Why no new hardware for MorphOS??

[mbrantley]

I have a MorphOS 2.7 license for my eMac, a computer that cost me $100 last year off Craig's List. I probably could have found an eMac cheaper or even for free had I been more patient, but this one was in the neighborhood. Then I paid for the MorphOS license, so that must be factored into the system cost just as it is with the Sam prices.

So the old Mac was relatively inexpensive and MorphOS performs very well on this hardware. But now I'm worried that the integrated CRT's display is looking fuzzy and there are capacitors on the logicboard that look like they may be bulging. I have had capacitor problems with my Amiga 1200 and Amiga 4000 and also my Mac SE/30, and I have spent big bucks for repairs because of sentimental attachments to those computers. The 1200 got another motherboard from AmigaKit. The 4000 got another motherboard that also turned out to have problems, and that one was sent to France for repair.

Hardware doesn't last forever. But I am certainly not sentimental about this eMac, and I will not repair it if it fails. It's main value to me is the MorphOS license, so hopefully there is a mechanism for transfering that license to replacement hardware if the eMac gives up the ghost.

[mbrantley]

How good are you with repairs? I have a good spare CRT I'm looking to dump. Cap kits are cheap on eBay.

Thanks, red. My solder skills are scary, but not as scary as high-voltage CRT work. I'm less likely to embark on a repair than I am to jump to a different Mac model or just devote my efforts and resources into AOS4 (where my heart is) or AROS (where my brain is). For the moment, the bulging caps have done no harm and the display is not too bad -- although I don't see this eMac as a longterm investment.

All that said, I do own a PowerMac G5 dual-CPU 2 ghz tower that I bought new when it was top-of-the-line Apple gear. If that particular machine, which I do have some sentimental attachment to, should become supported by MorphOS I will likely buy a new license. I'd do that to reward the development and not worry with shipping a busted eMac to whomever.

[mbrantley]

I gotta say... the only time I ever worry much about power consumption in personal computers is when they need to run off batteries. Perhaps electricity is far cheaper where I live than elsewhere in the world. I dunno.

[mbrantley]

You live in USA.  We charge ourselves a lot less $$$ for our electricity than most developed countries charge themselves for their own electricity.

I compared prices in early 2000s.  It was shocking.
Germans were paying nearly triple what we were paying.  France was about double.  etc. etc.

That certainly explains the value placed on low-power consumption for devices in those regions. Of course, lower power consumption is a good thing everywhere for environmental and resouce reasons as well as economic ones. It just has not pursuaded me to prefer MorphOS over AmigaOS, despite the latter running on more expensive and less powerful (for now) hardware.

[mbrantley]

I was just going to get a mac to run morphOS, now I think I should get a Sam 460 as well with AOS4, just to see if they start yelling at each other on my desk.  I'll put the A4000 in between as mediator.   The linux box can watch and shake its head.

Hehe. You almost described my desk.