20-Apr-2024 09:59 GMT.		 UNDER CONSTRUCTION
Anonymous, there are 71 items in your selection [1 - 50] [51 - 71]
[News] Mediator PCI 4000 shipping nowANN.lu
Posted on 19-Dec-2001 14:25 GMT by Teemu I. Yliselä71 comments
View flat
View list
CyberGraphX homepage posted this message from Darek Dulian of Elbox: "This message must be a good news for all the owners of A4000: As of tomorrow (19 Dec 2001) Mediator PCI 4000 is being shipped to our distributors. Read more about Mediator PCI 4000: http://www.elbox.com/products/mediator_pci_4000.html And another news for all those who use A4000D and have no E/BOX 4000 Tower with the Elbox Zorro III/PCI busboard: Along with Mediator PCI 4000, you can now acquire the Elbox Zorro III/PCI busboard. And a great news for owners of A3000D: In January we commence production of Zorro III/PCI busboards for Amiga 3000D. These busboards may also be obtained together with Mediator PCI 4000 cards. More information soon to be read in our website." Dulian continued: "Now we start producing Mediator PCI ZIII, the card dedicated for A3/4000 computers where replacement of the daughterboard is impossible. This Mediator model will be on sale in January. Read more about Mediator PCI ZIII: http://www.elbox.com/products/mediator_pci_z3.html All those faithful Amiga fans who have been long waiting to be able to have new models of Mediator: Please accept our apologies for the delay. Be ensured that the waiting was really worth the final product. Mediator PCI 4000 is technically the best PCI solution for A3/4000 computers, and it has the most comprehensive PCI driver pack available in the Amiga market. The delay in starting the sales of Mediator PCI 4000 resulted from a long-term period of collecting an appropriate number of orders to justify the large-scale production. Mass production has the advantage for the prospective busboard owners that we can offer a very attractive price level, run professional support and to dynamically develop more superb quality software. Expanding the Mediator PCI busboard series for all the main Amiga models enables us to start producing the SharkPPC G3/G4 (SharkPPC+) processor cards, which will be a hardware item common for all the main Amiga models. More information soon to be read in our website. Amiga + Mediator provided with a specific SharkPPC card will give you the chance to make your dreams come true -- Amiga will again be a common word for a modern, fast computer.

Best regards, Darek Dulian M.Sc. IT Research and Testing ELBOX COMPUTER, Support Department mail: support@elbox.com web: http://www.elbox.com"
Mediator PCI 4000 shipping now : Comment 1 of 71ANN.lu
Posted by Quenthal on 19-Dec-2001 13:27 GMT
For A3000D too! Wohoo! Merry christmas to all!
Mediator PCI 4000 shipping now : Comment 2 of 71ANN.lu
Posted by Quenthal on 19-Dec-2001 13:28 GMT
In reply to Comment 1 (Quenthal):
Forgot to add - this is my birthday (19.12) - Lord of the rings movie, mediator announcements - I'm happy!
Mediator PCI 4000 shipping now : Comment 3 of 71ANN.lu
Posted by Peter Gordon on 19-Dec-2001 13:50 GMT
WOOOHOOOOOO!! Yeah! I've been waiting for this for MONTHs!
What a great christmas prezzy!
Mediator PCI 4000 shipping now : Comment 4 of 71ANN.lu
Posted by Bladerunner on 19-Dec-2001 14:50 GMT
So I have to buy an Elbox Busboard, and to use the pci slots on it, i have to buy an additional pci to zorro card?? A little bit expensive eh?
Mediator PCI 4000 shipping now : Comment 5 of 71ANN.lu
Posted by RoboShawn on 19-Dec-2001 14:52 GMT
In reply to Comment 1 (Quenthal):
No no no, you must wait another decade for Zorro 5! You will be destroying the Amiga way if you use PCI!
!! SEGV
[ dump storage ]
{ forall (*PC*) :-> post(inane_comment) }
Ref 0xAAAAAAAE
Mediator PCI 4000 shipping now : Comment 6 of 71ANN.lu
Posted by tinman on 19-Dec-2001 15:38 GMT
In reply to Comment 4 (Bladerunner):
No, looks like you can buy a separate card:
> Dulian continued: "Now we start producing Mediator PCI ZIII, the card dedicated for A3/4000
> computers where replacement of the daughterboard is impossible. This Mediator model will
> be on sale in January. Read more about Mediator PCI ZIII:
Mediator PCI 4000 shipping now : Comment 7 of 71ANN.lu
Posted by Cyril on 19-Dec-2001 16:32 GMT
I don't understand well their products... I want to keep my A4000 in its desktop configuration (don't want to spend some money in a tower config, for now and for the future).
