Are the Elbox tower and mediator products worth it?

[Samuar]

Seems a lot of money for not a lot of components. What are your experiences and are they worth it? Does it make a significant difference to the Amiga products?

Thanks for your replies,

Samuar

[JurassicCamper]

I wouldn't go back to using the standard IDE port on an amiga and I couldn't go back to browsing the net in 640x512 8bit or dblpal.

Plus you can add all sorts of nice things like fast CDRW's, Wireless Keyboards, Cheap Networks card for broadband access, watch TV as a backdrop to your workbench. Proper 16bit sound output for anything that uses AHI, eg Games, MP3 Players.
Makes for a cheap sampling system using AHI Record. You have a choice of PC monitors from cheapo CRT to very expensive TFT monitors.
etc etc
But on the other hand you can do all that for cheaper with a PC, so it comes down to do you want to do it on an amiga or do you want to do it on a PC ?

[Zadoc]

It depends.  If all you want is a single graphics card, or ethernet card, or sound card then the answer would be no.

If you plan on maxing out your Amiga, then the cost of the Mediator will pretty much pay for itself when you can add cheap ethernet and sound cards (usually around $10-$20USD) and second hand Voodoo cards can usually be found pretty cheap.

Performance wise, the Voodoo card blows the doors of the Zorro alternatives and the 3d chip on the Voodoo3/4/5 allow games like Quake to run in full 3d on 512x384 screen at similar framerates to the pseudo3d clickBoom version of Quake on a 320x240 screen.

As for soundcards - the sb128 is the only true AHI supported card (aside from the Terratec card which I don't have, and is slightly less noisy and has digital outputs, but gives no added performance boost).  The quality of the driver is slightly buggy and prone to lockups when playing MP3's, but other than that has given me no grief via AHI.  People do complain that the sb128 is rather prone to hiss, however, and I think if you're planning on serious audio work, a Zorro card might be a better choice.

As for Ethernet - since about a year ago, I've had no problems with my setup.  Earlier drivers did cause an ethernet lockup, which some users still seem to suffer from on their setups.  As I said, for me it works without a hitch.

While a luxury item to most, my TVCard is a great card for me allowing me to get video captures and stills through VHI Studio.  Also, I have my A1200's composite out routed into the card as well, and I can view most AGA screens on a window on my WB screen.  Video capture can be done through VHIStudio (which you must register, or else an UNREGISTERED text will appear on the capture).  VHIStudio is good for getting snapshot stills from video, but it's video capture leave a slight bit to be desired - no sound, and encoding is limited to Quicktime .mov format which is a bit slow to encode (but far faster than earlier versions of VHIStudio which saved in mpg video).

All in all it depends on how you want to expand your Amiga.  For me, I wouldn't be able to live without my Mediator, and it's far cheaper than trying to buy seperate Zorro solutions for GFXBoards, Soundcards, ethernet cards altogther.

[lempkee]

if there is 2 products worth it... then it must be Blizzard 060 cards (with or without a ppc) and the mediator model(s) .

why? , well put it like this.. if you want to use your amiga and forget about the pc's (if u have any) well this is your first jump for freedom, anyone stating otherwise aint an real amiga user imho!.

When you add a gfx card (a voodoo in the case of mediators) your system will be faster and have proper resulutions and beyond that price aint exactly mind boggling.

also the easyness of adding a ethernet card + a soundcard is a matter of seconds if you know your way trough the actual tools/apps it uses (ahi and miamiDX is an example) .

there are some downsides to it ofcourse , you will either need 2 monitors or a monitor that does 15khz and up modes (ie like M1438 /M1538 and 1738 monitors from amiga) or a scandoubler.

in other words... you loose aga/ecs if you dont, i use a old 1084 for my needs and have both monitors connected , i had a scandoubler but thats gone now...i also have a tv card to view aga in a window (games etc) on my wb , but sadly its far from perfect (scrolling is bad).

