Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!ukma!phoenix
From: phoenix@ms.uky.edu (R'ykandar Korra'ti)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: IBM vs AMIGA cost
Message-ID: <14520@s.ms.uky.edu>
Date: 10 Mar 90 15:44:24 GMT
References: <5527@ur-cc.UUCP> <4251@vaxwaller.UUCP> <4422@jhunix.HCF.JHU.EDU> <4254@vaxwaller.UUCP>
Reply-To: phoenix@ms.uky.edu (R'ykandar Korra'ti)
Organization: El'n'tk National Spaceport, Mission Control
Lines: 69

[More "PC Clones" vs. Amiga junk. Hit 'n' now or forever hold your flames...]


In article <4254@vaxwaller.UUCP> richc@vaxwaller.UUCP (Rich Commins) writes:
>No I'm comparing this to my AMIGA 1000.
>	Four years ago AMIGA		Today IBM
>	--------------------		---------
>	Four years ago a dollar was worth more!
     Ack! Urgh! Ow! Ick!
     REALITY CHECK... REALITY CHECK... ALERT... ALERT...
     Four years ago a dollar was NOT! worth more in computing power! This
comparison is entirely out of whack. Four years ago, a dollar was worth
MUCH LESS THAN it is now in computing power.
     Just for ease of reference, let's set the Wayback machine to 1985,
Sherman... what do we find? $5000 for an 80286 - and that's top of the
line equiment.
     Set it to 10 years back and the Really Hot System is a 6502 with a
hacked-up full 64K of RAM, a Corvus hard drive, and a colour monitor;
around a $6000 unit. (It has been a while, so if any numbers are off,
my apologies.)
>A comparable AMIGA system today would include an accelerator board,
>flicker fixer and a 65 meg HD and would cost around $7000.00, and 
                                                     ^^^^^^^^
>would still only have a screen resolution of 640x400,16 color.
                                              ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
(Actually, more like 680 by 440 usable, 704 by 480 using Extreme Overscan
and the right monitor. Also, 4096 colour "hacks" are available and do work.
Not much software supports it yet, but then again, how much software supported
EGA or VGA when they first came out? This isn't to say that they're
substitutes for New Graphics Cards, but they're still Nice To Have.)
     And $7000? I really, really don't think so... let's see, I seem to recall
that a 2500 with 40 meg runs around $4000; swap up hard drives (be
extravagant - $400 more); flickerfixer, $500; VGA monitor, $400; that's
$5300. Now, what advantages do you get?
     1) A multitasking operating system; the IBM equivalant runs $500,
but whoops! No applications, and it's slower the Amiga because of all that
nasty overhead.
     2) Video compatibility. IBM land; $500; more for a good unit, less for
an ElCheapo.
     3) Applications that work together. I use this constantly. I've tried
doing similar things in MS-DOS that I do on my Amy every day - abort, retry,
fail. :-)
     4) Real Sound.
>I still think the AMIGA has a lot going for it when you include its
>multitasking operating system, sound and video capabilities. BUT,
>is the increased cost for the extra processing and display capabilities
>worth the extra bucks?
     I think so. I HATE single-tasking systems now. I used to not mind them.
In fact, that's where I started out (1977 TRS-80 Model Only, 4K, Level I
BASIC.) But I wouldn't go back.
     Yes, the Amiga needs new high-end graphics boards THAT ARE SUPPORTED.
There are, after all, high-end boards available now. The FrameGrabber and
the Transputer boards come to mind. Also, the Black Belt box is really not
a bad unit for video work. There's also the Hedley mode monitor, which DOES
have support from all programmes that use the Workbench.
     But the high-end processor boards are Here Now and are supported. The
RAM limit is very high. (9 meg autoconfig, 64 meg total if I understand it
correctly - I don't have these Neato Things... :-) ) The cost is NOT a
problem - and I don't mean just when you take performance into account
either. (Read PC-WEEK, the most recent issue. Mail-order price wars are
going away, and clone prices will be rising, if this information is
correct...)
     Other than the video - which is still just Very Much Faster than most
VGA cards out there - I really don't see what your point is.
                                                       - R'ykandar.
-- 
| R'ykandar Korra'ti | Editor, LOW ORBIT | PLink: Skywise | CIS 72406,370 |
| Elfinkind, Unite! | phoenix@ms.uky.edu | phoenix%ms.uky.edu@ukcc.bitnet |
| "Careful, mom, the toys are loose!" - from The Wizard of Speed and Time |