Floppyshop 2/Floppyshop - 2.zip/Floppyshop - 2.iso/diskmags/0022-3.564/dmg-0130/news.txt/at_speed.asc

Text File | 1997-04-16 | 11KB | 171 lines

                              AT Speed C16

Hands up all who have been there ! you have some money to spend on a new
computer but exactly how do you make the most of it ?

Well some may opt for an Amiga - plenty of marketing hype to persuade you
and the machine can't be all that bad as the Neighbours Hotel "Lassiters"
operates on one and if Paul Robinson thinks they are OK, then who am I to
argue. You may well opt for a Mackintosh, a SAM or an Archimedes -  in my
case the decision was between an STe or a PC of some description. As you
are reading this article, the likelihood is that your decision was to opt
for an Atari and for sheer versatility must have made the right decision,
because where else do you get the ease of the GEM desktop with the power
of Superbase, Protext, Calamus etc, with the fun of the many Games,
Flight Sims and Adventures and all at a reasonably affordable price,
however the drawback arises if you happen to use a PC at work or College.

Yes - the STe does format to MS-DOS and can read PC disks BUT to operate
your Work or College software properly you do need an Emulator or a full
blown PC. In my case I really didn't have the desk space to fit yet
another machine, PC Ditto works but runs very S L O W L Y so I had to
look for an Emulator with a performance to match todays technology,
software was obviously out so a Hardware Emulator it had to be and after
scouring the magazines I came to the side of AT Speed C16 from Compo
Software.

AT Speed is an Emulator utilising an 80286 CPU and the C16 version runs
at 16Mhz. Emulation extends not only to the operating system but also to
screen drivers as well - with a Med Rez Monitor you will Emulate a CGA
Graphics Card giving a screen resolution of 320 x 200 pixels in 4
colours, 640 x 200 in 2 colours or text mode of 16 colours or in TANDY
mode with 16 colour graphics. With the SM 124 Hi Rez Monitor, the whole
world opens up with Emulation from CGA, Hercules, Hyper Hercules, EGA
Mono and VGA Mono - wow all this from an Atari ?

AT Speed is a board on which is mounted an 80286 microprocessor running
at 16 Mhz, a mount for an optional 80C287 maths coprocessor, a system
disk to switch on AT Speed and two disks containing the very highly rated
DR DOS (all PC's require an operating system to be installed on boot up
and DR DOS is an excellent program). The board is soldered piggy back to
the 68000 chip on the Atari models which use the 80 x 25mm Motorola chip
and these include the STFM and  ST's, the newer STe's utilise an adaptor
board (extra) which plugs directly into the 1" x 1" square 68000 chips
eliminating the need for soldering and theoretically making the
installation much easier, and if you are the proud owner of a Mega, a
speed bridge is available which again eliminates the use of the soldering
iron in your beloved machine.

When installed, a very short program switches on the 80286 and turns off
the 68000 and your machine not only thinks its a PC, IT IS a PC, a full
blown 80286 running at 16 Mhz and prompting you to insert the DOS Disk,
albeit in German. The illusion is also very real, you insert the dBase 3+
disk then load up the files saved from college and not only does the
program perform exactly the same as the networked Nimbus's, it runs
faster and the Atari SM124 screen is streets ahead of the dusty old
equipment College has to offer. Ok - the theory is fine, what happens in
the real world ?

My machine is an STe and therefore to use AT Speed I had to adopt the
Adaptor Board as the interface to the Motorola 68000, my machine is also
inside the warranty period so EXTREME care had to be taken at all stages
of the operation. In theory, all I had to do was plug AT Speed into the
Adapter board then connect the Adapter board 'piggy back' onto the 68000
Motorola chip and this is where problem one starts. There are 64 VERY
fine pins which have to fit into 64 very tight holes around the CPU mount
and this is not easy, if any of the pins are bent as was the case with
mine then you have an extremely delicate job of positioning the board
above the CPU and when confidence is present that all is correct, it is
one heck of a job to push home the pins into the receiving mount, however
as I mentioned earlier, the instructions call for mounting the AT Speed
board onto the Adapter and this is just not possible and I found
connection had to be made when the Adapter was in place, it is however
imperative for reliable operation that all connections are complete and
all pins are pushed fully home so a small pair of pliers had to be used
to ensure AT Speed was completely mated.

As there are many versions of the ST it is not possible to offer a
complete review of fitting and my comments are relative to my STe with
the 1.62 TOS but as far as fitting was concerned, after the difficulties
encountered mounting the boards, my troubles were not yet over as the
fitting of the board does mean that space under the keyboard is very
tight and refitting the Atari case is something of a delicate operation,
however all is now installed, the machine is booted up and the switcher
program run and my new IBM AT clone - doesn't work !

