Path: utzoo!utgpu!watmath!att!bellcore!rutgers!gatech!uflorida!haven!uvaarpa!virginia!kesmai!dca From: dca@kesmai.COM (David C. Albrecht) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga Subject: Re: A1000 Rejuvenator Project (POO POO ON C-A) Message-ID: <228@kesmai.COM> Date: 16 Aug 89 20:12:36 GMT References: <18566.24DF49E1@cmhgate.FIDONET.ORG> <12400@s.ms.uky.edu> Organization: Kesmai Corporation, Charlottesville, VA Lines: 41 In article <12400@s.ms.uky.edu>, sean@ms.uky.edu (Sean Casey) writes: > [tells about an upgrade project to allow the 1000 to use the new custom > chips for the 2000] > You know I made several queries to Commodore about using the new chips in > an A-1000. The replies I got said it was "impossible". I said "hey what if > I desolder some chips and do a little dirty work". "Still impossible." > As time goes on, the more dissapointed I become with Commodore-Amiga. Either > they really don't know their machines, or they really just don't care about > us A1000 owners. In many ways this is old news and it's getting to be a bit of a tiresome lament. If you wanted chip level compatiblity you should have sold off your 1000 and invested in a 500 long ago. The 2000 and 500 made a strong break with the past (for right or wrong) which screwed just about every interface in the machines the SOTS, the Zorro spec, the serial and parallel ports. They did maintain 100% software compatibility between the new machines and the 1000 which is better than many vendors have done. No reasonable corporate entity is going to advertise solutions which require you to rip apart your computer, solder boards, move chips, wire jumpers, etc. I'd be surprised if Commodore would sponser even swapping chips by anyone but dealer service. What kind of sense would it make for them to spend the effort working out a solution that including parts, dealer labor charges, etc. would probably cost more than a 500 possibly nearing the cost of a 2000, especially if you included the money you could get by selling your 1000 unmolested. That some hacker has managed to cobble up a way to sandwich the 2000 chip set into a 1000 is nice but hardly something appropriate for Commodore to be interested in. Remember that we are talking about a company that still isn't financially exactly a blue chip. Since the 1000 is pretty much compatible with a large wad of 500s out there I don't think you need fear obsolescence for a long time to come, the kickstart for instance will probably be supported for the forseeable future but, the new chip modes aren't part of the package that you can reasonably expect to be included. In all probability, Commodore is more interested in designing new products than investigating ways to modify old, no longer manufactured machines especially when the old ones still work perfectly well. Uncaring? Perhaps, but no more so than any other business entity where staying solvent and hopefully making a profit is after all the bottom line. David Albrecht