| Al, (and everyone else for that matter), my name is George Withers
and I just started working here in Tewksbury (Systems Software
Engineering) and I am a 500 owner. I'll try to answer your queries.
1. [Difference between A500 and A2000]
The A500 is a semi-stripped one-piece unit. Besides the basic
expansions (see section 2) you would have to add things on via the
DMA port on the right side of the machine. This is the same with
the A1000's. The A2000 comes with a bus built in. This is more
akin to an (ick) IBM PC AT. There are slots, etc. Besides this
the two are more or less the same. The A2000 being prettier with
a detachable keyboard, housing for harddrive, 5 1/4 drive and extra
3 1/2 drive built in etcetera.
2. [A500 Expandability]
The A500 has a number of ports built in. RGB Output [MONITOR],
Serial Port [MODEM], Parallel Port [PRINTER], Composite Output [B/W
VCR-TV], Disk Drive [DISK-DRIVE], Game Port #2 [JOYSTICK], Game
Port #1 [MOUSE], and Memory Bus [A501+ 512K MEMORY CARD]. So, all
the items listed in [] go right on. And the DMA port is used for
any special goodies such as harddrives, genlock devices, hurricane
boards, etc. So....I'd call it expandable.
3. [640 x 400 on a Tv]
I just bought my A500 a month ago and just ordered the extra
512K the morning. I have yet to have enough money for the monitor.
What I am using is a special cable to convert RGB to Composite and
am plugged into a Commodore 1702 Composite Color Monitor (Chrona/Luma).
The resoultion is a little lower. Small characters are crammed
but no modes are considered "NOT ACCESSABLE". I assume a Tv will
look about like my monitor assuming it is a fairly good quality
Tv. I am told by someone who used the patch cable to Tv that it
looked perfect.
A note of warning. The A500 has a Composite video output jack.
This is Black and White only! You will need to purchase a cable
to plug between your Tv and the RGB Output port. The A1000 has
a color composite port but the A500 is only Black and White.
4. [Lowest A500 price]
The lowest I saw the price was mail-order from RSISystems out
of Warwick Rhode Island. The price was $545 for the A500 alone
without monitor. Stock with mouse, AmigaBasic, WorkBench, and 512K
memory. There phone is 1-800-752-7747. I recieved it (in
Massachusetts) in two days. I have had no problems.
5. [Limits of HAM]
I don't know as much about the problems with HAM mode. I don't
believe standard file structures (like IFF) with work well with
HAM pictures but I really haven't looked into the problem much.
I have seen HAM artwork and it's slick. But I dunno -- 'Nuff said.
Well, I hope this helps. Sorry if I restated the obvious or got
longwinded but I think this answers your question (well 4 out of
5 isn't too bad).
TTFN -- Ta Ta For Now,
George Withers, SSE [Mail: TWO/C5]
EMail: KISMIF::WITHERS DTN:247-2173
[Any problems or questions just drop me a line or call!]
|
| Some TVs are better than others, and your standard of "good enough"
may not be the same as mine, so I can't be sure if your TV will
produce acceptable output when fed a 640 by 400 image or not.
I suggest you try it, and see if it meets your criteria.
Several years ago I tried to use a TV set as part of a terminal
emulator. I found that I could not read more than 40 characters
across the screen.
John Sauter
|
| I have my A2000 hooked up to a 19 color TV, 80 columns are readable,
but lots fuzzier than on an RGB monitor. I also ran with 640x400
for a while, but I normally sit too far from the TV to puzzle out
the tiny, fuzzy text.
Of course, Amiga 80 columns on a TV is 100 times better than my
Atari 400's software 80 column output (4 pixel wide chars).
I have seen no difference between the A1000 and A500/A2000 composite
output other than the lack of color. The monochrome composite may
look better on a monochrome composite monitor, but I don't have
one of those. All you need is a cable with RCA jacks, connect
the composite out to the video-in of a VCR.
-dave
|