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@remark Converted with HTML2Guide ©1997 Mark Harman
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@{"b"}New Amiga Clones@{"ub"}  

Whatever Gateway 2000 may have up their sleeve, other companies are eager to develop Amiga compatibles in various formations. You can read more about some of these (A\BOX, Direct's PowerAmiga and PIOS) in the main articles, but here's just a brief summary.  

We've already had the Draco (although compatibility was limited due to a lack of AGA), and the A1200Ts from Eagle.  

Now Direct 'Software' are doing the following based around an A1200T: 
    	
    50MHz 68060 
    	
    16MB Fast RAM, 2MB Chip RAM 
    	
    64bit Picasso IV Card (4MB Video RAM) 
    	
    1GB Hard Drive 
    	
    8x CD ROM  

All for  £1500! A new 'mark 2' version should be PowerPC based.  

Micronik have released a whole load of Towers for the A1200, including one which, with SCSI 2 and an A4000 CPU slot will basically convert your A1200 completely into an A4000. And of course, they now have a license from AI, making these 'official' Amigas rather than dubious clones... hopefully more licenses will  follow!  

Then there are the systems from Index Information. The Access should have been released by the time you read this, and is based around a modified A1200 motherboard. Features list: 
    	
    Half height tower case 
    	
    Choice of floppy or LS120 (like the Zip) 
    	
    Choice of CD ROM or hard drive 
    	
    3.5" IDE i/face 
    	
    Chip RAM access is 30% faster 
    	
    2 or 8MB Fast RAM 
    	
    15pin VGA output 
    	
    Sound sampler 
    	
    ISA slot supplied with modem or Ethernet card 
    	
    Standard A1200 ROMs, and a 256k Flash ROM  

Clearly, these machines are not intended for home use, but for  multimedia purposes. By the end of 1997, the Connect and InsideOut systems should be released. Features: 
    @{"b"}Connect:@{"ub"} 
    	
    Baby AT size motherboard 
    	
    A4000 compatible 
    	
    '040/'060 processor 
    	
    2MB Chip and up to 128MB Fast RAM 
    	
    4 Zorro3 slots, 4 ISA slots, 1 Amiga video slot 
    	
    4 IDE devices 
    	
    CD ROM audio input and mixer 
    	
    Systems starting from £600-£700 
    
    @{"b"}InsideOut:@{"ub"} 
    	
    Compatible with all Workbench apps 
    	
    RISC processor performance 
    	
    Full retarg to 1280x1024 display in 24bit 
    	
    Optional 3D Accelerator card 
    	
    Fully implemented PCI bus with wide software support 
    	
    TCP/IP and NetBIOS network support 
    	
    Complete system around £1000   

Additionally, when Gateway 2000 were showed an InsideOut prototype after the WOA press conference, 'a lot of jaws dropped'. Index should be second after Micronik to receive an Amiga license.  

PIOS should be releasing their pOS/BeOS/etc PowerPC clone sometime...  

Phase 5 say their A\BOX will be out early 1998 (I thought they  said early 1997!?!). But PowerPC cards are at last available, and they will be releasing the Caipirinha chipset in the form of a graphics card for existing Amigas later this year!   
 
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