What is the Elbox product needed to give PCI to my A4000D (Mediator PCI 4000, ZIII/PCI...)...
Does the SharkPPC+ turboboard will fit in this configuration with the PCI expansion ? (I want My PCI cards fit well back of my A4000D, no hack or ugly connection).
Short and briefly : what is the solution to have a clean A4000D with PCI and PPC ?
Mediator PCI 4000 shipping now : Comment 8 of 71ANN.lu
Posted by Steve on 19-Dec-2001 16:40 GMT
Dulain the replacment of the daughter card isnt impossible in either case. You are thinking pc . No go figure -since that you so wrongfully claim the pci and agp are the solution.
Mediator PCI 4000 shipping now : Comment 9 of 71ANN.lu
Posted by Mike Veroukis on 19-Dec-2001 16:48 GMT
In reply to Comment 7 (Cyril):
>Does the SharkPPC+ turboboard will fit in this configuration with the PCI
>expansion ? (I want My PCI cards fit well back of my A4000D, no hack or ugly
>connection).
>Short and briefly : what is the solution to have a clean A4000D with PCI and >PPC ?
I second that. I am a bit confused with all this new PCI stuff for A4000Ds. Could someone explain what would be needed to take a stock A4000D and install a PCI bus? All I really care about is PCI cards, I can't wait to toss out my old and decrepid Zorro cards.
- Mike
Mediator PCI 4000 shipping now : Comment 10 of 71ANN.lu
Posted by Dave on 19-Dec-2001 16:55 GMT
In reply to Comment 9 (Mike Veroukis):
Youd probably be best off on the mediator mailing lists ( the details are on www.amiga-mediator.co.uk ) asking the question but from what I can gather the problem is (a) The depth of PCI cards once you plug in the busboard and (b) the offset of the PCI slots. If you want to make it work you could cut some nice holes in the case.
Dave.
Mediator PCI 4000 shipping now : Comment 11 of 71ANN.lu
Posted by Bladerunner on 19-Dec-2001 18:43 GMT
In reply to Comment 7 (Cyril):
The best Solution for you is IMHO the Grex Busboard replacment for A4kD.
It looks like the original 4kD Daughterboard, has 4PCI/Zorro (they will all work,
but there will be a mechanical Problem, as they are in the same line, but short zorro cards work perfect, for example
the upcoming VarIO Card)and 1 Videoslot. It is simply plugged in the Slot where your original riser card is now, for the
fast connection, it is connected to your PPC Expansion Slot. PPC or MK III is therfore requiered, it will not work without that.
As Elbox has anounced their shark card, so has DCE, they call it microserver and it is based on pegasos technology.
But i highly recommend to save your money and buy a pegasos board. I also planned to buy a Grex, but than I saw the pegasos
at the cologne fair and it was really really great! And look the price: for 650 Euro you get a board+processor, the board itself has firewire,
usb,ethernet (irda?) Soundcard, modem. in your Amiga you have to buy seperate cards for that.
(OK, maybe the Microserver will have some of that features, but how much will this be?)
Mediator PCI 4000 shipping now : Comment 12 of 71ANN.lu
Posted by Bladerunner on 19-Dec-2001 18:46 GMT
OK, forget my laast posting, I thought you have still a ppc card in your Amiga..
But without PPC, G-Rex won`t work.. But again, maybe it is better, you leave your Amiga as it is,
and buy a Pegasos additional
Mediator PCI 4000 shipping now : Comment 13 of 71ANN.lu
Posted by Anonymous on 19-Dec-2001 19:14 GMT
In reply to Comment 11 (Bladerunner):
>(OK, maybe the Microserver will have some of that features, but how much will this be?)
>
Around 300 Euro without CPU?
Mediator PCI 4000 shipping now : Comment 14 of 71ANN.lu
Posted by Andreas C. Schmidt on 19-Dec-2001 20:43 GMT
Hello guys, wake up ! What ELBOX will sell with the PCI/ZIII is nothing more
than a *PROMETHEUS* ! Anybody who wants to use this in an A4000D or A3000D
*must* leave the case open ! Yeah, another "we are the first and only" from
ELBOX which is *simply not true* - ok there is a plus: Mediator has more drivers
than Prometheus...
