The Amiga MIDI Myth - Atari ST vs Amiga War

[legendCNCD]

I went straight from an Atari 800XL (which got me through the first two years of college for things like word processing) to a Mac SE, skipping the Amiga.

You did not skip anything, more like went back in time

[stoopicus]

I went straight from an Atari 800XL (which got me through the first two years of college for things like word processing) to a Mac SE, skipping the Amiga.

You did not skip anything, more like went back in time

Nah, first Amiga (the 1000?) came out in '85 or '86, my Mac SE came out in '87

[legendCNCD]

I went straight from an Atari 800XL (which got me through the first two years of college for things like word processing) to a Mac SE, skipping the Amiga.

You did not skip anything, more like went back in time

Nah, first Amiga (the 1000?) came out in '85 or '86, my Mac SE came out in '87

Yeah, true, but technologically the mac was far behind in every aspect back then.

[stoopicus]

I went straight from an Atari 800XL (which got me through the first two years of college for things like word processing) to a Mac SE, skipping the Amiga.

You did not skip anything, more like went back in time

Nah, first Amiga (the 1000?) came out in '85 or '86, my Mac SE came out in '87

Yeah, true, but technologically the mac was far behind in every aspect back then.

Well, except the CPU (the SE had an 8MHz 68k, the Amiga 2000 a 7MHz 68k); the RAM (they were the same), the storage (the Mac SE had a 20MB hard drive; the Amiga 2000 shipped with just a floppy), etc etc. The Amiga only won on graphics really. OS was kind of a toss-up (MacOS System 5 vs AmigaOS 1.2, neither were super great).

The Amiga 500 had somewhat worse specs, especially RAM. But it was the best buy for Amiga at the time. Remember, this was 1987, it was a while until the 1200 came out, and this was AmigaOS 1.2 timeframe.

The Mac was a lot more expensive though, for sure.

[Tj Shredder]

I went straight from an Atari 800XL (which got me through the first two years of college for things like word processing) to a Mac SE, skipping the Amiga.

You did not skip anything, more like went back in time

Nah, first Amiga (the 1000?) came out in '85 or '86, my Mac SE came out in '87

The first Mac was 1984… 1 1/2 years before the first ST and Amiga…
I went from an Apple ][ compatible to a Gepard, which was a 68000 based Computer that used an Apple ][ as terminal. No GUI though. My first Mac was a II ci in pieces. I got hold of a motherboard and put it in my own case…

[syntonica]

The first Mac was 1984… 1 1/2 years before the first ST and Amiga…

Mac was late to the color party. 1987, Mac II. For over $3,000!

Atari: Power without the Price!
Me: Apparently it also comes with a hideous green splotch of a desktop. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ oh well, I'll manage.

I still miss the Busy Bee...

[legendCNCD]

I went straight from an Atari 800XL (which got me through the first two years of college for things like word processing) to a Mac SE, skipping the Amiga.

You did not skip anything, more like went back in time

Nah, first Amiga (the 1000?) came out in '85 or '86, my Mac SE came out in '87

Yeah, true, but technologically the mac was far behind in every aspect back then.

Well, except the CPU (the SE had an 8MHz 68k, the Amiga 2000 a 7MHz 68k); the RAM (they were the same), the storage (the Mac SE had a 20MB hard drive; the Amiga 2000 shipped with just a floppy), etc etc. The Amiga only won on graphics really. OS was kind of a toss-up (MacOS System 5 vs AmigaOS 1.2, neither were super great).

The Amiga 500 had somewhat worse specs, especially RAM. But it was the best buy for Amiga at the time. Remember, this was 1987, it was a while until the 1200 came out, and this was AmigaOS 1.2 timeframe.

The Mac was a lot more expensive though, for sure.

Sure they had hdd, but the thing is I've used them next to each other. Amiga won hand down in everything. Especially audio

Anyway, I had hdd's too.

[stoopicus]

Well, of course the Amiga was 12% slower. And if it was a 500 it probably had less RAM.

On the other hand the Mac had a 512x342 monochrome display that couldn’t be upgraded, which did indeed easily get beaten by the Amiga, assuming a good monitor.

Sound wise I was driving synths and drum machines via MIDI so the mac did just fine there

[seafire]

I remember the A600 had something like 32 million colours, way more than any other computer at the time.

[legendCNCD]

I remember the A600 had something like 32 million colours, way more than any other computer at the time.

Nope. 4096 palette. But you could put multiple add-ons which got you 24bit framebuffers, effects etc. Yeah even into A500/600, but the best would need A2000 at least as they were zorro cards.

[legendCNCD]

Well, of course the Amiga was 12% slower. And if it was a 500 it probably had less RAM.

On the other hand the Mac had a 512x342 monochrome display that couldn’t be upgraded, which did indeed easily get beaten by the Amiga, assuming a good monitor.

Sound wise I was driving synths and drum machines via MIDI so the mac did just fine there

Yeah, I had A500 with 3MB memory and 21MB HDD. The A590+ controller and 21MB HDD cost about 2000FIM, the 2MB on top of it almost the same Phew.

Too bad the HDD died after a year, I lost a lot of tracks, but the good thing was A590+ had also SCSI controller, not just mfm-XT! Quantum 52MB replaced it, though it was a hoooot HOT HOT drive.

[seafire]

I remember the A600 had something like 32 million colours, way more than any other computer at the time.

Nope. 4096 palette. But you could put multiple add-ons which got you 24bit framebuffers, effects etc. Yeah even into A500/600, but the best would need A2000 at least as they were zorro cards.

Hmm, maybe it was the A1200 then, 16 million. I just remember being at a pals house watching it being reviewed on TV, and how smug he was when the colour numbers were revealed.

I never used it for games or graphics myself, my pal did tho, Deluxe Paint, and some program that would take days to do a 3D render

[syntonica]

Quantum 52MB replaced it, though it was a hoooot HOT HOT drive.

The aptly named Fireball!

[stoopicus]

Hmm, maybe it was the A1200 then, 16 million. I just remember being at a pals house watching it being reviewed on TV, and how smug he was when the colour numbers were revealed.

Are you maybe thinking of an Amiga with a Video Toaster? The toaster had a 24-bit palette.

For a few years that combined system *did* blow away competitors for graphics and video production (at least at standard def), but was eventually supplanted by PC video cards.

[seafire]

Hmm, maybe it was the A1200 then, 16 million. I just remember being at a pals house watching it being reviewed on TV, and how smug he was when the colour numbers were revealed.

Are you maybe thinking of an Amiga with a Video Toaster? The toaster had a 24-bit palette.

For a few years that combined system *did* blow away competitors for graphics and video production (at least at standard def), but was eventually supplanted by PC video cards.

I'm really not sure, it was a looong time ago! It was the way my friend shouted at the TV with such vigour and smugness that stuck in my mind the most