I think a company can be rated by the quality of the product and also by
backup provided when problems occur and in my case the problems were many
due in part to installation with a few bent pins, two of which had failed
to enter the receiving holes in the mount, and when this was sorted it
was found that a degree of incompatibility was present with the STe and
with a few minor modifications the emulator works perfectly. As far as
the distributors, Compo are concerned I can only offer praise to all,
particularly Neal O'nions who helped, rang back when he promised and
overall gave me the confidence to persevere and resolve the problems in
hand - 10 out of 10 Compo. The problem area in my case was the Adapter
board and Compo are currently looking at alternative designs which will
make mounting easier and much more reliable, I should be able to report
any improvements shortly as Neal has promised to send one through for
evaluation and to replace my still dodgy Adapter.

So how do I rate the AT Speed C16 Emulator ? well if you are looking
solely for an industry standard machine then buy an AT clone with EGA or
VGA resolution and look no further, however if you like your Atari but
need to process your work at home, then AT Speed C16 is an ideal
companion, handling Databases, Spreadsheets, Wordprocessors etc just as
the Office or College machines. Screen emulation is important for games
or "Windows" applications and although I have not tried Microsoft
Windows, I understand the program works well under emulation (watch out
GEM), nor have I had the opportunity to run the program with a DTP
package to test the EGA/VGA modes so again I will reserve comments
possibly 'till a later date. For the purpose for which I fitted the
Emulator, I can only say the hardware is excellent and well worth the
investment - a small reservation would be that under emulation my STe
seems to run hotter but whether that is pure imagination I can only
guess. There is available for the Emulator a maths co-processor to speed
up operations involving many calculations and Compo do say that these
will cause and increase in power consumption, again I cannot comment as
yet but would certainly look forward to an opportunity to try one in the
near future and again if I do get one will report back.

Operation in either Atari or AT mode is simple. By default, your machine
is an Atari, but by booting up with the disk supplied and configured to
your requirements, your machine becomes an AT and to switch back just
press Control/Alternate/Insert and the GEM desktop appears. If you chose
you can have the AT setup program as an Accessory and switching both ways
is instant. Screen mode switching is just as simple although only
relevant in graphics mode, to change from CGA (320 x 200) to Olivetti
(640 x 400), from DOS just run vidmod/oli (supplied with the AT Speed
installation Disk) and the screen emulation is altered. One restriction
to  screen switching, it is not possible to enter VGA or EGA mode when
the program has been set up in a lower resolution as these modes require
more memory, so by default I always start in EGA and from there can move
to any resolution should I so desire. Sounds complicated ? well yes it is
unless you have a regular daily diet of IBM machines, however to help you
on your way the AT Speed manual is 68 pages long and I for one found
progress through the pages easy-ish although one or two points were
skimped and the section on DR DOS 5 only amounts to 20 pages and to
supplement this did find the purchase of a book was not only useful but
to get the most out of your new machine, almost vital.

Now for the grumbles, call me picky if you wish but things computer are
never cheap and when you pay out lots of crisp fivers, anything short of
perfection should not be accepted. Installation to my STe was not easy
and would recommend the use of a dealer who offers a fitting service. My
Atari does also tend to run hotter when in AT mode although to no ill
effects and on the graphics front have not really had any satisfactory
results in VGA mode, however this I am told is because in this mode there
are many options including Black & White as well as Mono ! and hitting
the right one has not in the short time I have driven an AT been my
forte. DR DOS 5, although good is not the industry standard, however it
is a good operating system and the competitors of Compo leave you to
source your own DOS.

How do I rate AT Speed C16 - nothing short of excellent, it fulfils all I
required - a good IBM clone AND an STe all in one footprint and if your
requirements are similar to mine then get one, needless to say two weeks
after you do there will be a 386 clone on the market - that's computers
for you.

STOP PRESS. Just received from Compo, a replacement adapter board with
all STe mods fitted - still a pig to fit but runs cooler and with none of
the incompatibility problems of the Mk 1 board. I am also informed that
the co-processor will not run happily unless I re-sight my STe within a
tower system to achieve maximum cooling - ah well that's computing.

For information on your local dealer contact Neal O'nions. Compo Software
Ltd. 7, Vinegar Hill. Alconbury Weston. Huntigdon. Combs. PE17 5JA.
tel [phone].
                                                                 Dave C.