🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <H.ea.o3KuEmskWp2@semprini.tdkcs.waterloo.on.ca>, cherborth@semprini.tdkcs.waterloo.on.ca (Chris Herborth) writes:
>I'd like to hear some arguments convincing me to stay with a sinking
>ship, Atari.
...
>Let 'er rip folks.  If I'm going to have to replace all of my software
>anyway, I'd rather do it with _quality_ software with a decent
>interface.  Right now, a '486 system with OS/2 on it is looking _very_,
>_very_ attractive.

Try looking for a '486 system from a company which offers at least 2 years
parts and service warranty.  Because you didn't mention a price range, and also
because you mentioned the Apple Macintosh IIci in your posting, I would expect
you have somewhere in the neighborhood of $2500-$4000 to spend on the machine.

Invest in at least 500 megabytes for a hard drive, and tape backup system.
If you get interested in one of the desktop UNIX environments, you'll find that
it eats up large chunks of your hard drive.  Without a tape backup (look for a
SCSI 4 mm DAT device, or the more 'standard' 8mm tape devices), you're going to
find yourself frustrated at least once when it is of major importance to have a
backup.  A CDROM drive is also becoming 'standard equipment'.  Be sure the one
you get can handle the KODAK CDROM disks.

Don't stint on the monitor purchase.  While there are plenty of cheap VGA
monitors around, expect to pay around $800 for a good, multiply-synced monitor.
The 17" CTX Proscan we have works well at the higher screen densities, and has
the advantage of being pluggable into a IIsi (non-synced, of course).  The
reason I emphasize the monitor is that you mentioned a desire to do a bit of
animation and graphics rendering.  You can have the fastest CPU on earth and
the graphics will still be terrible if you purchased a cheapo superVGA card and
nominal monitor.

I'm not going to mention Atari at all.  You appear to feel that the company is
a 'sinking ship'.  With such an attitude (and it may very well be the correct
one), you're always going to feel 'cheated' if you purchase a new Atari
machine, regardless of how good or well-suited they may be to your
applications.

-- DPZ