Path: menudo.uh.edu!menudo.uh.edu!usenet From: iank@microsoft.com (Ian Kennedy) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.reviews Subject: REVIEW: Commodore Amiga 1200 computer Followup-To: comp.sys.amiga.hardware Date: 29 Jan 1993 01:03:40 GMT Organization: The Amiga Online Review Column - ed. Daniel Barrett Lines: 167 Sender: amiga-reviews@math.uh.edu (comp.sys.amiga.reviews moderator) Distribution: world Message-ID: <1k9vpcINNckc@menudo.uh.edu> Reply-To: iank@microsoft.com (Ian Kennedy) NNTP-Posting-Host: karazm.math.uh.edu Keywords: hardware, system, A1200, commercial PRODUCT NAME Commodore Amiga 1200 computer BRIEF DESCRIPTION The A1200 an excellent addition to the AGA Amiga line. It provides acceptable performance in a compact, inexpensive package while offering a generous amount of expandability for a computer of its size and price. AUTHOR/COMPANY INFORMATION Name: Commodore Business Machines Address: 1200 Wilson Drive West Chester, PA 19380 USA (Non-USA readers should contact the branch of Commodore in their country.) Telephone: (215) 431-9100 LIST PRICE $599.00 (US dollars) The total cost of the system reviewed was $1620 (US) including sales tax. This was under the "PowerUp" price and includes DeluxePaint IV AGA and FinalCopy 1.3 AGA. This software will be shipped to me in 6 to 8 weeks after C= receives my warranty registration card. MACHINE USED FOR TESTING A1200 with 2 MB Chip RAM and no Fast RAM 85MB Maxtor 2.5" IDE drive A1960 Monitor AmigaDOS 3.0 GENERAL FEATURES The primary advantages of the A1200 is its use of the AGA chipset and a mostly 32-bit architecture. A note of interest is that this machine is based on the Motorola 68EC020, meaning it has a 24 bit address space just like the 68000 based machines, so the maximum RAM you can install will be 9 MB. For a machine of this size, that should be more than enough RAM. All other aspects of the machine are 32-bit, including the AGA custom chips and the data bus. A 32-bit trapdoor expansion and a PCMCIA slot are standard in addition to the usual Amiga ports and a 2.5" IDE drive bay/controller. EXPANSION The A1200 comes equipped with a PCMCIA slot. This is a 16-bit expansion slot that has become popular in laptop machines. It offers some interesting potential for expansion; but because it is a 16-bit device, it is not well suited for general memory expansion. It does offer exciting potential for such things as modems, network adapters, SCSI/CD-ROM, and assorted PC emulators. With the release of AmigaDOS 3.1 and device independent network support it would follow that already available Ethernet adapters could be easily made to work with this Amiga. [MODERATOR'S NOTE: AmigaDOS 3.1 is not released yet, so any statements about it are not guaranteed at this point. - Dan] Underneath the A1200, you will find the 32-bit CPU trapdoor expansion slot. This was the primary reason I even considered the purchase of this A1200. This slot offers the potential to add 32-bit FAST ram, CPU accelerator cards (without violating your warranty!), SCSI controllers, and a whole host of really nifty stuff. I would like to see a Zorro-III bus expansion box that allows you to put your A1200 in a "pizza box" case connected via the 32-bit expander, giving you some slots and an external keyboard. Currently, there is a memory board available for the A1200 that accepts up to 8MB of 32-bit ram and has a math co-processor. On the back of the A1200, you will find all of the standard Amiga ports as well as a really clean Composite video and RF modulator output. I wish the mouse and game controller ports were on the right side, though. Internally, there is room for a 2.5" IDE hard drive. I installed a 85 MB drive here. Performance tests indicated a throughput of about 500KB/s on this disk. I suspect with the addition of FAST RAM, this will improve, since the disk buffers will be moved to FAST RAM. The floppy drive is the old 880K unit. Apparently the new high-density drives physically were too big. LIKES, DISLIKES, LIMITATIONS Memory Expansion: One must be aware of some memory expansion constraints. Although you can put up to 8MB in the 32-bit trap door slot, this will drop to 4MB if you insert a card into the PCMCIA slot. It seems these two slots share some address space. This is a minor nuisance. AGA custom chips: These new chips are really nifty! The displays they produce are clean and generally fast with the exception of 256-color hi-res displays. Again, Fast RAM should help some here since the CPU will not have to fight the AGA chips for memory access, thus speeding up the whole machine. Even so, the 256-color modes are DOG SLOW and are inferior to some of the PC displays I use at work. Compared to the ECS chips the new AGA chips really scream. I'm now running a 16-color Workbench, something I would never have done on my A3000. While I enjoy the new video bandwidth and improved color/spatial resolution, I must say I have one really big complaint: getting AGA displays centered on the screen. It took me a few days to figure this out. It is not in the manuals. I would like C= to provide a more transparent way of getting a MAX-overscan DBLNTSC screen centered on the display. AmigaDOS 3.0: Many of the additions seem to be hidden from the general user. The addition of CrossDOS is useful. The scroll bars are now 3D. The file requestor is not dog slow any more. You can put a picture on your desktop. Intuition now has intelligent palette sharing/allocation. And according to the folks at C=, there are now API calls for double-buffering animation. Memory: For users like me, the 2MB memory that the machine ships with is not sufficient for my usual Amiga use. I'm constantly running out of memory. It should be fine for the typical gamer/letter writer though. Performance: My previous Amiga was an A3000, and the A1200 cannot compete with it in sheer processing/disk speed. Benchmarks rate the A1200 with no FAST ram at about 25% the speed of an A3000. However, the A1200 crushes the ECS A3000 when it comes to video speed. If you want a low-end video titling genlock box, then the A1200 is the way to go. The A1200 begs for 32-bit Fast RAM, or better yet, an accelerator in the trap door. This machine with an 030 or 040 and Fast RAM would be awesome! If you are a person trapped in the land of infidel PC users (like I am) but still want a low cost Amiga hacking solution with up to date graphics and modest expansion potential, then the A1200 is the machine for you. Overall, I really like the A1200 and do not regret the purchase at all. I will add FAST ram as soon as I can, and plan on adding an accelerator later. If the cost of an A4000 makes you ill, then look into a A1200 system. IANK@MICROSOFT.COM --- Daniel Barrett, Moderator, comp.sys.amiga.reviews Send reviews to: amiga-reviews-submissions@math.uh.edu Request information: amiga-reviews-requests@math.uh.edu Moderator mail: amiga-reviews@math.uh.edu