?  Even Apple has the nerve to
>put their high prices in their ads.  I haven't seen any prices on Amigas
>in any of the local newspapers and computer rags.  Why do Amiga dealers
>do this?   It's one of their biggest selling points?

	There has been a lot of changes in how authorized dealers are
allowed to advertise. I believe the dealers who sell mail-order are
not allowed to advertise prices. Although Amiga prices are higher than
clones they are significantly less than anything Macintosh offers!

>3)	Which model would I need to get into desktop publishing? video?
>CD-ROM production? animation, but not video?

	Obviously the more money you have the better you can do. You
can do that with an A500 if you really wanted to. I'd recommend the
2000HD as the base machine. If you can, get a 2500/30. You should be
aware the animation is probably the worst memory hog and 1 MB will
never do for anything serious. The 2000HD comes with 1MB and 40MB hard
drive, but the 2500/20 and /30 are 3MB.

>5)	How reliable are Amigas compared to IBM PC's? Macs? clones?

	The Amigas will probably crash more than PCs, probably about
as often as Macs. If you meant how sturdy they are, let me put it to
you this way. I have a 2500 with several cards including two hard
drives. My Amiga went sailing off a trunk which came to a sudden stop.
Flying at high velocities it fell about 3-4 feet. Nothing even came
loose. Just plugged it in and no problems.
	Some programs are worse than others. Although there are a lot
of great PD programs out there, you never know how they interact with
other programs and whether they'll crash you. Of course, that's not to
say that you won't get screwed with commercial progs. If you have a
specific piece of software in mind, ask here and I'm sure you'll get a
response.

>6)	 What printers are available for the Amiga?  Any color ink jet or
>color laser?

	What printers are available for the IBM? Amiga's not like
Apple. You don't have to buy Commodore printers, not that there are
any worth buying. Almost every standard printer should be fine. You
set in preferences what printer you are using. DeskJet, LaserJet,
ColorJet, Epson, ...

	-- Ethan