🚀 go-pugleaf

I'm going to buy a computer near the end of this year,  and  I'd  like
your  recommendations  on  the  Atari ST's.  I've been programming for
about 8 years and I've been doing systems programming in C  for  about
two years.  I want to have:

1.   A machine with a good C compiler, possibly running a  Unix  vari-
     ant, for doing development work.

2.   A terminal emulator, so I can do my mainframe work from home.

3.   A game machine - It's been too long since I've had access to good
     computer games!

Anyone who answers any of my questions would have my sincere apprecia-
tion.   There are a LOT of questions here, but if you could answer any
that would be great.

- Sean


GENERAL OPINION
     What do you think of it?  Is it a toy or a serious machine?   How
     does the keyboard feel?  Have yours had any problems?


PRICING
     What's the lowest price you've seen for a 1040 ST?


MONITORS
     I see a lot of ads for "520 ST with color monitor".   Does  Atari
     make  a  "standard"  monitor  or are dealers pushing the cheapest
     color monitor they can find?  I'm going to be buying a good  Sony
     27  inch television about the same time I get this computer.  Can
     such a beast work with this computer?  If I bought a nice Prince-
     ton  Graphics, Amdek, Taxan, etc., would it look much better than
     the one(s) the dealers refer to?


C COMPILERS
     What do you think of the C Compilers available?  I don't know  of
     any dealers nearby, so I haven't really gotten a personal look at
     any compilers.  I have heard a bit of  raving  about  Megamax  C,
     mostly  good.   If  you've used Megamax, Lattice, or Aztec C, I'd
     like to hear what your opinion is of the  compiler.   I  will  be
     doing some serious, hard core development work (in other words, I
     will be paid for it) that may be transferred to large  Unix  sys-
     tems.  I'd like a compiler that can handle the same code that the
     portable C compiler can handle, and I'd  like  one  that  doesn't
     make  me wait all year (this is supposed to be an 8 Mhz 68000, no
     excuses for slow compilers).  I'm willing to pay  good  money  if
     it's a good compiler.


UNIX IMPLEMENTATIONS
     I've heard that OS9 has been ported to the thing, but  the  price
     for  the  OS and C compiler is about the same as a complete Atari
     system!  Who's going to buy it?  Not me!  Perhaps you know if the
     price of the thing is coming down or maybe you've heard of a dif-
     ferent Unix port.  Please let me know.   BTW,  I  saw  an  ad  in
     August  Byte  for  a  complete SysV port for the IBM AT for about
     $450.  Not a bad price for a real SysV port with pcc, ftn77, text
     formatters, and manuals.


CD ROMS
     Anyone making an interface for these buggers?  The idea of having
     an  online  encyclopedia or dictionary or other various databases
     is very attractive to me.  For the things to work, you've got  to
     have  DMA, ethernet, or some other very high speed data transfer.
     This means you've got to have hardware support.  Is it there?  Is
     anyone working on this?

                             * SOAPBOX TIME *

     I saw an ad in Byte for a CD of public domain software that  con-
     tained  the  equivalent of 400 or so floppy disks.  Sounded great
     till I saw the price: $195.  HOLY RIPOFFS, BATMAN!  I'm sure that
     the  media costs less than twenty dollars.  They invent a fantas-
     tic new media for mass storage, one  that  brings  possible  vast
     software libraries to the average person at low cost, and instead
     of using it to place this software in the hands of  users,  these
     people jack up the price way out of proportion to the media cost.
     This stuff is public domain!  Somebody ought to sue  their  asses
     for making a profit from it.

                           * DOWN FROM SOAPBOX *

STAR RAIDERS
     It's been at least three years since I last played Star  Raiders,
     probably  more.   If it were released today it would still be one
     of the greatest games around.  Is anyone planning on porting  the
     thing  to  the  ST series?  It would be stupendously awesome with
     higher-res graphics and sound.  I was even thinking of writing  a
     simple version for the Adage 3000!


Thanks for answering any or all of this.  I've been involved with com-
puters for a long time.  Some of them cost more than I'll ever make in
my lifetime.  And yet I've never owned  one.   This  is  an  important
decision for me and I appreciate any and all help.

Sean

-- 
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Sean Casey                UUCP:  cbosgd!ukma!sean        CSNET:  sean@uky.csnet
University of Kentucky    ARPA:  ukma!sean@anl-mcs.arpa
Lexington, Kentucky     BITNET:  sean@ukma.bitnet