Mediator PCI 4000 shipping now : Comment 15 of 71ANN.lu
Posted by redrumloa on 19-Dec-2001 21:10 GMT
In reply to Comment 14 (Andreas C. Schmidt):
Either leave the case open or convert to a custom tower, which is easy. I have
a A3000(d) motherboard in a tower, and I use the Prometheus with zorro cards
and have the case close.
Elbox has more drivers than Prometheus atm, but that may change soon. I'm curious
to hear how the first batch of ZIII Mediator cards work out and if all Elbox's
claims on their website are true. I have a Prometheus, but maybe I'll buy one of
these cars too.
Mediator PCI 4000 shipping now : Comment 16 of 71ANN.lu
Posted by Mike Veroukis on 19-Dec-2001 22:00 GMT
In reply to Comment 15 (redrumloa):
Is it possible to take the MB from the A4000D and transplant it into a standard ATX case? Would I need to move over the Amiga power supply as well? Probably as there's no ATX power connector on the Amiga MB.
- Mike
Mediator PCI 4000 shipping now : Comment 17 of 71ANN.lu
Posted by Stevarch on 19-Dec-2001 22:11 GMT
In reply to Comment 12 (Bladerunner):
I agree. Now the question is: where is the OS for Pegasos?
Mediator PCI 4000 shipping now : Comment 18 of 71ANN.lu
Posted by Andreas C. Schmidt on 19-Dec-2001 22:20 GMT
In reply to Comment 17 (Stevarch):
It`s already available: MorphOS ! IMHO don`t count on AOS 4.0 being available
within the next half year...
Mediator PCI 4000 shipping now : Comment 19 of 71ANN.lu
Posted by David on 19-Dec-2001 22:48 GMT
In reply to Comment 14 (Andreas C. Schmidt):
> Hello guys, wake up !
Maybe you should wake up ? :-)
> What ELBOX will sell with the PCI/ZIII is nothing more
> than a *PROMETHEUS* !
Nothing more? It seems that you do not know that Prometheus
does NOT allow to use any PCI busmaster cards.
> Yeah, another "we are the first and only" from
> ELBOX which is *simply not true*
Where did you read this?
They wrote:
"Mediator PCI 4000 is technically the best PCI solution for
A3/4000 computers, and it has the most comprehensive PCI driver pack
available in the Amiga market."
I think that this is really true.
> - ok there is a plus: Mediator has more drivers
> than Prometheus...
Mediator has MUCH more drivers than Prometheus and more
drivers than G-REX.
Mediator PCI 4000 shipping now : Comment 20 of 71ANN.lu
Posted by redrumloa on 19-Dec-2001 22:58 GMT
In reply to Comment 16 (Mike Veroukis):
Sure it's possible, and it's been done. I personally can only speak from experience
of doing it with an A3000. What I did was custom cut the bottom of the A3Kd case,
cut the back out of a FULL AT tower, and mount the A3Kd case bottom in inside the
tower case so the back of the original case lines up with the hole cut into the
tower case. This certainly simplifies everything and if you take time, the end
results look and function pretty good.
As for the power supply, I adapted the AT PS to use with the A3000 mb. You can do
this with an ATX PS, but would take an extra step to make a small adapter to power
on and off the ATX PS switch.
Do a web search and you will find sites with pics of people doing this sort of
project. When I get a new battery for my digital camera I will probably put up
a quick and dirty page myself.
Mediator PCI 4000 shipping now : Comment 21 of 71ANN.lu
Posted by redrumloa on 19-Dec-2001 22:59 GMT
In reply to Comment 19 (David):
Matay has a promised busmastering free upgrade in the very near future. I trust
they will deliver on this promise.
Mediator PCI 4000 shipping now : Comment 22 of 71ANN.lu
Posted by Jim on 20-Dec-2001 00:49 GMT
In reply to Comment 14 (Andreas C. Schmidt):
wake up ever heard of the wintower it has pci in line with z2/Z3 by elbox . They are first.
Mediator PCI 4000 shipping now : Comment 23 of 71ANN.lu
Posted by victor # on 20-Dec-2001 00:50 GMT
What I don't really understand is: why Elbox didn't also produce a daughter-board replacement which is perpendicular to the motherboard (like the original, and also the G-Rex), next to their current A4000 PCI Busboard, which is parallel to the mo-bo (and can't be mounted into the 'D'-type house)? Most A4000D owners would buy this version, instead of this Prometheus-like "hack", AIH.
