Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!rutgers!psuvax1!vu-vlsi!cbmvax!daveh
From: daveh@cbmvax.UUCP (Dave Haynie)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: On Amiga 500, 2000 and Expansion etc.
Message-ID: <2957@cbmvax.UUCP>
Date: 18 Dec 87 00:14:56 GMT
References: <1827@houxa.UUCP>
Organization: Commodore Technology, West Chester, PA
Lines: 88

in article <1827@houxa.UUCP>, shah1@houxa.UUCP (J.SHAH) says:
> Summary: A500, A2000 etc
> 
> IBM compatibility has been discussed at length on this news group. ...
> The main point is PC compatibility is not going to make or break the amigas.

Provision for IBM compatibility in the A2000 is basically a very minor cost of
the whole A2000.  And what advantages does it give you?  Well, I'm certainly
not impressed with IBM software; there's lots of it, fer shure.  But by around
this point in time, I can get better versions of most of the things I'd like
to do in Amiga clothing.  There are a few things, though, that are ONLY in
IBM format.  At work, for instance, I use a PAL compiler called CUPL.  If they
come out with an Amiga version, I could just about throw away the Bridge Card
I'm using.  But I'm not holding my breathe, this is such a small market item I
doubt the Amiga version is just around the corner.  

Another thing a PC is good for is hardware.  Every thing ever envisioned in the
world of personal computer hardware is on an IBM PC-XT card.  I'd much rather
have it on the higher performance Amiga bus, but again, don't cut off your
oxygen supply waiting for some of these items; if a company sells 50 of their
PC-XT compatible Scientific Device X per month to an installed base of some
12 million PC[lones], I don't expect they'd consider it worth their while to
try and sell to 100,000 or whatever A2000s.  So if I need this item, I either
have to devolve and use a real PC, or use it in my Amiga with a Bridge Card.
If I'm writing my own software, I might as well use the 8088 as an I/O 
processor.

> The A2000 has a robust power supply and that has a value of about $50 to me
> because my friends (EEs) tell me thats how much a more robust power supply
> for the A500 should cost. 

How much are you paying for 200 Watt power supplies these days?  That's what's
in an A2000, and if you can get one for $50-$75, let me know, Commodore may
be interested in such a deal...

> The expansion capability of the A2000 comes to mind. I consider myself to be
> an average user. On my computer (A500) I need a parallel port, a serial port
> (I need two on the IBM because a mouse port on the older machines were
> not available), room for a multifunction card (which may include room for
> memory, math chips, clock etc), hard disk controller, possibly a memory
> card. The maximum number of expansion cards an average user will need is in the
> range of 2-3 and so the A2000 expansion capability is an overkill for the
> average user. CBM could have engieered an "AMIGA 1250" with 3 expansion slots
> and without any IBM compatible crap on it and still make the machine sell at the
> $900 (discounted) price range. Thats what I would have preferred to buy.

We could have even sold you exactly the same machine with various different
amounts of memory in them, like some other computer companies would.  However,
that's not our style.  And besides, you always run out of slots, it just takes
the average A2000 user a longer time.  The average Amiga user is obviously the
A500 user, who doesn't even need three slots.

> So to me the A2000 expansion capability is worth about $300 more not $1000.

But like you said, you're not a power user.  You won't want fast 68020 cards
or DSP boards or deinterlacers or Video peripherals.  Fine.  Don't get mad
at the A2000 if it's not your cup of tea  (the A2000 is actually a keg of
beer, not a cup of tea, but that's beside the point).

> The A2000 focuses on a very small market segment and is very good for a 
> Byte magazine story on IBM compatibility. 

That's why the A2000 is for the "Professional" market, while the A500 is for
the "Mass" market.  Your tastes run to the high end of the mass market.  That's
what 3rd party vendors are for in this case, to enhance the value of your low
end machine.  If Commodore started making 20 different computers, one at each
possible level of entry, and all the add-ons at extremely low prices, we'd
pretty soon be the only ones in the world making Amiga hardware.  And the
entire Amiga market would suffer for that.

> A500 is not a second class citizen compared to the A2000, it is the wave of 
> the future.

They really run in parallel.  The A500 promotes lots of low cost software
being written.  The A2000 promotes more expensive high-end software being
written.  And they're compatible across the family of Amigas, so if you 
decide you want to design circuits on an A500, or I want to play Starglider
on my A2000, everything's cool.

>                                                Shah Jahan
>                                               AT&T Bell Labs
>                                              Holmdel, NJ 07733
>                                              (201) 949-1680 

-- 
Dave Haynie     Commodore-Amiga    Usenet: {ihnp4|uunet|rutgers}!cbmvax!daveh
   "The B2000 Guy"              PLINK : D-DAVE H             BIX   : hazy
		"I can't relax, 'cause I'm a Boinger!"