On 05-May-99, Robert L. Williamson said
> To upgrade my Amiga to the same level of capability as the 400c would be
> impossible at any cost. The hardware isn't even there. Not that long ago I
> purchased a Picasso just so I could navigate the web using Voyager in more
> than 16 colors! That single board cost only slightly less than half what
> my new PC cost. Even with an '040, my Amiga runs at a snail's pace
> compared to the 400MHz Celeron. The sound is substandard. Some of the
Yes, I agree PCs have superior hardware. Pity the OS is rubbish. If I really
needed that power (and for domestic purposes, I don't) I'd get a Mac.
> for my Amiga. Why bother? My Gateway can do better than any such sound
> card available for Amigas. I'd be pouring money into a machine which
> could, in
> a year's time prove to be defunct technology. For the same cost as that
> upgrade
> I could buy neat stuff for the PC -- and every dollar I spend on the PC
> goes further than it would on the Amiga. About the only cost effective
> purchases for
But this is precisely what you have done, bought "defunct technology". A
year's time from now, and your PC will be yesterday's technology. There'll
be new cards, CPUs, OSes, out there, and the manufacturers will want you to
buy them. They will convince you that your "super" PC is yesterday's
technology, and you'll have to throw more money at it or a new machine to
get with the standard.
It all comes down to this- do you own the computer you want, or the computer
manufacturers want you to won?
You mentioned the 5 years. Imagine if you had bought a 1994 super PC. You'd
have a 486 running Windows 3.1. Is that considered "state-of-the-art" by
today's standards? No. If you'd switched then, you'd be in trouble, and
five years down the year, I think you'll still find yourself in trouble.
> And for an extra $200 you can buy a Pentium-class machine that will run
> circles around your upgraded A1200 in virtually any application
> environment you care to suggest. It will even have a monitor included in
> the price.
>
Yes, that's true. But let me reiterate 2 points-
1) A Pentium processor will out perform an 680x0 processor (though probably
not a PPC). However, Windows won't out perform AmigaOS. It's not a matter
of speed. Trust me- I've used the "latest" PC, running the "latest" OS. All
it means is that when they crash they crash harder.
2) Do you /really/ need a PIII? What advantage does speed give you (other
then getting your silicon knob out in mailing lists such as this)
> I had really hoped that the PPC upgrades would save the Amiga.
> Unfortunately
> they were very expensive and there was no software written for them. As
> time
> went on there was still very little software, and then our "benefactors"
> dropped
> the bombshell that they were not considering the PPC as a viable upgrade
> option for the Amiga. If you wanted to be next generation compatible you
> had
> better steer clear of PPC.
Yes, there'll be a next generation machine that will not be PPC. This is the
"Great Leap Forward" that IBM-PCs have avoided like the plague, and are now
starting to bite them in the ass (the Y2K thing is, if I may quote Alan
Rickman, "Simply the beginning".) Remember- inside the heart of every super
PC like yours is that 640K-max 8088 machine that even the Apple-II could
run rings around.
Of course, these new machines won't mean my Amiga will suddenly stop
working. And neither will a PPC-based Amiga.
> Now, before everyone gets out the flamethrowers, let me explain something.
> My Miggy is sitting right next to my Gateway. I still use it (mostly for
Sorry! You should've known what you were letting yourself in for at the
start of this. :)
> DTP). I
> *don't* use it for the internet (at least not very much) because my
> Gateway has
> spoiled me for fast access. My next major computer purchase will be
> ethernet
> cards for both machines and Siamese System software -- that way I can have
> the
> best of both worlds. In the meantime, I'm waiting for the NG Amiga to
> arrive
Hmm... it seems that you might agree with me, by slaving the PC's superior
power to the Amiga's superior OS.
> (although I'm not going to hold my breath). If and when that happens, my
> Gateway
> will probably become my secondary machine. For now, though, I have to use
> the
> best tool for the job -- and in most cases that means a machine that can
> run Windows.
You do realise that's an oxymoron? :) You've spoken about how PC are faster,
and I agree with you on that. But you've side stepped the question of the
so-called Operating System that runs them. Windows is such an awful piece
of software.
The Amiga is a cult computer. There's nothing wrong with the Amiga I own. If
your's wasn't enough for you, that's fine. I've known others who have gone
the same way, said the same thing you have said. And they often wind up
missing their "inferior" Amiga.
Anyway, this is all way, way *way* off topic, so I shan't comment any
further.
--
*David Woolley *
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COOPER, YOU REMIND ME TODAY OF A SMALL MEXICAN CHI-WOW-WOW.
-- Gordon Cole (David Lynch), in "Twin Peaks"
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