In effect, the Intrinsic system is a case for external hard drives, complete with power supply. The fact that it looks like a mini PC Tower case (because that is exactly what it is) is irrelevant. Open up the case and you'll see that it is empty apart from the PSU and any drives which are fitted. The A1200 is not re-located into the case, and there are no ZorroII slots or further expansion options.

The advantages of the Intrinsic Tower are obvious. Fitting one 3.5" IDE hard drive into an A1200 is just about possible, given the right leads and some DIY skills. However, this approach doesn't appeal to everyone. With the Intrinsic tower, it's easy to mount hard drives and you also get the benefit of a beefy power supply. Even better, it's possible to add a CD-ROM drive using the ATAPI IDE software (as featured in the July issue AF86).

The Tower case supplied to us came complete with a 1Gb IDE hard drive, and a Quad speed CD-ROM drive. Connecting the tower to the Amiga requires that the A1200 casing be opened. A short cable is attached to the internal 44pin IDE connector, and brought out of the left hand side of the case. The tower sits next to the A1200, and it's own trailing IDE connect is attached.

A gang connector is supplied to make it easy to switch on both the Amiga and the tower simultaneously, and if all goes well the Amiga should boot up into Workbench 3. The installed ATAPI software should detect the CD-ROM drive, and if necessary, it can also convert the A1200 temporarily into a CD32 for playing games.

As features go, that is about all which can be said. The tower makes it easy to add extra drives, and that includes CD-ROM mechanisms. The price might seem a little high (�419.99 for the system described here), but you do get everything you need: sound leads (CD-ROM audio is brought to the rear of the case), power leads, IDE connectors, software and brief instructions. Intrinsic can also supply kits to suit your exact specification, so if you already have a hard drive you won't need to pay for a new one.