Mediator PCI 4000 shipping now : Comment 24 of 71ANN.lu
Posted by ROBOCOP on 20-Dec-2001 00:52 GMT
In reply to Comment 5 (RoboShawn):
Who is this idiot that he thinks his right and knows all . With this remark he shows he knows nothing .
Mediator PCI 4000 shipping now : Comment 25 of 71ANN.lu
Posted by victor # on 20-Dec-2001 00:59 GMT
In reply to Comment 8 (Steve):
Ohh, can't you just stop already? Couldn't even Dave Haynie, the designer of the Zorro-spec, the A3000, and other Amiga equipments, convince you there is really nothing wrong with PCI/AGP (just the other day here at ANN)? (It is "real-time" and it "multitasks", in your "definitions", just like Zorro, just many times faster.)
Mediator PCI 4000 shipping now : Comment 26 of 71ANN.lu
Posted by victor # on 20-Dec-2001 01:02 GMT
In reply to Comment 24 (ROBOCOP):
He just sarcastically pretend being the already notorious Shawn... :)
Mediator PCI 4000 shipping now : Comment 27 of 71ANN.lu
Posted by Steve on 20-Dec-2001 05:04 GMT
In reply to Comment 25 (victor #):
Dave said the exact opposite . In fact he said it was faster but the pci/agp cant do real-time or multitask. You wish he said that to say that the pci /agp is the best answer. Its answer to have some new boards not better. We are just finding out how diffcult the pci/agp problems are. Some people consider pci/agp a short term solution . This is in fact why we are were we are. Short term isnt a solution at all. SO we stand here today going backwards -oh well. Granted when on the Amiga the Pci/Agp is much better but still has many pitfalls that it will never over come.
How about this. A zorro type 2 slot is taken care of 4 pci s and a agp . That is what they are doing at Eyetech. Try and get one PCi to control one Zorro. It cant.
Mediator PCI 4000 shipping now : Comment 28 of 71ANN.lu
Posted by Brad on 20-Dec-2001 05:09 GMT
In reply to Comment 26 (victor #):
Victor, victor french is it . Everybody that agrees with Shawn, and remeber there are more Shawns here and out there, is shawn . Soon everyone will be steve ,chris, or bill. If anybody agreed with Steve . No wonder you think the way you do . With logic like that its a wonder you can think at all.
Mediator PCI 4000 shipping now : Comment 29 of 71ANN.lu
Posted by Seehund on 20-Dec-2001 06:11 GMT
In reply to Comment 28 (Brad):
Shawn, now when you have "Steve", "Martin", "Brian", "Jim", "ROBOCOP" and "Brad" inside your head, is there any room left for yourself in there?
> Victor, victor french is it . Everybody that agrees with Shawn,
> and remeber there are more Shawns here and out there, is shawn .
> Soon everyone will be steve ,chris, or bill. If anybody agreed
> with Steve . No wonder you think the way you do . With logic
> like that its a wonder you can think at all.
Could you please translate the above to English?
Tim Rue, please come back! Everything is forgiven!
Mediator PCI 4000 shipping now : Comment 30 of 71ANN.lu
Posted by Anonymous on 20-Dec-2001 06:13 GMT
Can someone tell me why the prices on ELBOX's page don't jive with
the ripoff prices these things are being sold for in the United States?
For example on their page they state the suggested retail of the
Mediator ZIII for the A3000/A4000T's is 169.95 EURO which equals
$152.62 United States currency.
In most cases products are sold for less than the manufacturers suggested
retail, but these things are being sold in the United States for over
$100.00 US more than the suggested retail price! This flat out sucks
and the trend of US Amiga dealer screwing Amiga users continues!
I get sick of this crap! Software Hut and the others will burn
in HELL the way they continously screw Amiga users in the U.S.
Mediator PCI 4000 shipping now : Comment 31 of 71ANN.lu
Posted by Shawn McOwen I on 20-Dec-2001 06:32 GMT
In reply to Comment 30 (Anonymous):
What the hell is going on here. All these flame wars over some guy(s) that are(is) right. So what if all, few some , or none agree with Shawn,chris ,brad.. did I miss anyone. These guys could be right.