and ihave a usb2.0 card , i have my digital cam installed , a hp5550 printer , a hp2000 scanner etc..all via usb...

without my mediator i wouldnt have all this ...in such a simple way....other than that the mediator is easy to install...u can't (almost) go wrong and its well documented with pictures etc so you should fear any of that, though it wont fit in all towers...so which tower do u have? .

the software installation of mediator is abit harder , this is where most fail at first, the documentation is rather confusing and it should be redone in my opinion.

but if you get one, you will always get help from the people who has one, i would atleast try my best to help out + you have the mediator mailing list etc.

good luck.

[LP]

I'm also a mediator user, and I think it's deffinetly worth the money and effort!

It has been my best buy since I bought my Amiga 1200... :-o

And yes... the software is a bit cryptic to install like lempkee said but you'll get all the help you need from Amiga.org...
I got guided trough anyway :-)

So... Here's to the mediator :pint:

[twizzle]

register your madiator on line with elbox
and tell them that you need more docs info
on setting up your sys
they will email you all the relevant docs
plus the latest upgrades almost straight away.
fantastic support backup

[x56h34]

I'm still waiting for their updates/drivers after registering my Mediator, MMCD, and Fast ATA 4000 controller... It's been a week now. Could it be that I have the latest drivers, that is the reason for ignoring me? Perhaps, but an e-mail would be nice informing me of the situation. I bought my Elbox hardware a few months ago.

[Acill]

@Samuar

I love my Mediator and Mirage setup. Sure it was about $550USD for the tower and the mediator, but for $50 more I got a 10/100 Ethernet, Voodoo 3000, FM801 based sound card (awsome, way better then the SB128), and a cheap TV card all on ebay as a bundle. If I got the same type of stuff made just for Amiga it would have been lots more. The cool thing about my A3000 is its built in flicker fixer. I dont have to use two monitors like others, just a cheap VGA box. I use my Amiga as my sole computer at home now. I havent touched the PC in months.

[ackcontrols]

Absolutely worth it!  The case makes towerizing your machine simple and the access to inexpensive PCI cards brings a level of improvement that can't be met by the more expensive Zorro III cards.  Having a Voodoo 3 card in your machine is worth it for the faster 2D screen updates alone.  

[TanZyr]

@lempkee - I'll scream at you later in IRC for that crack about "real amigans" (btw, this is 2th).

@Zadoc - Quite a well written reply! I concur with a lot of what you said, read on...

  Now, I'll add my 2 cents - from the perspective of someone that already has quite a few Zorro based cards for his A3000D: My system's tanked up with a PicassoIV, Catweasel S-Class, Highway + Norway, and MultiFaceIII.

  As Zadoc mentioned, there are a TON of benefits to using industry popular/industry standard PCI cards: Voodoo cards have hardware 3D acceleration & 4x more video ram than my PicassoIV. PCI IDE/ATA interfaces run rings around the Catweasel's IDE and there's even a PCI Catweasel that lacks IDE but gains a real SID chip. PCI USB 2.0 solutions, and probably highspeed serial/parallel PCI cards. The list goes on...

  However, there's the matter of whether it'd be worth it, in light of the Pegasos/AmigaOne upgrade paths which I'm CERTAIN would be many times faster. So there's the cost factor: upgrade the legacy hardware with this and extend it's life (get further behind the new stuff - depending on how you look at it), or evolve to the next gen hardware for a few hundred more.

  Then there's the question of Elbox's integrity. They've handled themselves VERY poorly in relation to the P96 issue, and more recently when they were called out on their RDB trojan (for the record, the original poster stated he was a registered owner of Elbox products - so don't cry to me about "Oh, they were OBVIOUSLY pirates"). Their behavior on hardware support mailing lists also leaves a LOT to be desired.

