Amiga MA Magazine 1998 #6/amigamamagazinepolishissue1998.iso/www/cucug/amiga/amiinfo/reviews/toasteroven.txt

Internet Message Format | 1997-11-07 | 13KB

Path: rcfnews.cs.umass.edu!barrett
From: [e-mail] (Andre Perusse)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.reviews
Subject: REVIEW: Toaster Oven 4000GT tower case for Amiga 4000T
Followup-To: comp.sys.amiga.hardware
Date: 16 Jun 1995 15:45:05 GMT
Organization: The Amiga Online Review Column - ed. Daniel Barrett
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Reply-To: [e-mail] (Andre Perusse)
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Keywords: hardware, tower case, A4000, commercial
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PRODUCT NAME

    Toaster Oven 4000GT


BREIF DESCRIPTION

    A VERY LARGE tower case for Amiga 4000 computers.


COMPANY INFORMATION

    Name:        Anti-Gravity Products
    Address:    456 Lincoln Boulevard
            Santa Monica, CA  90402
    Telephone:    [phone]
    Fax:        [phone]

    The entire Toaster Oven series is manufactured by Ambitious
Technologies.

    Note: I was working for an Amiga dealer at the time that I ordered
this unit.  I actually bought it from the dealer that I worked for.


LIST PRICE

    I don't know what it lists for, but I paid $1599.00 CDN (about $1150
US) for the 4000GT.  And if you live outside the USA, be prepared to pay a
hefty shipping charge.


SPECIAL HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS

    HARDWARE

        You must supply a desktop Amiga 4000 computer.

    SOFTWARE

        None.


MACHINE USED FOR TESTING

    Amiga 4000 w/Warp Engine 4040
    34MB RAM
    Workbench 3.0
    Video Toaster/Flyer w/2 x 9GB Hard Drives


REVIEW

    The Toaster Oven is essentially a tower case for Amiga 4000
computers.  To assemble your 4000 Tower, you move all of the components from
your desktop 4000 into the new Tower Case.  This encompasses moving the
motherboard, daughter card, hard drive(s), floppy drive(s), Zorro and PC
cards, and the Processor Card.  Additionally, the drive bay cover on the
dektop's 3.5" drive bay must be used on the Toaster Oven to cover its unused
3.5" drive bay (unless, of course, you have another 3.5" device that must
remain uncovered).

    The 4000GT is apparently the interim replacement for the GT-4400
which has been advertised (for quite some time, I might add) by Anti-Gravity
in North American Amiga magazines.  In fact, when I was first trying to order
the GT-4400, the salesperson didn't know what I was talking about.  He was
only familiar with the basic Toaster Oven model and didn't realize that his
company had been advertising the GT-4400 for months.  (The GT-4400 was a
larger version of the basic Toaster Oven with more drive bays and a more
powerful Power Supply Unit.)  Upon trying to place an order for this unit, I
was met with several delays.  Granted, Anti-Gravity never committed to a
shipping date although I was told more than once that it "should" be ready
next week.  I was not too upset over the delays, but I would think twice
before ordering something from Anti-Gravity that I needed in a hurry.  (As a
side note, I had ordered two units as I was working for an Amiga dealer at
the time; i.e., I had ordered them as a dealer, not as a consumer.)
Eventually, I was told that they could finally ship a model called the
4000GT, which was "essentially" the same thing.

    Let me start off by stating that this unit is HUGE.  It is all metal
(not plastic) and it measures 2.5 feet tall by 9 inches wide by 20 inches
deep.  The unit comes with casters but I chose not to install them.  They
would have added about 2 inches to the height of the unit.  On the front,
there is room for 2 half-height 3.5" drives and 5 half-height 5.25" drives.
A removable metal door covers these bays.  Internally, there is room for 11
(eleven!) half-height 5.25" drives (they mount on their sides).  That's a
lot of bays (and the main reason why I spent the big bucks for this unit).
The base unit comes with a pitiful 250 watt power supply.  When you're
talking about putting several 9 GB A/V drives in this Tower, a 250 watt PSU
is rather puny.  I was expecting a 400 watt PSU like I had tried to order
(the specs for the GT-4400 had it listed as standard).  Because I didn't get
the EXACT specifications for the new 4000GT (I assumed they were virtually
identical to the GT-4400), I wasn't aware that a 250 watt PSU was standard.
I can't put the blame entirely on Anti-Gravity for this one, although
selling this large a tower with anything less than a 400 watt PSU does not
make sense to me.  A large fan is located on the front inside of the unit
(like the 3000T, only much larger) in addition to the fan of the Power
Supply.  The much advertised "Big Ethyl Sisterboard" never did make it into
this unit (I knew this when I ordered it, however, so it was no surprise).

    Included with the unit is a different sisterboard, which allows you
to add 6 cards that fit into a PC XT slot.  These slots do not provide any
communication to the computer - they are powered slots only.  They are meant
for such cards as TBC's and other assorted video-related cards.  The
advantage here is that these slots are isolated from the Zorro slots.  The
sisterboard also contains the new video slot.  This relocates video cards
(such as the Toaster) so they are no longer in-line with a Zorro slot.


INSTALLATION

    [MODERATOR'S NOTE:  If you are not comfortable opening up your
    Amiga, then you should have the work done by an authorized Amiga
    service center or a competent service technician.  Opening your Amiga
    yourself may void your warranty, and careless work may even damage
    the machine.  - Dan]

The assembly of the ToasterOven proceeded as follows:

    1.  Disassemble desktop 4000.  Completely.  Unscrew and unplug
everything.

    2.  Secure motherboard to ToasterOven chassis.  The motherboard is
mounted vertically, with the Mouse ports facing straight down.  Two
internal cables are provided to re-route the mouse ports to the back of the
chassis.  This places the mouse ports above the serial port.

