> I don't like the 'low cost' feel about the Amiga hardware (non-socketed chips
IC sockets are largely unnecessary today. Look at all the PC motherboards with their northbridge welded direct to the PCB these days, along with ethernet, sound, etc. chips. With the number of pins on many chips these days, as well as the desire to keep thngs as small as possible, sockets are even becoming impractical for chips, and we won't likely se something like the A2000 or A3000 with so many sockets again. SMT reduced manufacturing costs, allows more stuff to be crammed into a smaller space, even at times into the same IC package (north/southbridge chips now include a bunch of stuff that used to be seperate chips), and improves system reliability. Those ain't bad things...
