This is the main point I have with the Duo (aside from the trackmarble issue
<grin>) and part of what leads to my conspiratorial thoughts about Apple having
killed the line. My Duo when connected to the dock IS a full blown desktop
computer. There is nothing it can't do. And you can't beat the convenience. Yeah
the Newer PowerBook docks are good, but they're nothing like the convenience of a
Duo Dock.
I have a Digidesign Audiomedia II Nubus card in my dock (which is not supported
by Digi) that I use for hard disk digital based sound recording. It runs as fast
as under any Nubus based machine out there. It has maintained my investment and
overall, cost me much less than buying two separate machines. Plus, I can startup
with the Dock's hard drive and record to the internal 2300 SCSI drive so as to
preserve my hard disk files in the Duo's drive. Then, I can simply transport my
Duo to the studio, hook up in SCSI disk mode and read the files directly into the
studio's Mac.
I am able to do digital hard disk recording via the 50 pin wide SCSI bus as I
have access to it via the Dock, by tapping into the internal hard drive SCSI
connector and bypassing the limited external HD-30 connector.
The 2400 can't do this. There are no multitrack digital audio PC cards available.
I'm sure this is true for other "pro" level cards as well.
The thing about the Duo is that you have access to the processor. No other
PowerBook has this. That was the beauty of the Duo. Theoretically, to upgrade the
Duo, all one has to do is design an adapter that taps into the processor to give
it an unlimited lifespan. It's no different than the PDS slot daughtercards that
are turning countless older Macs into G3s these days. Only the IBM Thinkpad has
this feature (that I've seen lately) and it doesn't seem to be cutting into their
profits on other computers.
"Timothy A. Seufert" wrote:
> The only
> thing I can think of is that the Duo can use NuBus cards through the Dock,
> but of course the 2400 has a pair of PC Card slots which can do most of the
> things NuBus cards can.
>
----------
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