Hello Robert;
On 04-May-99, Robert L. Williamson wrote:
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Uffe Holst <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Sent: Tuesday, May 04, 1999 10:21 AM
> Subject: [voyager] Re: Amiga upgrades
>
>
>> Why don't Amiga users spend a little now and then?
>
> As a recent inductee into the MS Hall of Shame, I'll be happy to answer that
> question! I bought my brand new Gateway 2000 G6-400c for one reason.
> To upgrade my Amiga to the same level of capability as the 400c would be
> impossible at any cost.
This is true.
> 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.
The price of the PIV is very strong for what you get, unfortunately. And it's
been a long time since I heard anything about the Voodoo option I signed up
for. :-/
> Even with an '040, my Amiga runs at a snail's pace compared
> to the 400MHz Celeron.
I have an '060 Amiga and a P-II 400 PC, and I haven't noticed my miggy running
at a snail's pace by comparison, at least in common apps. My miggy is very
quick and even more responsive than the PC. It also leaves tiretracks all
over my soon-to-be-departed 132Mhz PowerMac. At raytracing or 3D
gaming, however, the PC and Mac blow it away.
> The sound is substandard.
True. The Mac also suffers from this. No 3D positional audio and no
affordable sound upgrades.
> Some of the important
> filetypes used on the internet are not (and probably will never be)
> available on
> Amiga-based platforms.
Most of that should be addressed when (and if) AMozilla gets released in July.
>
> Amiga users (at least a great many of us) are convinced that the Amiga is a
> dead
> or dying computer.
The Classic Amiga really is dead -- a hobbyist machine now. Still very
useful, but all real hope lies with AmigaNG. If you have talent, you can
still make money with Classic Amigas, whether in video or in graphics.
>I've
> had
> more arguments with PC people than I care to remember about which machine
> is better. You know what? On most of my points I was wrong.
Maybe now, but not then. And the Amiga still has some advantages. But I
enjoy my PC a lot. To me, the real dead fish is the Mac.
> I was going to get a 16-bit
> sound card
> 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.
It's already defunct technology. You're from Kansas City? Where can you take
an Amiga for repair? I'm in Seattle, and there is nowhere to turn here. Even
all the Toaster/Flyer shops are gone since last summer. I'm moving to Chicago
where there's one shop left with Toaster/Flyer support. I don't have these,
but at least I could hope that such a shop will be able to repair an
Amiga. If not, I mail it to Paxtron. For most USA Amigans, Paxtron is all
the support we have. The only other alternative is user groups. I think this
would satisfy the definition of 'defunct technology' in most quarters. That's
why I'm getting Video Toaster NT. I want local support for my expensive video
workstation.
> 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.
You need a fair amount of money to support an Amiga habit these days.
Luckily, I can. ;>
>> I certainly can't find any excuse why people is using anything less than a
>> 030 processor :) The Blizzard 060 for the A1200 is costing less than $700
>> today in Denmark
>
> 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.
Not true. You can buy the PC for that price, but it will not run circles
around an '060 Amiga to the extent you describe.
> 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
> DTP). I
> *don't* use it for the internet (at least not very much) because my Gateway
> has
> spoiled me for fast access.
My Amiga connects faster than my PC (15-20 seconds average for Amiga, 30-40
for PC). Both machines have 56K modems and the Amiga browsers are just as
fast as the PC browsers (and much faster than Mac browsers). I know other
people with Amigas having a full-time ethernet connection to the internet.
CPU speed has very little to do with internet speed, as you should well know.
Chances are you just haven't purchased an I/O Extender and a fast modem for
your miggy. Am I right? :>
> 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.
Sounds like a good plan.
> In the meantime, I'm waiting for the NG Amiga to
> arrive
> (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.
Well, who can fault you for getting fed up? You did the best thing -- you
bought a PC and kept your Amiga. The Amiga is still useful and still a fun
computer. I often say, 'I own an Amiga primarily to use an Amiga.' It sounds
like gibberish, but all it really means is that I like the Amiga, so I use it.
I like the environment. I like the MUI interface and the fast response. I'm
not using it to make money, or to do much gaming, but I can use it for a lot
of everyday things, or if I wish also for higher-level things like animation,
raytracing and so on, although a fast PC is better for these. I won't sit
here and spew hate at PCs, because I really don't mind Windows. I use it, it
works for me and it's pretty stable most of the time. Lately I've been
turning Amiga MODs into .WAV and then .mp3 files. It's very easy to do with
MODPlug Player and AudioCatalyst. And since my PC has a Riva TNT board plus a
Voodoo2, 3D gaming is pretty marvelous. The only thing that crashes regularly
is IE4, so there's not much to complain about.
The only thing I say is I like the Amiga more. I like Voyager and its many
options. I may complain about how it displays improperly-coded HTML on many
pages, but if the pages had been written correctly, they'd display correctly.
This small inconvenience is more than made up for, to me, by the cool
Fastlinks option, the good cache control and the excellent speed of the app.
I use my Amiga as my main computer, and I'm happy most of the time.
Peace, brother. :>
Best;
Steve Duff Team AMIGA
QuikPak A4060T 82MB/1GB SCSI/4MB CV64-3D w/Scan Doubler
Melody Z-2/4X SCSI CD-ROM/GVP I-O Extender
"Calling me a paranoid fantasy is only showing what you're about."
- Timothy Rue
____________________________________________________________
Voyager Mailing List - Info & Archive: http://www.vapor.com/
For Listserver Help: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, "HELP"
To Unsubscribe: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, "UNSUBSCRIBE"
