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Conference hydra::amiga_v1

Title:AMIGA NOTES
Notice:Join us in the *NEW* conference - HYDRA::AMIGA_V2
Moderator:HYDRA::MOORE
Created:Sat Apr 26 1986
Last Modified:Wed Feb 05 1992
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:5378
Total number of notes:38326

1791.0. "A2058 8 meg RAM board for A2000" by DNEAST::COMBAR_CURT (Curtis T. Combar - Augusta QIS) Tue Oct 18 1988 23:18

    Does anyone have any info on the A2058 8 meg expansion board for
    the A2000?  I would like to know if it uses 1M chips or 256K chips
    and who would be a good supplier/who would have the best price?
    
    Curt
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1791.1A2058...heres some infoANT::GERBERRobert GerberWed Oct 19 1988 11:347
    The A2058 board comes standard with 2MB of 1M chips.  With expansion
    space for six more megs or ram.
    
    The list price for the A2058 is $795.00 US.  I know that The Memory
    Location has them in stock and their price is $700.
    
    -----Robert
1791.2CSC32::J_PARSONSLike Lesser Birds on the 4 Winds...Wed Oct 19 1988 12:331
    The Software Hut in Philadelphia has them for $659 in stock.
1791.3another place for A2058ESPN::SWARTZWed Oct 19 1988 16:4011
    I was talking to the guy at the new New Hampshire store (System
    Eyes) about 1.3 and I asked him if he had the A2058 in stock.  He
    said that he had it for $799 which was the list but he was selling
    it at 10% off.  Since there is no sales tax there you could get
    it for $720 and that beat TML.  I for one have had problems with mail 
    order: not getting the product when they said they could deliver,
    finding out that it was on back order and not really available,
    returns etc.  But that's just one man's opinion, I'm sure that others
    folks have had pleasant experiences.
    
    
1791.4Software Hut Okay?CGFSV2::CADAMSClint Adams - Calgary, CanadaWed Oct 19 1988 19:349
re..  .2

I hope the the Software Hut is reputable, I just did the 500 to 2000
upgrade through them. They are shipping the unit tomorrow. They seemed
real nice on the phone.

If anyone is familiar with these guys, give me your impressions please.

        Regards....   Clint
1791.5Consider ASDGTLE::RMEYERSRandy MeyersWed Oct 19 1988 20:1229
Re: .0

There is an alternative to the Commodore board that you might want
to consider.  ASDG makes an 8 Meg board that takes 1M x 1 chips.

ASDG is known as a very high quality hardware company for the Amiga.
I've had their 8 Meg board for a year now and am very satisfied with it.

The ASDG board has a feature that not all 8 Meg boards have.  You
can populate it with either 2 Meg, 4 Meg, 6 Meg, or 8 Meg.  Most
8 Meg boards only support 2 Meg, 4 Meg and 8 Meg (they force you to
go from 4 Meg to 8 Meg with no intermediate step).

The reason why is that the Amiga autoconfig protocol does not support
boards with 6 Meg of address space.  What ASDG does is pretty clever.
The Autoconfig protocol supports multiple devices per board.  So,
if you have 6 Meg on an ASDG board, the board claims to be a board
with two devices: a 4 Meg memory expansion and a 2 Meg memory expansion.
Thus, ASDG supports in a completely conforming way a memory size not
directly supported in by the protocol!

ASDG usually advertises in the Amiga magazines.  You might want to call
them up and see what their price is for the board.  Commodore might
be cheaper because Commodore can but memory cheaper than ASDG.

The ASDG board comes with two levels of memory diagnostics (a standalone
program that is very extensive, and a runs transparently in background
test), and the uncrippled version of their ASDG Recoverable Ram disk
(the shareware version does not support disks over 4 meg).
1791.6Try Omnitek, also check out 8UP! board.BOMBE::MOOREWhere do you go when you're Toad Away?Thu Oct 20 1988 02:2215
    Another alternative I've been considering is Microbotics 8UP!...
    This one uses SIMMs (like Macs), either 256K or 1 Meg units, lots of
    possible combinations starting (I think) at 512K.  8UP! also supports
    the 6 Meg configuration.  This may be particularly attractive if I can
    obtain used 256K SIMMs from friends who've upgraded their Macs.  That
    would give me 2 Megs while I'm waiting for 1M prices to come down. They
    claim to use an intelligent refresh circuit that virtually eliminates
    any CPU access delays.
    
    I was asking Dick Snyder at Omnitek about the 8UP! a couple of weeks
    ago.  He said he could order it, cost was around $175 without SIMMs.
    He also suggested the Amiga 8 Meg unit (A2058?) with 2 Megs installed
    for $429.  This price was for units he had in stock, price would be a
    bit higher (i.e. $475?) after his initial shipment sold.  And yes, it
    uses 1 Meg chips.
1791.7SIMM cost more than chipsTLE::RMEYERSRandy MeyersThu Oct 20 1988 03:5212
A few comments:

In general, chips are less expensive than SIMMs.

Also SIMMs have a problem.  If you use low-density SIMMs to initially
populate a board, you have to replace them with high-density SIMMs
to reach your boards full potential.  That is why some Mac owners
have SIMMs sitting around after getting a memory upgrade.

The ASDG board also has carefully designed refresh to avoid any wait states.
In general though, I think you really have to screw up refresh for this
to be much of a problem.
1791.8Does Omnitek do mail order?CSC32::J_PARSONSLike Lesser Birds on the 4 Winds...Thu Oct 20 1988 10:5712
    re .6
    
   > He also suggested the Amiga 8 Meg unit (A2058?) with 2 Megs installed
   > for $429.  This price was for units he had in stock, price would be a
   > bit higher (i.e. $475?) after his initial shipment sold.  And yes, it
   > uses 1 Meg chips.

    If this price is for real then I'll order one tomorrow. The lowest
    price I've seen for this board is $659 with 2 megs installed. Are
    you sure he wasn't talking about the straight 2 meg board?
    
    Can someone give me a phone number for Omnitek?
1791.9It *was* too good to be true 8*{ BOMBE::MOOREWhere do you go when you're Toad Away?Thu Oct 20 1988 20:0611
    Well, Jack informs me that he called Omnitek and found that their price
    for the 2058 board with 2 megs installed is actually $629.  Apparently
    the $429 quote was for the smaller 2 meg board with 256K chips, and I
    misunderstood.  I'd swear he told me it was a new item, this was his
    first shipment, etc., I guess I missed a context switch.  Sorry for the
    bum steer...

    At this rate the 8UP! option is looking better and better.  I'm pretty
    sure I can get the board ($199 list, around $150 discounted) and plug
    in 2 megs of used SIMMs for a *lot* less than $700, possibly less than
    $400.