Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!seismo!ut-sally!husc6!cmcl2!rutgers!cbmvax!grr From: grr@cbmvax.UUCP (George Robbins) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga,comp.sys.atari.st Subject: Re: And the winner is... Message-ID: <2115@cbmvax.UUCP> Date: Wed, 15-Jul-87 06:37:45 EDT Article-I.D.: cbmvax.2115 Posted: Wed Jul 15 06:37:45 1987 Date-Received: Fri, 17-Jul-87 06:13:13 EDT References: <17680@cca.CCA.COM> <979@eneevax.UUCP> Reply-To: grr@cbmvax.UUCP (George Robbins) Distribution: na Organization: Commodore Technology, West Chester, PA Lines: 56 Summary: let's quibble... Xref: mnetor comp.sys.amiga:6528 comp.sys.atari.st:4434 In article <979@eneevax.UUCP> iarocci@eneevax.umd.edu.UUCP (John Iarocci) writes: > In article <17680@cca.CCA.COM> jack@cca.CCA.COM (Jack Orenstein) writes: > >According to Ali Ozer: > > > >| If you want to expand above 1 Meg [on the Atari 1040ST], > >| you need to start kludging things, and you can't go above 4 even with the > >| biggest hacks. The A2000 is 68020 compatible, and you can one day easily > >| plug in a 68020/68881 board for increased performance. (Such boards do > >| exist; CSA makes one for the A1000, for instance.) 1040ST can't be > >| upgraded to the 68020; the 24-bit address pointer is engraved in their OS. > > > >For my purposes, I need as much memory as I can get my hands on... > > Jack, I think you've been somewhat misinformed by some obviously well- > intentioned Amiga user. True, the existing Ataris (520ST & 1040ST) cannot > easily be expanded beyond 4 megabytes, but the new Mega STs are reportedly > expandable to 16 megabytes. So, if you REALLY need the memory, the CLEAR > winner is ATARI. No, the winner is still less than clear. Atari has said the Mega-ST has "16 MB Address Space", they've said nothing about how much memory will fit into this address space. As it happens, the Amiga has *always* had a 16 MB address space, however we long ago documented an allocation of 2MB (max) for video memory, 8MB of expansion bus auto-configured memory, and a goodly amount of "reserved" area. This capability has existed on *all* models. Now perhaps Atari will provide a way to have 16MB of memory, but they haven't said so... > >So it's an Amiga for me. I'm looking at this as a machine for the next > >couple of years until 68020-class machines come down in price. Given that > >there are *already* some impressive 68020 boxes for the Amiga, it's possible > >that I can use the machine for an even longer time. > > Well, it looks like you've already made up your mind, but for the benefit of > others who may not have, let me point out that the Mega STs are expandable > (they have an expansion slot), and will supposedly have 68020 support in the > form of a 68020 box which will connect to STs through the DMA port (I think > Atari calls this the TT). So, if you look closely at what you get for your > money, I think many people will find the decision a little less clear-cut > than it would appear from your posting. Well, maybe. Both parties have made noises about expansion and "'020 machines", but the fact is that the Amiga expansion market already exists, with a variety of boxes, modules and internal upgrades available. While an assortment of goodies will no doubt become available for the Mega-ST "expansion slot" in the future, current availability seems limited to a couple of hard-disk drives and some internal memory upgrades. There are rarely any clear winners in these feature wars. It is up to the potential customer to match both his feature requirements and and cost goals with what is available and make some personal judments about machine/software style and corporate personality and make up his own mind... -- George Robbins - now working for, uucp: {ihnp4|seismo|rutgers}!cbmvax!grr but no way officially representing arpa: cbmvax!grr@seismo.css.GOV Commodore, Engineering Department fone: 215-431-9255 (only by moonlite)