The reason Im on here is to point out the problem with the cost of AMIGA Items or the elboxs in particular. Its like this. Some,(dealers,vendors) want to steal your money no matter what. This is the Amiga community and no one should be treated like that . I dont care if his new to Amiga or if he is a good old boy. Just shop around if you dont like softwarehut, try compuqik,or merlancia. Then continue on if you dont like either of them. Just shop .
Mediator PCI 4000 shipping now : Comment 32 of 71ANN.lu
Posted by suomynonA on 20-Dec-2001 08:00 GMT
In reply to Comment 31 (Shawn McOwen I):
You need help, seriously.
Mediator PCI 4000 shipping now : Comment 33 of 71ANN.lu
Posted by Dave(RoboSHAWN) on 20-Dec-2001 08:25 GMT
In reply to Comment 32 (suomynonA):
Dont worry, normal service will be resumed shortly, I just added a random name selector, took out the grammer module and added the spoof-agree-a-matic call to the inner loop.
I guess I should have checked it through with the debugger first. Given that my script has now caused so much trouble to the community of ann.lu I have decided remove it from service, or at least port it to AREXX and call it the VIC.
Dave.
Mediator PCI 4000 shipping now : Comment 34 of 71ANN.lu
Posted by Dave on 20-Dec-2001 08:33 GMT
In reply to Comment 29 (Seehund):
Sorry, Ive run that testcase again and used babelfish and a spell-checker this time. Heres what it should have said:
"Victor! Victor French is it? Everybody that agrees with Shawn ( remember there are more "Shawns" on ANN and out in the big, wide, fluffy world ) is in fact Shawn the Sheep, a creation of Nick Park (c) Aardmann Animations. Baaaa!
Soon, everyone will be a Steve, Chris, or Bill, that is if *anyone* agreed
with Steve. Having three names "Steve Chris Bill" will be a bit of a bind though and make for weary fingers when typing all that.
No wonder you think the way you do. With logic like that its a wonder you can think at all. With logic like mine one is infinity and the Sex Pistols were actually a good band.
So, do me a favour and change your name to Shawn, that will indicate your tacit agreement with all my views and I expect you to be on the first bus to the Sudetenland we must take it for the third Zorro!"
Mediator PCI 4000 shipping now : Comment 35 of 71ANN.lu
Posted by Ville Sarell on 20-Dec-2001 09:02 GMT
In reply to Comment 30 (Anonymous):
"Mediator ZIII for the A3000/A4000T's is 169.95 EURO which equals
$152.62 United States currency."
Not quite right.. if you look more carefully, you'll see "Mediator PCI 4000 Suggested Retail Price (VAT and local taxes excluded): EUR 169.95"
Excluded, not included. So that's not the final price at all.
Mediator PCI 4000 shipping now : Comment 36 of 71ANN.lu
Posted by victor # on 20-Dec-2001 09:15 GMT
In reply to Comment 27 (Steve):
> Dave said the exact opposite .
Could you point me where he did? Didn't you just hallucinated?
> In fact he said it was faster but the pci/agp cant do real-time or multitask.
Could you explain in details what do you mean by it? I don't see any reason why it couldn't "do" "real-time" or "multitask".
> We are just finding out how diffcult the pci/agp problems are.
What difficult problems?
> Granted when on the Amiga the Pci/Agp is much better but still has many pitfalls that it will never over come.
What pitfalls?
> How about this. A zorro type 2 slot is taken care of 4 pci s and a agp . That is what they are doing at Eyetech.
No. The center of the system (CPU) will be moved to the new (mother)board with the PCI/AGP bus on. The A1200 will become just a PCI card (with a PCI-to-Zorro2 bridge) to the rest of the system.
> Try and get one PCi to control one Zorro. It cant.
Look above...
To the others: ;)
Mediator PCI 4000 shipping now : Comment 37 of 71ANN.lu
Posted by Andreas C. Schmidt on 20-Dec-2001 11:54 GMT
In reply to Comment 19 (David):
> > What ELBOX will sell with the PCI/ZIII is nothing more
> > than a *PROMETHEUS* !
> Nothing more? It seems that you do not know that Prometheus
> does NOT allow to use any PCI busmaster cards.
And you seem to have missed that Prometheus will get busmastering with
a *free* upgrade. Again: Mediator is *NOTHING* more than a busmastering
capable Prometheus.
> Where did you read this?
Learn to read *between* the lines. The whole article is written in this style,
just like almost all other press releases from ELBOX.
>They wrote:
> "Mediator PCI 4000 is technically the best PCI solution for
> A3/4000 computers, and it has the most comprehensive PCI driver pack
> available in the Amiga market."
