Conference hydra::amiga_v1

    Re .0:
    
>   Can someone please direct me to a note on the Power PC Board by KCS?  I
>   checked the title list, but to no avail.  I'd like to get a good review
>   of its capabilities (is it as good as the hype?) and how it deals with
>   hard drives/data sharing to Amiga side (it doesn't multitask; so I
>   guess I'd need crossdos?).
    
    It looks like you just started one.  I looked seriously at the Power PC
    board, but I bought the ATonce instead.  Amiga World has done a writeup
    on PC-compatibility solutions in a recent issue, so look there also.
    
    Here's a comparison between the Power PC and the ATonce (from memory --
    don't hold me to all the details):
    				Power PC		ATonce
    	CPU			8086 (XT)		80286 (AT)
    	HW Installation		Replaces A501		Replaces M68000
    	Warranty impact		Unknown			Voids A500
    	Main Memory		640KB on-board		Up to 640KB (A500 RAM)
    	Expanded/Extended RAM	N/A			Both configurable
    	Hard Disk		Not supported		Up to 16 partitions
    	Floppy Disks		Up to 4			Up to 2
    	  3.5" vs 5.25"		Any mix			3.5" only
    	BIOS			Phoenix			custom
    	MS-DOS			V3.30 included		Not included
    	RS232			Not supported		COM1: or COM2:
    	Mouse			Unknown			Emulates MS mouse
    							on COM1: or COM2:
    	Parallel Printer	LPT0:			LPT0:
    	Video modes		At least CGA		CGA 4/8/16 color
    							EGA, VGA monochrome
    							Hercules, Toshiba
    
    	PC Compatibility	Reputedly EXCELLENT	GOOD to VERY GOOD
    	Multi-tasking		No			Yes, but uses bulk
    							of CHIP RAM.
    	Other Comments		Amiga World likes	I like ATonce, but
    				this product.		it's too "fragile".
    
    Though it's necessary to "play with" ATonce's configuration to make it
    do what I want, I've been pleased with its AT emulation.  As far as I
    can tell, one simply places the Power PC in the A501 bay and boots from
    its special floppy and everything else happens with a minimum of fuss. 
    For my own purposes, I'll opt for ATonce's flexibility.  Your mileage
    may vary.

    I brought the PC power board last Monday and aside from a few quirks
    it's been brilliant. The review in the previous note is out of date.
    The board now supports partitions of any size on a variety of the most
    popular h/disks. 
    I have a 32Mb partition on my 100Mb disk. I have my PC Power board
    configured to 16 dynamic colors in CGA mode (EGA and VGA expected Dec
    91) . 10.7Mhz Turbo mode is switched on. MSdos drive D: is a 192 Kb
    ramdisk.
    Screen updating is incredibly fast , I quite often play INDY500 and 
    still crash the motor ( cos I can't play the game). Sound is just like
    a Normal PC (Awful). The mouse is supported by applications like
    Nortons and others. A mouse driver comes with the product.
    Sysinfo (in Nortons) rates the card at 2.8x the speed of an XT.
    According to a magazine review, this is exactly the same as AT Once.
    Updates and enchancments are supplied on 2 floppies. One in amigados
    the other in MSdos.
    I have tried to crash the card (intensley) and it just won't.
    It appears to be incredibly resilliant to this type of abuse.
    In conclusion, it gives me EXACTLY what I want PC compatibility for a
    reasonable cost. I love it.
    Very quickly before I go, KCS and the manufacturers of AT-Once talk to
    each other quite often. Apparently the At-Once people are working on a
    386 version which only gives a increase over the original of 10%.
    One last benchtest figure is from the program Mips.Com which returns an
    overall speed of 0.68mips.
    
    Regards.
    
    
    Dave.
    

    That's funny.  I have a spec sheet from Supra that says the Power PC
    board supports Hercules, CGA, VGA and MCA monochrome, three hard
    drives, had 1MB of memory on the board and supports external
    expansions, supports parallel and serial connections, and does not void
    warranty. 
    
    I'm not trying to sound cocky...believe me, the spec sheet doesn't
    really say much.  I'm just wondering if they changed the
    specifications, or if there's another version out, or if Supra lied? 
    Well, I guess I should rephrase my question:  Does anyone know anything
    about it beyond the spec sheet, especially hands-on (installed)
    experience?
    
    I just ordered my hard drive, so I can't afford it for a while. 
    Otherwise, I would post a review after I get it!
    
    Thanks again, 
    
    Mike

    Ok, so I should have read all new notes before replying.
    
    Mr. Moderator, I believe it would be appropriate to move this on the
    Power PC base note.
    
    More questoins to .0:
    
    How is data sharing between the Amiga and the PC?  I'm assuming you'd
    have to use CrossDos to read the IBM partition?  Can the IBM side read
    Amiga files off the partition at all?  
    
    It sounds like the Power PC is exactly what I want...but, I have to be
    able to transfer files.
    
    Also, how flexible is the software implementation?  You said that they
    include a mouse driver.  I'm wondering how easy it would be to write
    other drivers for it, for instance if anyone finally gets off their
    butt and makes an ethernet add-on for the 500, I'd like to run TCP/IP
    on the IBM to network.  Etc.
    
    Maybe I ask too much...
    
    Again thanks for the input.
    
    Mike

    I'm looking seriously at the KCS Power PC also.  Their latest spec
    sheet says that it's basically an XT emulator that runs at 11 MHz.
    Fine for me.
    
    Questions, though:
    
    1)	The brochure says that it supports up to 3 hard disks, but doesn't
    	say anything about floppies.  Anyone hang floppies on this thing
    	yet?
    
    2)	The version they show is for the 500; there's a 2000 version
    	available also.  Has anyone tried it?
    
    	The price is certainly right!!  My local Amiga dealer has the
    	2000 version for $289.00.
    
    			Vernon
    

    Does anyone have any information on a PC Power board with EGA and
    VGA video modes as this seems to be exactly what I am looking for.