FS: Brand New (NOS) QuickPak Amiga 4000 Towers

[ltstanfo]

All,

QuikPak (as many may recall) was the licensed assembler for US A4000Ts when ESCOM/AI ran the show.  Their early units look just like the ESCOM units (same case) with the only appreciable difference being the A4060 accellerator designed for QuikPak (arguably the fastest 060 ever due to use of EDO RAM).

Later, as QuikPak was about to go away, they began to ship a "new" A4000T in a much better case (larger, wider) with a bigger power supply.  Their goal was to try to recapture the video toaster market and their uprated case was perfect for the task.

*IF* Redrumloa has found some of the later cases then you will indeed have a VERY RARE A4000T.  I only saw two at the last Gateway Amiga show in St. Louis.  I know that a few units shipped but they were even more expensive then the generic ESCOM / AI A4000Ts.

Either way, if Red has found some NOS A4000Ts you should NOT miss this chance!

Regards,
Ltstanfo
Moderator - AO

[ltstanfo]

weirdami wrote:
I don't think I remember ever hearing about Quickpak. Are they a company Commodore chose to manufacture the A4000T or are these some kind of Amiga clone?

Please see my previous post on page 1.

In summary - QuikPak was THE licensed US assembler for A4000T during the ESCOM/AT days (if you bought an ESCOM A4000T in the US, it was assembled by QuikPak).  They took the A4000T boards / cards and put them into cases... early stocks used the same case as the ESCOM A4000T but there was a late production version that used a much better (larger with bigger power supply) case aimed at the video market.  QuikPak is best remembered for their A4060 accelerator card, which is considered the best / fastest by some for its use of EDO RAM.  There were plans for an onboard SCSI update for the card but I don't think it was ever released (you sent your card back for a hardware / software update).

As for NTSC or PAL, there is indeed a jumper on the mobo to help with that.  The problem (if you want to do video) is the that Video Toaster / Video Flyer were only produced for the NTSC market.

Now, QuikPak was at one time trying to bid for the remains of C= / ESCOM but they lost out.  They did have some interesting ideas for the future.  Too bad they didn't win.

Follow this link and look for QuikPak.  The brief article provides useful (if not dated) info on the company.

Regards,
Ltstanfo
Moderator AO

[ltstanfo]

Yep, likely the fewest posts (as moderator).  Much of what is being discussed on AO these recent years is common knowledge for those old enough to remember (no offense to anyone here... I am 42 and have used AMIGAs since 1986).

Inevitably similar if not same questions get asked over and over and I don't see any point in "reinventing the wheel", so to speak.  If I think I can contribute something, I will.  Otherwise, I only get involved if there is an admin issue.

Regards,
Ltstanfo
Moderator - AO

 

weirdami wrote:

Regards,
Ltstanfo
Moderator AO
 

...with the least number of posts of any moderator. :-o

[ltstanfo]

HammerD wrote:

early stocks used the same case as the ESCOM A4000T but there was a late production version that used a much better (larger with bigger power supply) case aimed at the video market. QuikPak is best remembered for their A4060 accelerator card, which is considered the best / fastest by some for its use of EDO RAM. There were plans for an onboard SCSI update for the card but I don't think it was ever released (you sent your card back for a hardware / software update).

Hi, just asking again, do you have any evidence that a "late production version" actually shipped using a much better case? I have never heard of this...

HammerD,

I think we may indeed be talking past each other.  In no way am I trying to infer that a "super (QuikPak) A4000T" exists.  I as have stated previously, there was a late revision to the QuikPak assembled A4000Ts in which a different case was substituted for the horrible ESCOM/AI (Enlite) case.  The "new case" was taller, slightly wider and had a larger power supply.  It's intended market was specifically the video community and those who wanted more expansion room (in the case).  Like the ESCOM predecessors assembled / shipped by QuikPak, these late A4000Ts shipped with the QuickPak manufactured A4060(T) accelerator card.  Other than the above mentioned differences (in case and P/S) there is no difference in specs.. same mobo, keyboard, mouse, OS, etc...

I saw two of these cases at the last Gateway Amiga Show (St. Louis) at the (I believe) CompuQuick booth in the dealer's room.  I'm pretty sure if you ask some of the other old timers around the site they can confirm this version of the A4000T (Tigger comes to mind).

FYI I was at the last Toronto Amiga Show so we likely ran across each other.  The QuikPak luggables were demo units only (none shipped).

Just so everyone knows, my history with the world of Amiga is as follows:

Registered C= developer, still have all of my developer materials (AmigaMail, RKMs for both WB1.3 and 2.x).  I also still have some of the developer disks handed out at the (IIRC) last C= developer meeting in Long Beach.

For a brief time I was the designer and manufacturer of an aftermarket A3000 case which upgraded a standard A3000D into an A3000T.  The purpose was to provide a less expensive alternative to buying the (then) very expensive A3000T.  The case was sold through the local Amiga Dealer for about 2 years.  