>
> I think that this is really true.
ROTFLOL ! "Technically the best PCI solution for A3000/A4000 computers" ?
This solution is nothing more than a *HACK*. Going through ZIII to be able
to use PCI seriously limits throughput from PCI to Amiga-address-space and
backwards.
Btw: Ever thought that the Mediators being able to DMA from PCI-adress-space
to Amiga-address-space need other drivers than the A1200 Mediators ? The
drivers for A1200 Mediator only use crappy PCI-to-PCI-DMA for sound and
ethernet. This solution is nothing more than a crutch ! Of course ELBOX may
continue to use this crutch with Mediator ZIII/4000 but then you would get
nothing from the stated DMA-from-PCI-to-Amiga. Hm... perhaps ELBOX needs some
more money and releases a second MMCD which has drivers which could DMA from
PCI to Amiga... and perhaps this will only be an update CD so you would have
to buy both CD`s to be able to use DMA from PCI to Amiga...
Another thing I find quite amusing is that ELBOX said, that Prometheus is a
crappy solution because of it`s limits (Desktops have to be left open,
mechanical problems). But now they offer exact the same solution...
Yeah, ELBOX rules... *in MARKETING* !!!!
Mediator PCI 4000 shipping now : Comment 38 of 71ANN.lu
Posted by Dave on 20-Dec-2001 12:52 GMT
In reply to Comment 37 (Andreas C. Schmidt):
Dear me, what a rant.
Mediator PCI 4000 shipping now : Comment 39 of 71ANN.lu
Posted by Andreas C. Schmidt on 20-Dec-2001 13:16 GMT
In reply to Comment 38 (Dave):
Very nice Mr I-dont-know-what-I-should-write-but-I-definitely-want-to-put-my-our-in.
Mediator PCI 4000 shipping now : Comment 40 of 71ANN.lu
Posted by Dave on 20-Dec-2001 13:24 GMT
In reply to Comment 39 (Andreas C. Schmidt):
Dear me, oh no cant take criticism of my behavior on a public forum if you have an issue with Elbox why dont you take it up with them instead of acting like you have rarely had a civil conversation in my life.
Sure if you want a novel I can provide it but it would only further fuel a rather boring fire.
Mediator PCI 4000 shipping now : Comment 41 of 71ANN.lu
Posted by Andreas C. Schmidt on 20-Dec-2001 13:45 GMT
In reply to Comment 40 (Dave):
IMHO ELBOX won`t change their behaviour - IMHO their behaviour is M$-like.
ELBOX praises their hardware as the "best of the best" which is simply not
true. I don`t like propaganda like this, just like postings which do nothing
more than accuse without any argument...
If you write your novel or not, I don`t care. When I find time I will answer
if it contains another piece of ELBOX-like half-truths.
Mediator PCI 4000 shipping now : Comment 42 of 71ANN.lu
Posted by Adam Kowalczyk on 20-Dec-2001 15:41 GMT
In reply to Comment 37 (Andreas C. Schmidt):
The Prometheus and the Mediator Zorro III solutions do accomplish what they were intended to do, and that is allow someone with Zorro III slots to use PCI cards. Yes, it can be a bit of a hack, but I was able to install the Prometheus card in my tower that I already "hacked" together months before every hearing of a Prometheus or a ZIII Mediator.
I do beleive that their isn't one solution for everyone, unless you're willing to make compromises. The ZIII Mediator and the Prometheus may come off has hackish, but I'm running a Voodoo 3 3000 card in my PPC equipped A3000 with my tower case closed. If you want to use the PCI 4000 version of the Mediator, you'll need the case and a busboard. It looks like a very clean solution. I'm not bad with tools and putting my A3000 in a fullsize tower was more work than I expected. Buying a solution that allows you to very easily do the job isn't a bad thing.
The most elegantly engineered solution for PCI has to be awarded to the GREX 4000. Except for the fact you need a pricey CSPPC or MKIII accelerator to make it work as well as an A4000 motherboard. If you have a stock A4000 with one of these and still have reason to use a Zorro card or two and a video card, it's probably the best choice for you.
Personally, I would have liked to see a generic daughtercard replacement that would have worked in a stock A3000D or A4000D. But this would have meant compromises as well. Compromises such as no video card and reduced number of Zorro slots inline with the PCI slots.
