Conference hydra::amiga_v1

    Randy, check out the note called 'Abel Supply Price List' or some
    such.  Abel is still selling hardware at 5% over cost, which is
    remarkable.  I have heard nothing but rave reviews from everyone
    who has ordered from them.
    
    Several Plinkers are using the Supra drives ($730@20 megs, $933@30
    megs) and they report that the Supra runs almost as fast as a Ram
    Disk.  Plus, the Supra SCSI adaptor looks pretty slick.  I have
    contacted several Supra/Starboard users who report no compatibility
    problems whatsoever.
    
    Early C-Ltd drives were reported to malfunction with certain versions
    of the Amiga PAL chips.  Lots of name-calling and finger pointing
    went on about the problem.  C-Ltd has re-released the SCSI
    board/software and is supposedly working well now.
    
    The PAL and PAL Jr. from Byte-By-Byte seem to be the guys to beat.
    They are presently using true DMA, and the PAL benchmarked in at
    substantially better speeds than the others.
    
    I am still waiting for the definitive hard disk review to appear
    in Amazing Computing before I shell out any more money, but the
    Supra or Pal seems like a sure thing if you can't wait.
    
    Ed.
    

    
    	I just bought a PAL through Abel supply. It is great !!!! 
    The PAL is every thing one could ask for. I called up byte by byte
    and asked about the price and availablity. Then I called Abel and
    Abel beat the direct price by at least 30%. Abel told me they don't
    stock PAL systems but could get me one. As far as I can tell Abel
    ordered the PAL from byte by byte. Three days later Abel called
    me that they just got the PAL and asked how I wanted it shipped
    and told me the exact day it would arrive for each shipping method.
    I asked for it to be shipped second day air. Abel shipped it that
    day. Total it took about one week.
    
    	The PAL came in a very big box and was packed very well ( no
    news paper or foam peanuts, special cut foam rubber and compartments
    for each part. The PAL came with the disk, controller and cables
    installed. I put it on the AMIGA and inserted the staple ( a plastic
    unit that connects the AMIGA box to the PAL "]" ). I then plugged
    the AMIGA power into the back of the PAL box. Turned it on and booted
    the PAL with the suppied floppies ( kick and Workbench V1.2 ). The
    workbench then assigned everything to the disk and the system came
    up on the HARD DISK ( yes, they had formatted and put Amigados 1.2
    on the hard disk at the factory ).
    	The disk is very fast. It came with software to format the hard
    disk and partition it. You can split the disk into as many as 4
    parts and any size ( came as one large disk ). The instructions
    tell you how to add more drives of any size ( even an example for
    a Seagate ST225 ). The disk controller is limited to 4 drives with
    space and power in the box for three half height 5 1/4" drives.
    One of the three was filled with the drive that came with the system.
    	The PAL also comes with 1 Meg fast RAM. It sits at a fixed address
    but is auto-seen by Amigados 1.2 . There is a switch to disable
    it.
    	The box has space for 5 Zorro I cards. The disk takes one (
    4 left ). The memory hides inside some where.
    
    	Any questions ????
    
    		Steve Peters
    
    P.S. I've been loading floppies into it for hours..
    

    How many dollars old chap?

    
    	I forgot one other big feature. The PAL comes with a battery
    backed up clock. One line in the startup sequence and no more setting
    time.
    
    RE .3
    
    	The PAL with 20 MB disk is about $2300.00 and with 40 MB the
    PAL is about $2900.00 .
    
    

re .3

Why didn't you get the PAL JR. ?
what was in the extra $900 ?

Come autumn I may consider one of the Byte-by-Byte products.

Dave

    
    	The PAL SR has 5 Zerro slots ( One used for the disk controller
    ). The PAL Jr. has two slots, One for disk and one for memory.
    
    
    	I got the PAL Sr because I already have two ASDG memory boards.
    I also have a couple Zerro wire wrap cards.
    
    
    	If I had it all to do again, I would get a PAL Jr.
    
    
    		Steve