Mediators and towers

[KatManDEW]

So what's the concensus on the Mediators? You like 'em? You don't like 'em?

How does PCI hardware work with the Miggy and OS? Can you use PCI Ethernet and USB, with the Miggy OS?

What about tower cases? Any recommendations there?

[NovaCoder]

KatManDEW wrote:
So what's the concensus on the Mediators? You like 'em? You don't like 'em?

How does PCI hardware work with the Miggy and OS? Can you use PCI Ethernet and USB, with the Miggy OS?

What about tower cases? Any recommendations there?

I think Mediators have been rendered obsolete by SAM & OS4.

If you want a classic Amiga it makes more sense to me to keep it in the classic case.  As soon as you stick it an a PC case with PC cards what have you got?  And if you had the cost of a MB + Mediator + Expansion Card it could end up costing you more than a new SAM.

If you must...

D-BOX 1200 TOWER

TX

[KatManDEW]

NovaCoder wrote:
If you want a classic Amiga it makes more sense to me to keep it in the classic case.  
[/qoute]

That's pretty much how I was looking at it, but I got an accelerator that won't fit in a classic A1200 case, so I was looking at the tower option...

If you had cost of a MB + Mediator + Expansion Card it could end up costing you more than a new SAM.

Ditto on that one too. The only other factor is that my A1200 doesn't have a working internal floppy, and I have floppys laying around that I could use as DF0 in a tower case. That and the fact that a SAM mobo alone would cost almost $700, without a case, PSU, etc. (unless of course I could use an old PC tower case and PSU, etc.

Thanks for the feedback. The accelerator that won't fit in the A1200 case has me in a quandry.....

I need my head examined because my PC is old (but steady), and could be replaced with a hot rod DIY PC for about the cost of a SAM :-o

[NovaCoder]

We do it because we're crazy  :-D

[Angus]

NovaCoder wrote:

I think Mediators have been rendered obsolete by SAM & OS4.

If you want a classic Amiga it makes more sense to me to keep it in the classic case.  As soon as you stick it an a PC case with PC cards what have you got?  And if you had the cost of a MB + Mediator + Expansion Card it could end up costing you more than a new SAM.

As a 1200/Mediator owner I see this differently.

My 1200 is not in a "pc case" its in a tower, an Amiga one, as it happens, and it runs Amiga games at "full speed" or faster, and is genuine Amiga hardware with all the wonder that that entails. Can a Sam play Paradroid `90, Falcon, or Carrier Command?

With UAE? Wouldn't I do that better on a PC?

I'm not saying a 1200/Mediator is the only route, or even necessarily the best route, but it works for me, and what happened to different strokes for different folks?

[rockape]

Hi,

I have a Mediator in my Elbox Towered A4000 and it flies.

I use this system as my main WWW computer.

With an old Voodoo graphics card installed it far outstrips any Amiga Video Card.

As for cost, I spent my holiday cash savings on it and didn't go on holiday.

I need to install the Spider card and that'll do me.

Regards, Michael

aka rockape

[Darrin]

rockape wrote:
Hi,

I have a Mediator in my Elbox Towered A4000 and it flies.

I use this system as my main WWW computer.

With an old Voodoo graphics card installed it far outstrips any Amiga Video Card.

As for cost, I spent my holiday cash savings on it and didn't go on holiday.

I need to install the Spider card and that'll do me.

Regards, Michael

aka rockape

The problem with the Spider card is that you have have to register to unlock the USB stack and the author is not accepting registrations for Elbox users.

If you haven't already bought the Spider then I'd highly recommend getting a Zorro based Deneb USB card instead.  I have one in my A4000 and it comes with everything you need to have it running out of the box.

[kolla]

rockape wrote:
Hi,

I have a Mediator in my Elbox Towered A4000 and it flies.

I use this system as my main WWW computer.

With an old Voodoo graphics card installed it far outstrips any Amiga Video Card.

As for cost, I spent my holiday cash savings on it and didn't go on holiday.

I need to install the Spider card and that'll do me.

Regards, Michael

aka rockape

Easiest is to not use the Spider, get a Deneb instead - much better. If you already have spider, then sell it, use it in a PC or whatever.

[cv643d]

I would go for a proper Z3 graphics card instead of a Mediator any day.

[KatManDEW]

Interesting stuff. I'm eating it up.

What's the reason for a PCI graphics card it you already have something like an Indivision for the Amiga?

Will Amiga apps and games take advantage of the additional capabilities of a PCI graphics card?

[Darrin]

KatManDEW wrote:
Interesting stuff. I'm eating it up.

What's the reason for a PCI graphics card it you already have something like an Indivision for the Amiga?

Will Amiga apps and games take advantage of the additional capabilities of a PCI graphics card?

The performance of the screen modes provided by the Indivision and the new monitor driver don't come close to what you can display (colour and size) if you use a Zorro RTG card or a PCI card in a Mediator.

[KatManDEW]

Darrin wrote:
The performance of the screen modes provided by the Indivision and the new monitor driver don't come close to what you can display (colour and size) if you use a Zorro RTG card or a PCI card in a Mediator.

So there's an Amiga driver that allows the Amiga and Amiga apps to utilize those screen modes?

Is the EZ Z4 tower OK?

[wurzel]

KatManDEW wrote:
So there's an Amiga driver that allows the Amiga and Amiga apps to utilize those screen modes?

Is the EZ Z4 tower OK?

First, check the Elbox site (www.elbox.com iirc) to find all the drivers.

Second,  I believe any tower would be fine, though I wouldn't guarantee it lol

I've had a Mediator for 2 years and am very happy with it. Fit it with a Voodoo card and you see full colour on any screen, even workbench! It's really cool and everything needing graphics runs much faster; Pagestream, IBrowse and so on.

Definately recommended, if you want to stick with Amiga  :-D

[KatManDEW]

@ wurzel: Thanks very much for the info and link. That's too cool. And since my accelerator won't fit in the A1200 case, and I have plenty of PCI hardware laying around gathering dust - tower power it is!

BTW: That's a rock'n tower setup that you have!

[KatManDEW]

What are the USB options with the Mediator?

If I go with a tower, how would I access the PCMCIA slot? I only use it to read CF cards, but if I had USB that wouldn't be necessary.