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From: grr@cbmvax.UUCP (George Robbins)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: Amiga 500: a nice unit.  Way to go!
Message-ID: <2075@cbmvax.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 8-Jul-87 03:30:27 EDT
Article-I.D.: cbmvax.2075
Posted: Wed Jul  8 03:30:27 1987
Date-Received: Sat, 11-Jul-87 04:23:46 EDT
References: <610@neoucom.UUCP> <1601@cadovax.UUCP>
Reply-To: grr@cbmvax.UUCP (George Robbins)
Organization: Commodore Technology, West Chester, PA
Lines: 33
Keywords: Its about time.

In article <1601@cadovax.UUCP> keithd@cadovax.UUCP (Keith Doyle) writes:
> In article <610@neoucom.UUCP> wtm@neoucom.UUCP (Bill Mayhew) writes:
> >Only one gripe:  I whish the power switch were on the computer
> >rather than on the cordbrick power pack.

Well, it saved a little money - 3-pole DC rated switches are expensive, and
you don't turn it on and off very often...  Someday, we'll probably roast in
hell for that little feature... It does give the ST owners something to sneer
at though! 8-)
 
> I'll add a second one.  It seems to me that the lack of a color NTSC output
> is a mistake.  Everyone has a VCR, and seems like a lot of people would
> want to record Amiga output.  Anyone know if the appropriate 'adapter'
> module is available, and how much it costs?

Could be.  In the original product planning we our thinking was that the
composite color wasn't "good enough" for the Amiga - even the C64 and C128
use separate luma and chroma to get better resolution.  We saw the the A1000
and A2000 as being the "video" machines for the VCR/home video crowd, rather
than the A500.  Also there was concern for a low cost, high-definition non-
flickering video mode that would make the machine suitable for productivity
software/terminal emulation types of tasks.  The monochrome output is nice,
and with the color-weighted grey-scale can be used with "color" applications
without difficulty.  Check it out sometime...

Anyway, the adapter combines the RGB-Composite circuitry and an RF modulator
(separate outputs).  It's not available yet, but isn't supposed to be very
expensive when it does come out.

-- 
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)