Amiga.org Review of Poseidon USB

[tjaoz]

Hello Targhan,

Why there is no speed tests in this review? Is it because Pegasos has USB 1.1 support only?
Pegasos on-board USB is a 4-port USB 1.1 controller (included in VIA VT 8231).

It is a little strange that about 1/5 of this review is about Spider price. And you have not even mentioned that Spider is the USB 2.0  (not USB 1.1) card, which goes with USB 2.0 (EHCI) and USB 1.1 (OHCI) drivers for Poseidon.

BTW. There are many USB 2.0 cards for PC, which are more expensive that Spider. See e.g. www.usb-2-0.com.
Cheaper are usually USB controllers based on the VIA chipset. NEC chipset is simply much better. And the Spider II card is based on the newest, fastest NEC 720101 USB 2.0 chipset.

[tjaoz]

Hello Targhan,

This is a review of POSEIDON. Not Pegasos, not Spider, Spider-II, Highway, or Subway, but POSIEDON.

But about 1/5 of this review is about Spider price. Why?

If you write about USB card prices maybe you should compare prices for all the USB controllers for Amiga or for MorphOS.

USB 2.0 controller:
Spider II (5 ports) + Drivers + Poseidon ~= $70

USB 1.1 controllers:
Pegasos on-board USB controller (4 ports) + Driver +  Poseidon ~= $
Algor (3 ports) + Driver +Poseidon ~= $115
Highway (4 ports) + Driver + Poseidon ~= $100
Subway (4 ports) + Driver + Poseidon ~= $85
Thylacine (1 port) + Drivers + Poseidon ~= $75 (or $95, I'm not sure if Poseidon is included)

Spider + Poseidon = $70. WalMart Card + Driver ~= $35.

You have mixed something. Poseidon is the USB stack, not the USB driver.
Mediator and Amithlon drivers for Poseidon goes with the Spider II card.

You should write: Spider II + Drivers + Poseidon stack = $70.

The USB stack is not included in the WalMart card price.
The USB stack, which is necessary for using this card is the part of the Microsoft Windows or the Apple Mac OS system.
You should add the part of Windows or Mac OS price to the Walmart card price if you compare it to Spider II + Drivers + Poseidon.

You should write: WalMart Card + Driver + upgrade to Windows XP* = $135.

BTW. This $35 WalMart card is based on the old NEC USB chipset.

[tjaoz]

@zasman

AFAIK Elbox does also not provide speed tests wioth
their card against Highway etc. So quite hard to
make any comparison with the Spider.

I don't know whether a hardware manufacturer should deal with reviews on their own devices. In my opinion, the speed tests should rather include in the reviews like this prepared by Targhan.

If you are interested in practical tests, I have Samsung 20GB EIDE disk. It is connected to the Spider port through the EIDE-to-USB2.0 converter. Transfer rate for this hard drive is 3.2MB/s in Mediator-Spider configuration.

I checked the same hard disk in a PC with Spider II. Transfer rate in the PC was 5.2MB/s. HDD speed did not depend on the system. It works with the same speed under Windows 2000 and under Poseidon in Amithlon Amiga OS emulation.

The speed is much better than those reached in Algor, Highway or Subway. Check for yourself: http://www.e3b.de/e3b/bench_e.html

[tjaoz]

Hello Michael,

I appreciate your effort how to find any faults in the summary I have given.
Little results, though.

Oops. I nearly made a mistake. Elbox omits the VAT, which is 16% here in Germany.
So, next iteration should give the correct number:

Spider II (5 ports) + Drivers + Poseidon + PCI slot + 16% VAT ~= 130EUR

Calculating how much Spider is in Germany is easier than you think.

Visit the German distributor of Elbox--Vesalia Computer and you  will find out that Spider II is EUR49.90. This price includes the German 16% VAT. Then visit the IOSPIRIT website to find out that you will have to pay EUR19.99 (VAT included) for the Poseidon stack for Mediator, not a penny more.

Spider II (5 ports) + Drivers + Poseidon = EUR49.90 + EUR19.99 = EUR69.89

I take $=EUR to simplify, like Targhan. This does not change price relationships in my summary. If you want to see rations of Amiga USB prices USB in Euro, just replace $ marks with EUR:

USB 2.0 controller:
Spider II (5 ports) + Drivers + Poseidon ~= EUR70

USB 1.1 controllers:
Pegasos on-board USB controller (4 ports) + Driver + Poseidon ~= EUR
Algor (3 ports) + Driver +Poseidon ~= EUR115
Highway (4 ports) + Driver + Poseidon ~= EUR100
Subway (4 ports) + Driver + Poseidon ~= EUR85
Thylacine (1 port) + Drivers + Poseidon ~= EUR75 (or EUR95, I'm not sure if Poseidon is included)

My god. Now the Spider II is 15 EUR more expensive... in your "comparison" it was
45 EUR *cheaper* ?!? What happened ?!?

What happened?
Imagination carried you away. Price rations are just the way they are, no common points with your imagination.

I do not even want to comment on your trick of adding the PCI port price to the price for Spider. If you want to do this, you would have to add price of the Zorro slot to USB Zorro2 cards for all those who bought Micronik or Elbox Zorro busboards.