At the end of the day, Amiga owners hav choices and depending on the configuration they have, different solutions make more sense than others. I am happy to see that Elbox has an A3000D busboard coming out in January that will work with the PCI 4000. I think they'll sell them to A3000 owners who already have a case full of zorro cards, a video card, and wants to use PCI. The best thing to do is look at what your needs are and purchase appropriately. I can't emphasize enough that I've been very happy with my Prometheus card and the Voodoo 3 3000 card in it. The performance is incredible, hack or no hack.
Mediator PCI 4000 shipping now : Comment 43 of 71ANN.lu
Posted by Adam Kowalczyk on 20-Dec-2001 16:00 GMT
In reply to Comment 30 (Anonymous):
The prices do seem exceptionally high in the States at the last few remaining Amiga retailers. Hey, if you're in Canada you can expect to pay even more when you add customs and PST and GST. Undoutedly, when I buy stuff I'm paying double duty. Duty to bring it into the States, they add their markup and then duty to bring it into Canada. I have to say that dealing with Compuquck has been a pleasure and stuff has arrived from them very quickly. I've ordered a few things from Software Hut as well. Other than a 2091 board that arrived with what I'm confident were incorrect ROMS, I've not had any problems with Software Hut either.
I am fully aware that I'm paying a premium to buy stuff from these outlets and the service I'm paying for is any technical support should I need it, but the only thing I can suggest is that you buy your item from Europe. I'm almost confident my next purchase will be from Europe, to try it out. Just remember that the prices in Europe may have VAT stripped out or cost even less, but you'll have to pay local and federal taxes and customs and shipping on top of that price. The question becomes how much of the price difference does that work out to be?
I seriously doubt the American retailers are getting rich selling Mediators and Prometheus cards and other Amiga bits as the Amiga is not like the PC where there is one in every househould you can sell to. I'm sure they're more than happy when they can meet the bills at the end of the month.
Mediator PCI 4000 shipping now : Comment 44 of 71ANN.lu
Posted by Dave on 20-Dec-2001 16:03 GMT
In reply to Comment 41 (Andreas C. Schmidt):
**LAUGHS**
Ive seen plenty of posts that accuse /with/ arguments that are totally unsubstantiated, contain no links to evidence other than the speculation or assertions of other posters.
Im not going to bother with a novel, partly because I happen to like Elbox's products but mostly because I think you have taken a standpoint and nothing I will say can persaude you otherwise.
It would be nice to see something like this stated in more constructive terms and less of a rant. It sounded like you are accusing Elbox of a rebadging exercise and then it sounds like you are upset because there are product alternatives. Confusing.
Id persist with the fact that you should take your issues up with Elbox directly if it wasnt for the fact that they are VERY selective about responding to email.
Sure, I dont like some of the methods they have used ( how they restrict driver downloads etc. ) but Ill flip them the bird when I flip the Amiga Classic platform the bird too - which seems to be imminent - which is a shame for someone who has owned and Amiga since the first batch of A1000s hit our shores in 1985 ( or was it 1986? ).
Dave.
Mediator PCI 4000 shipping now : Comment 45 of 71ANN.lu
Posted by MIB on 20-Dec-2001 16:12 GMT
In reply to Comment 37 (Andreas C. Schmidt):
>Andreas C. Schmidt,
>Learn to read *between* the lines. The whole article is written in this style,
>just like almost all other press releases from ELBOX.
Well, one of the positive things about Elbox is that they are the only Amiga company offering Fastethernet. And that you don't require an expensive PPC/MK3 card for using PCI. And atleast the Shark runs OS4. They also offer some stuff for A3000 users.
Their support isn't bad either.
Regards,
MIB
Mediator PCI 4000 shipping now : Comment 46 of 71ANN.lu
Posted by Mike Veroukis on 20-Dec-2001 18:43 GMT
In reply to Comment 30 (Anonymous):
>Software Hut and the others will burn
>in HELL the way they continously screw Amiga users in the U.S.
Did you take into account shipment costs and import duties? There's no free trade with Europe is there? What they really need is Amiga parts manufacturing plants in the US, but I can't see that happeneing for a long, long time. Ah.. the goold old days when your Amiga had that "Made in the USA" sticker on it. Oh well.
- Mike
Mediator PCI 4000 shipping now : Comment 47 of 71ANN.lu
Posted by David on 20-Dec-2001 18:53 GMT
In reply to Comment 37 (Andreas C. Schmidt):
> And you seem to have missed that Prometheus will get busmastering with
> a *free* upgrade. Again: Mediator is *NOTHING* more than a busmastering
> capable Prometheus.