  BTW, as lempkee can attest, crying to me about how much they've done for the platform will fall on deaf ears. It is a piss-poor EXCUSE for their conduct and it doesn't cut it. Sh*t served on fancy dinnerware is still sh*t. So don't bother preaching to me about Elbox in any replies that follow.

  These would be the two main reasons I wouldn't recommend getting a Mediator.

  The Mirage tower solution, though "tiny" for what I'd need (it needs more 5.25" drive bays), has been the ONLY product Elbox offered that I'd be willing to set my principles aside to purchase. If it came in a full size tower, it'd certainly tempt me even moreso, since the limitations of the A3000D's overall design is a real pain (only 4 Zorro slots?! And what were they smoking when they thought up the case?!).

  Remember, this is merely my take on the situation, since I already have a bunch of Zorro equivalents. If you lack the hardware (say, a bare A3k, 1200, etc), it might be worth considering if you don't want to make the leap to the nextgen machines. For me, I'd have a real problem justifying the cost (even if I considered the hassle of selling the Zorro cards, which I'd never do anyway), though lately the PicassoIV's been pissing me off with the way it handles it's video ram.

  One last thing, you may also want to consider the Prometheus, especially in light of the fact Matay now has the capability of upgrading their cards to enable DMA (which I understand was a big downside of their PCI solution). Perhaps redrumloa could elaborate on this? I'd certainly appreciate the info.

[Acill]

since the limitations of the A3000D's overall design is a real pain (only 4 Zorro slots?! And what were they smoking when they thought up the case?!).

But remember the A4000/3000 mediator is great for Zorro users too. It has 7 full zorro III slots and a Video slot as well as the PCI slots. So if you just wanted a better video card, and a good cheap sound card its a deal.

[BR]

I bought a eFlash 4000, 7 weeks several
storys later I recieved it, found there's
no documentation and they wont give
me any serious support. I guess one
item is all theey intended for me to
want to buy. I've had no encouragement
to buy any other product's. I think
their support sucks.

Bob R.

[Acill]

I've had no encouragement to buy any other product's. I think their support sucks.

Thats a shame, I've never had any problems with Elbox at all. The RDB this didnt bother me since I wasnt interested in messing with the drivers. Every time I have a question they have got back to me withen a few days. They even called me when I needed help setting up my Mediator the first time.

[doctorq]

I can only say that I wouldn't use my A1200 without the Mediator anymore. It's great that Amiga users can use cheap PCI expansion boards, instead of buying expensive Zorro graphics and sound cards etc. A great piece of hardware, eventhough I don't like their towers, but that's another issue.

I'm happy about my mediator, and have also bought one for my A4000. As mentioned you get 7 zorro slots, so you are still able to use your old zorry slots.

Regarding the support, I can't complain. With some of my small problems I have received emails answering my questions even on a sunday afternoon. It's more than I expected.

[lempkee]

tanzyr and all others who didnt understand what i meant by an real amiga'n.

what i was saying or trying to anyway was about the earlier thread where SOMEONE said an amiga with mediator aint anything less than PC and UAE , sorry for being so short about it but i wanted it to be as short aspossible ....hrrmpft

ok , try 2...  you should buy an GFX CARD for your amiga no matter what and mediator is the only real thingy for Amiga1200 , on a4000 and such u have other alternatives but still i think most would choose mediators anyway, and i am aware of all the Earlier issues but to be honest i havent had any problems , EXCEPT for the installation wich was quirky.

to all whom complain over support, weird because i get answers within minutes when i email em, dont know why but i do...maybe i am special :DDD

Grexx is abandoned so thats out of the loop unless u really only need the drivers it has atm, and about the openpci solve for it, doubt it ever will get out of the waiting loop

promethus is a4000 only and that i see as an alternative to mediator, but it has issues.

beyond that u can always go for the slower options , like.... zorro3 gfx cards :O..

but forget about zorro stuff in a1200, too slow and it wont last long until u upgrade to either a grexx or a mediator because you want better speeds.


cheers...