Mediator Review - Should I buy one?

[jiffydos]

Hi All,

I am thinking about buying a Mediator 4000Di for my A4000 desktop.  I was looking for some reviews and opinions, which I know we have a lot of here.  

Is it worth the nearly $300 USD?  Based on what I read, it is worth it to me to be able to install my Radeon 9200 Video and cheap Realtek ethernet card.

But, I am looking for some re-assurance.  

What do you all think?

Dave
Lowell, MA
USA

[Rob]

In my experience they are good quality and reliable boards and probably cheaper than the alternatives.  I'd definately recommend it if you don't already have a video card in your A4000.

Radeon grahpics cards won't work in the 4000Di at the moment but Elbox are planning to produce an adapter with an auxillary 3.3v power supply, so get in contact with them about that one.

If you can find a cheap PCI Voodoo 3 then it is probably worth getting a Mediator while the shipping is free.

[TiredOLife]

Use one in an A1200 and couldn't be without it now.

[kreciu]

Mediator is a good stuff (I bought new around 6 months ago ) and now I can see my Workbench in 1440x900 on 19" LCD. Now I'm looking for good TV card for it.

But don't expect miracles. There is a HUGE difference between AGA and GFX but still this will not be "PC". But for me this was major update... I used ONLY ECS (A600) and AGA (CD32 and now A1200) so this IS a difference . I have this kind of workbench only on UAE... now it's "real"

You need to remember that Mediator takes 4 or 8 Mb of you FAST RAM so when you have 16 Fast total it will take you 8 Mb on start and than additional other ram for e.g. stupid background picture. (maybe I did something wrong??) so for me minimum to do something with the system is 32 Mb Fast Ram.

Actually I sold my Radeon 1950xt to have some cash for it and I'm happy  :-D (yes, for "just" some PCI slots...)

[Crom00]

Makin the move to PCI is always good. I can tell you that the mediator is worth it as you can pickup the vodo, sound and newtwork card for it for $5 or less at computer shows. These acards are usually in junk or refuse surplus bins...

The equivalent Amiga sound, network and video cards will set you back almost $1000 if you go by recent Ebay prices.

[redrumloa]

For gfx card you are better off with a Voodoo 3. If all you want is a GFX card and 10mb ethernet, get a Prometheus from Amigakit. Prometheus is the better product JMHO and has Catweasel (PCI) drivers.

-Edit-
Here is Prometheus at Amigakit. Amigakit is great and that Prometheus price is outstanding!!

[kreciu]

Maybe it's better "technically" , but Elbox IS DOING something for Mediator... (I really didn't expect "drivers" for 9200). Maybe they will surprise us again... who knows?

Otherwise a graphic card for Amiga is a graphic card (Voodoo, Radeon or Virge it's only 2D yea, I know warp3D ... without PPC is worthless...

Other wise a Mediator is not so "classic" :-D

[alexh]

redrumloa wrote:
Amigakit is great and that Prometheus price is outstanding!!

Towards the end of Matay you could buy the Prometheus at $99! Now it's $198... My how the $ has fallen over the last few years.

[alexh]

The A4000Di is a more aesthetically pleasing product in that it replaces the daughter card, the PCI cards are a nice fit (The Prometheus design is stoopid) but the Mediator doesn't have any video slots so you cannot fit a scandoubler which doesn't clip over the chips :-(

[Trev]

Whatever you buy, buy it based on what's available today. Do not expect updates or feature enhancements. Elbox appears to be actively developing at the moment, but support for the other busboard solutions is effectively dead and who knows whether or not Elbox will follow through with their announcements.

[Argus]

jiffydos wrote:
Hi All,

I am thinking about buying a Mediator 4000Di for my A4000 desktop.  I was looking for some reviews and opinions, which I know we have a lot of here.  

Is it worth the nearly $300 USD?  Based on what I read, it is worth it to me to be able to install my Radeon 9200 Video and cheap Realtek ethernet card.

But, I am looking for some re-assurance.  

What do you all think?

Dave
Lowell, MA
USA

Lowell, eh?  I'm in Worcester.  You wouldn't happen to have been involved in the ULowell Graphics Card project?  I once met Dave Pelland who worked on it at ULowell (now UMass/Lowell).

I personally always wanted a 4000Di but decided against it as it has no video slot (too bad).  I have a 1200LT and it works great, though the driver installation left something to be desired as it installed the wrong Warp3D drivers (took me forever to figure it out).

[jiffydos]

Haha...

No, that was quite a bit before my time.  I'm only 29.    I didn't buy my first Amiga until Commodore was already gone (1994).  I was/am a C64 nut.  I even used one during college in the late 90s for one semester.  Then, I decided I couldn't wait that long for spell check to run.  

Maybe we can swap hardware living only a few miles from eachother.  Anyting you want to unload?  

Dave

[jiffydos]

If I am going to buy a PCI expansion at all, it is going to be mediator.  The prometheus cards aren't meant for the desktop cases.  It may work, but I want to be able to close it all up neat.  That's why the A4000Di is so nice.

I guess I want to make sure the video is actually good enough to be worth the hassel.  Is it really that much better than AGA with a scan doubler?

[wurzel]

I can't comment on the A4000 version (could never afford one  ) but the A1200 version is fantastic! Imagine an Amiga giving TruColour graphics and showing proper photos. Waaay better than AGA

[redrumloa]

alexh wrote:
Towards the end of Matay you could buy the Prometheus at $99! Now it's $198... My how the $ has fallen over the last few years.

I don't know about $99, that probably never happened. I think the lowest I ever sold them for was $149 (from memory) on a 1 time liquidation. I had the final stock and what little remained I sold to Amigakit.