Prometheus will have busmastering ... or not... Now we have several months
gone and the upgrade is not here. Prometheus is an amateurish design, so the
designing boys do not have much time to go about it. Anyway, they thought
they have provided busmastering even when they started selling Prometheus.
>> Where did you read this?
> Learn to read *between* the lines. The whole article is written in this style,
> just like almost all other press releases from ELBOX.
"*between* the lines"?
Start reading more carefully what Elbox write, and not between the lines.
Then you will see what Elbox wrote and not what you think there is in there.
You'' save that rubbish for others.
>> They wrote:
>> "Mediator PCI 4000 is technically the best PCI solution for
>> A3/4000 computers, and it has the most comprehensive PCI driver pack
>> available in the Amiga market."
>> I think that this is really true.
> ROTFLOL ! "Technically the best PCI solution for A3000/A4000 computers" ?
> This solution is nothing more than a *HACK*.
You can call 'hack' everything new and going beyond previous designs.
An airplan is also a hack because it cannot fly heavier than air, right?
If people thought like you, they would still fly balloons --only baloons do
not have to use hacks to fly :-)))
> Another thing I find quite amusing is that ELBOX said, that Prometheus is a
> crappy solution because of it`s limits (Desktops have to be left open,
> mechanical problems).
Where did you read it? AFAIK Elbox did not write about "crappy solution".
What they are saying is down-to-earth and concrete. Read their texts in
Mediator ML.
> But now they offer exact the same solution...
"exact the same solution"?
Cmon wake up! Where did you see Elbox offering something like that?
Check their pics how Mediator 4000 is assembled in their website.
Do you see the tower to be left open? What mechanical problems? Cmon, stop
writing such bullshit.
Mediator PCI 4000 shipping now : Comment 48 of 71ANN.lu
Posted by Mike Veroukis on 20-Dec-2001 18:58 GMT
In reply to Comment 41 (Andreas C. Schmidt):
>ELBOX praises their hardware as the "best of the best" which is simply not
>true. I don`t like propaganda like this, just like postings which do nothing
>more than accuse without any argument...
As an outsider to this debate, I just want to make a comment here... I don't care about Elbox or their stuff, however, your comment above is rather questionable. What would you expect them to say about their products? What company releases products and does NOT claim them to be the best? What company releases products and admits their problems or admit that competing products might be better? The asnswer is... NONE! Why? Because that's dumb. It's not propaganda, it's marketing and everybody does it. If you disagree with them, that's good for you, but to bad mouth Elbox for promoting their own products is rather lame.
The only real problem is when they advertise a product feature that is a blatant lie. If for example they claimed you could fit 6 PCI cards but you can really only fit 5, then that's wrong. However, if they claim theirs to be the best on the market you must take into account that that is really what they believe and that's all that matters. If you don't believe it's the best then it's really juts a matter of opinion at that point.
- Mike
Mediator PCI 4000 shipping now : Comment 49 of 71ANN.lu
Posted by David on 20-Dec-2001 18:58 GMT
In reply to Comment 42 (Adam Kowalczyk):
> The most elegantly engineered solution for PCI has to be awarded to the GREX
> 4000. Except for the fact you need a pricey CSPPC or MKIII accelerator to
> make it work as well as an A4000 motherboard.
I do not agree with you at all.
I think Mediator 4000 is a more elegant and the best solution technically.
Why?
- it works with any processor card, not only with a CSPPC
- it enables perfect assembly of pci cards
- it has as much as 5 PCI slots, 6 Zorro III slots and a Video slot
Sure, it needs a tower, but E/BOX 4000 is really an exceptional case and I
can recommend it to anyone.
BTW, who will leave his A4000D in desktop case seriously intending to
expand it?
Mediator PCI 4000 shipping now : Comment 50 of 71ANN.lu
Posted by Amifan on 20-Dec-2001 19:08 GMT
In reply to Comment 39 (Andreas C. Schmidt):
Didn't your mom told you NOT to touch the computer?
You are definatly aiming the the "Worlds most funny amiga user" title.....
Don't know where you got this Elbox frustrations, but the Mediator4000 is absolutely not a prometheus like ollution..only the Mediator ZIII is...but then again....Elbox stays evil uh?
Anonymous, there are 71 items in your selection [1 - 50] [51 - 71]
Back to Top