    3.  Secure processor card (in my case a Warp Engine) and attach all
motherboard cables (IDE, Floppy, SCSI, Motherboard Power, Keyboard Lock
Jumper, LED jumpers)

    4.  Attach provided "sister board" to second level "daughterboard
platform" (a sheet metal plate).  This platform is secured about 3 inches
from the motherboard.  Once the platform is secured to the chassis, getting
at the motherboard is a real pain.  If you want to have an external
connector for your SCSI port, it would be a good idea to install it BEFORE
securing this platform.  Also, pulling the sisterboard power cable through
the large slot in the platform should be done now.

    5.  Install provided daughtercard extender.  This relocates the CBM
daughtercard to the same platform as mentioned is step four (the
daughtercard lies alongside the sisterboard).  From here, two small ribbon
cables relocate the video slot to the sister board.  By doing this, the
Zorro slot that is in-line with the video slot becomes available.  And if
you have a Video Toaster, the adjoining Zorro slot is also freed up.
Confused yet?

    6.  Install drives (floppy, hard disk, CD-ROM, etc.).  Actually, I
found that it made more sense to install all the drives FIRST.  Because of
the way the the internal drive bays are arranged, drives are easier to
secure if they are done first.  Otherwise, the daughterboard platform gets
in the way.

    7.  Install Zorro/PC cards.  I found this to be very aggravating.  The
daughtercard platform is too far away from the side of the chassis that you
install the cards on.  This results in cards not being seated properly.
The cards do not make good contact and are prone to popping out.  This can
be remedied with the skillful use of a round file.  There is a card bracket
(the piece of metal where you actually screw your expansion cards into)
which is held in place by screws.  If you use a file to enlarge the screw
holes just a little bit, you can move the bracket a fraction of an inch
closer to the daughtercard platform.  Expansion cards will now fit better.

    The kit was fairly complete, but it needed more than a little work to
make things fit properly.  First, the drive bay that is intended for the
floppy drive does not have the screw holes drilled in the right position.
You must drill four new holes through the sheet metal so that you can
position and secure your floppy drive properly.  Additionally, the large fan
in one of the 4000GTs made a horrible whine as it resonated against the
chassis.  I remedied this by placing rubber foam between the fan and the
chassis (an hour-long operation due to the way the fan is secured to the
chassis).  The other unit did not exhibit this problem.  The ToasterOven
4000GT came with all the screws I needed and most of the extension cables.
You will have to fabricate your own hard drive activity LED cable and your
own Keyboard Lock cable, however (the cables from the desktop are too
short).  And if you're like me and installed all of your Video Toaster Flyer
hard drives inside the case, you'll need to have custom SCSI cables made.

    This unit did not come with an LED display either.  There was a spot
on the front of the unit for it, but it just wasn't included.


DOCUMENTATION

    A seven page manual details how to put everything together.  It is
sufficient, but hardly a professional job.  There are several diagrams
which help, but there are too few that illustrate "how" to do something.
Many intricate details are lacking and the user must examine things
carefully before proceeding.  For the amount of money I paid for the
4000GT, this manual should have been many times better.


LIKES

    I like the fact that I can put everything inside of this box.  It is
big and sturdy.  The option to put casters on the unit is also nice.  Extra
holes are provided on the back of the chassis to allow for external
connectors (SCSI ports, other I/O ports).  When closed, the small metal door
muffles the sound of the fan and makes things a little less noisy.


DISLIKES

    One thing that was particularly disappointing about the unit was the
lack of an LED display.  Yes, I know they are fairly useless but there was a
big gaping hole where it was supposed to go.  The transparent red plastic
cover was provided, however (cute, but I was not impressed).  A minor
complaint is the organization of everything.  Many screws are in positions
that are near impossible to get to (how did they get there in the first
place?).  However, I have yet to see a case that was completely accessible.

    The 250 watt PSU is a real bummer, too.  Make sure that you order the
PSU that you want.  And have a drill and metal file handy when you assemble
the 4000GT.

    For a unit that cost this much money, it should have been done
better.  Paying $1150 US for a CASE is insane enough without having to drill
holes in it.


COMPARISON TO OTHER SIMILAR PRODUCTS

    The only other product that I have seen in this same category is the
Commodore-made Amiga 4000T.  The A4000T has an extra Zorro slot (for a total
of 5) and 2 video slots, which is nice.  However, the A4000T doesn't have
anywhere near the storage capacity of the ToasterOven 4000GT.  Additionally,
adding a Video Toaster to the A4000T covers up BOTH video slots (and their
in-line Zorro slots).  This is not the case with the 4000GT, which separates
the video slot from the Zorro slots.  Also, adding an accelerator card to
the A4000T is difficult as a drive platform covers the processor slot.  I
had to cut a hole in this platform in order to fit a Warp Engine into an
A4000T.  There is plenty of room in the ToasterOven for a processor card,
and no cutting is required.

    I have heard about a new Tower case by a different manufacturer which
provides 7 Zorro slots.  As far as I'm concerned, you can never have too
many Zorro slots.


WARRANTY

    There is a one-year warranty on all electronic components.


CONCLUSIONS

    If you want to have your Flyer system completely enclosed in one box
(and have fairly deep pockets), the 4000GT is for you.  It has its
problems, but I for one am quite (though not 100%) satisfied with it.


COPYRIGHT NOTICE

    This article is Copyright 1995 by Andre Perusse.

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