@database MoreMacAds.html @remark Converted with HTML2Guide ©1997 Mark Harman @wordwrap @node MAIN "MoreMacAds.html" @{"b"}More Mac Ads?@{"ub"} Remember when those H people started doing 2 pages ads of why we Amiga users should suddenly sell up and buy a PowerMac? I thought that they had stopped that, now that PowerAmiga was arriving, but no, I open my CU Amiga, and there they are, with a new 2 page set of ads. Dear, oh dear... But! There is no Amiga vs PowerMac comparison. No take an A1200 and upgrade it so we can see how puny it is compared to a super PowerMac. Well this isn't on, it is? So, the kind person I am, I thought I would give you a comparison of Amiga vs Mac. All the prices are out of CU Amiga August Issue, which is fair as that is where I am getting the Mac prices from, and also Amiga Format August issue, because CU seem to have neglected the advertisers' index, making it a right pain to find ads... @{"b"}Amiga Set Up #1:@{"ub"} A1200 - £300 (First) Infinitiv 1500t-i (Infinitiv Tower, Z3-i Zorro Board, PSU) - £470 1.76MB Floppy - £55 Keyboard - £15 (All Blittersoft) Cyberstorm PPC604 200MHz / '040 25MHz - £750 (Blittersoft) 32MB SIMM - £120 (somewhere!) 2GB SCSI Internal HD - £240 (Gasteiner) 12x SCSI Internal CD - £113 (First) Internal SCSI Zip - £120? @{"b"}Total - £2183@{"ub"} Please note! The Zorro board has an A4000 CPU slot, so the Cyberstorm PPC is valid! The Mac is a PM8600, as listed in the ad, costing £2584... Amiga Setup Mac Setup CPU 604e/040 604e Speed 200MHz/25MHz 200MHz System RAM 32MB 32MB Video RAM 2MB 1MB? I/Faces Ultra wide SCSI, 5 Zorro3, 2 PCI, 4 SIMM, 2.5" IDE PCI, SCSI (Ultra wide?), SIMMs Floppy 1x 1.76, 1x 880k 1x 1.6MB Hard Drive 2GB SCSI 2GB SCSI CD ROM 12x SCSI 12x SCSI Zip Yes, SCSI Yes, SCSI Monitor Nope Nope Price £2183 £2584 Okay, so an equivalent system at £401 cheaper! With that, you could buy a nice Picasso IV card (or maybe wait for CyberVision PPC?), and still save £100. There are of course disdavantages. Firstly, you have the hassle of buying from loads of different places, and then sticking it together (although I imagine this could be rather fun, a bit like the best bit with Lego is building the thing... I mean, it's not as if we Amiga users are technophobes, is it?) Secondly, there isn't much in the way of PPC software at all, but that's gonna change, right? The Mac software wasn't ported to PPC in a day, you know. And consider this - putting together loads of different bits is usually more expensive than buying a complete system (like the above setup actually has a SCSI 2 and an Ultra wide SCSI!), just think of the saving of Direct's PowerAmiga over building it yourself - come on Amiga International! Completely new machines may take at least a year to do, but follow Direct's lead! You could bring us this super Amiga at less than £2170, surely? @{"b"}Amiga Set Up #2:@{"ub"} A1200 - £300 (First) Blizzard PPC603+ 200MHz / '040 25MHz - £450 (Blittersoft) 16MB SIMM - £60 (Gasteiner) 1.2GB 3.5" IDE Internal HD - £130 (Gasteiner) 8x SCSI External CD - £150? (Given that it is £180 with Squirrel from Gasteiner) 14" Monitor - £200 (Gasteiner) @{"b"}Total - £1140@{"ub"} The Mac is a PM4400, at £1291... Amiga Setup Mac Setup CPU 603e/040 603e Speed 200MHz/25MHz 200MHz System RAM 16MB 16MB Video RAM 2MB 1MB I/Faces SCSI 2, 1 SIMM, 2.5" IDE 1 PCI?, SCSI, SIMMs Floppy 1x 880k 1x 1.6MB Hard Drive 1.2GB 3.5" IDE 1.2GB SCSI CD ROM 8x SCSI 8x SCSI Zip No No Monitor 14" 15" Price £1290 £1291 Of course, admittedly it isn't always so clear cut. The Amiga has a DD drive, not HD, and an IDE Hard Drive, not SCSI, as well as slightly smaller Monitor (although the miggy has more VRAM). But then this is hardly surprising considering the way the we have had to do it. If we bought a SCSI hard drive, not only would there be no room for an internal one, but it would be a 'waste' of the IDE interface. A HD floppy would be easier if a machine was produced with it internally, rather than having an external one as well as the DD drive. And of course, there is £70 spent on an '040 which would be unnecessary when sufficient PPC software is available. Yes, the Mac has a PCI slot, but how many Macs do you know with graphics cards? Consider this as a set up for someone not wanting a gfx card, if you like. I think it is amazing that slap-together Amigas, with the already overprice £300 A1200, can compete so well. Of course, we do have an all-in-one Amiga in the form of Direct's PowerAmiga, but it's only '060 based. Given the prices of A1200 accelerators, they should be hopefully able to produce a 175MHz 603e with 50MHz '030 machine for around the same price, ie, £1500. So how would such a 'Mark 2' PowerAmiga compare? Again, a PM4400: Amiga Setup Mac Setup CPU 603e/030 603e Speed 175MHz/50MHz 200MHz System RAM 18MB 16MB Video RAM 4MB 1MB I/Faces SCSI 2, 1 SIMM, 2.5" IDE, Zorro PCI?, SCSI, SIMMs Floppy 1x 880k? 1x 1.6MB Hard Drive 1GB 3.5" IDE 1.2GB SCSI CD ROM 8x IDE 8x SCSI Zip No No Monitor 14" 15" Price £1500 £1291 Hang on a mo, that's not very good is it, being £209 dearer! Yes it is, as the Amiga has the lovely Picasso IV, while the Mac leaves its CPU to do all the hard graphics card... Okay, I don't know how Mac gfx cards compare to equivalently priced Amiga cards, but I know that they aren't as cheap as PC cards, despite being PCI, and looking at Mac ads, prices start at £300 minimum. ---------------------------------------- Okay, I'm not slagging off Macs for the sake of it - I admire Macs for not being PCs for a start, and I would love to emulate a Mac (I @{"i"}will@{"ui"} get ShapeShifter working). But if some advertisers think that we are gonna go and buy PowerMacs, then I hope they are completely wrong. PCs, yes, I can (sadly) understand, but not Macs. Hell, I hear Fusion will be ported to PowerPC, so with a PowerAmiga, you could at least emulate a PowerAmiga for £50, something you can't do the other way round. @{"b"}Mark@{"ub"} @endnode