Webmaster for Amiga Developer Network during the pre-Gateway days (originated by Wayne Hunt and Kermit Woodall of NovaDesign).  This was a developer related site that was in competition to be the next official developer support network.  Once Gateway and the Fleecy crowd got involved, they invented something called (IIRC) KOSH.  I eventually wound up being the (last) webmaster for the developer portion of that site as well.

We now return you to your regular scheduled banter.  :-D

Regards,
Ltstanfo
Moderator - AO  

[ltstanfo]

Yep,

That looks similar to the tower I recall seeing (but I don't recall the LS120 super floppy).  I was not aware that advertising had been done for it.  Where did you find that?

Thanks for the scan!

Regards,
Ltstanfo
Moderator - AO

[ltstanfo]

JimS wrote:
It came from the August 1998 issue of Amazing Computing magazine. As for where I found it.... it was in the same directory on my HD where the other 13+ GB of Amiga zine scans reside. ;-)

Thanks for the info JimS!  As you likely remember, things were in quite a state of disarray back in the late 1990s with several camps trying to move the Amiga forward.  I was one of the QuikPak proponents back then and had a few conversations with Dave Zimbecki (sp?) who was their CEO.  They definitely had some great ideas and were trying to move forward but when Gateway won the Amiga remains, it killed QuikPak (that and the fact that ESCOM had issues with them).  Too bad really... for my money (at that time) they were the only ones who had a workable plan of action and were willing to discuss it in detail.


EDIT - YES, THE QUIKPAK PowerTower DID SHIP:

SoftwareHut sells QuikPak Power Tower
National Amiga shows QuikPak Power Tower (read Saturday overview).  THIS IS THE VENDOR I SAW...not CompuQuick.  Confirmation. :-D


Regards,
Ltstanfo

[ltstanfo]

I have been asked by some users here to explain what happened to QuikPak.

In short, they were on the losing side of a lawsuit with ESCOM.

A lawsuit was filed in US court by Dr. Bernhard Hembach, the German court's ESCOM bankruptcy trustee, which halted QuikPak's production of A4000 computers. At the heart of the suit was a long standing dispute, predating the collapse of ESCOM, that concerned remaining Amiga stock (motherboards, chips, etc...) extended to QuikPak to produce A4000s.

The outcome / settlement forced QuikPak to send all remaining stocks to Germany which effectively killed the company.  I don't know whether additional A4000Ts were made in Germany subsequent to the court settlement.

As an interesting aside, QuikPak actually had some of C='s manufacturing equipment so they were well suited to build the A4000T's in the US.  I presume (but do not know) that when they sent the remaining stocks of A4000T parts to Germany that the manufacturing equipment went with it.

Regards,
Ltstanfo

[ltstanfo]

icbrkr wrote:
I've already got a 4000T with an MK2 060 in it (no SCSI on it).  Let's say these have the Quikpak 060 in them - would it be better to sell the MK2 and keep the Quikpak or vice-versa? I'm thinking of piecing out my current 4000T and picking one of these up.  I know the MK2 will at least pay for a good chunk of this 'new' one.

It was generally accepted at the time that the A4060 accelerator card (QuikPak) was the best of breed until the CS MK3 came along.  Many people then (myself included) thought it was an even match (unless you wanted to use the VT in which case the CSMK3 won due to it's ability to add the onboard cybervisionPPC card (not the separate Cybervisions that used a video slot).

So, my advice would be to sell the MK2 *IF* you can get one of the towers with the QuikPak A4060.

Regards,
Ltstanfo
Moderator-AO

[ltstanfo]

impactor wrote:
I am interested to see how much these 4000's are up for, inlcuding shipping to the UK.

Impactor... I love your avatar!  I'm so glad to see Zorak here at AO! :bow:

Long live the lone Mantis of the apocolypse!! :-P

Regards,
Ltstanfo
Moderator - AO

[ltstanfo]

Something for everyone to consider here (and it's just my opinion):  *IF* this is all the last generation of QuikPak stuff (powertower and A4060 card) this may be how the stuff shipped to dealers since (I would speculate) QuikPack was looking to generate as much money as possible (since they lost the court case).

I wish Jim luck on this endeavor.

EDIT - In case anyone is curious about the QuikPak 4060 card.

Regards,
Ltstanfo
Moderator - AO

[ltstanfo]

While I cannot say with absolute certainty, I do know that even my Commodore A4000T (not ESCOM), serial #14, had a coin battery.  Every A4000T I have seen has had coin batteries... soldered to the motherboard.

Regards,
Ltstanfo
Moderator-AO

alexh wrote:

redrumloa wrote:
New in box base units, just like the day it rolled off the assembly line in the late 90's

RED, AFAIK A4000T motherboards used LiH alkaline barrel batteries that were prone to leaking, just like A500+, A3000 & A4000D. If they have never been touched since they were manufactured in the late 90's I'd bet money that most have leaked. I would find out what condition they are in before buying.