If my RPC wasn't a StrongArm, then perhaps it might have been worth while.

On paper it would seem that the Omega will knock the pants off even the Kinetic in every respect, which makes it a worthwhile upgrade for me.

I must admit, I've wondered why MicroDigital have done almost exactly what Acorn did all those years ago, announcing a new machine well before it's ready, knowing that people will hold off their purchases in anticipation of the new machine.

However, I don't think the Omega will go quite the same way as Phoebe (lets face it, that would be a mammoth disaster!) and I still expect to see it early in the new year.

I can only hope that MD really push this machine to the rest of the country by 'ADVERTISING' it, and not just aiming at existing RISC OS users like the other companies are.

[Edited by MAD NURSE at 00:49, 26/12/2000]

Or, sad to say, even the ability to advertise it effectively. Just look at what has happened so far with the Omega, and look at Microdigital's website for some idea of how good they are at advertising...

I'd love to see it happen, I just don't think it will.

I'd be surprised if they do a great deal of national advertising - I doubt that they have the budget for it.

Or, sad to say, even the ability to advertise it effectively. Just look at what has happened so far with the Omega, and look at Microdigital's website for some idea of how good they are at advertising...

I'd love to see it happen, I just don't think it will.

More importantly there has been little (if any) feedback on the status of Omega, no one outside MD (to my knowledge) has seen one running.

I have a strong suspicion that Omega is still some ways off. I like many have been holding off purchasing a machine until the status of Omega was clarified (I in the back of my mind consoled myself with the option that if Imago appeared first I'd opt for that). Clearly for me (as I use an A-3010 -DON'T LAUGH PLEASE !!) I really want (need) to upgrade and if worst comes to worst I may wind up getting an RPC (not Kinetic) with the knowledge I can slot in an Imago board later when it arrives. I suspect if Omega does not show REAL signs of life soon others may take that very same path also.

[Edited by ams at 16:49, 27/12/2000]

It's a shame there's nothing in between an A7000+ and a RiscPC (4-5 fold speed difference between the two).

I assumed the Microdigital 7500FE machine (Medi/Mico?) filled the gap. Am I wrong?

Mico is not much different in speed to the fastest A7000+. It has a much faster filing system though, and far more potential for expansion.

But can it be upgraded to Omega specs?

Also they do a graphics card.

Mico is not much different in speed to the fastest A7000+. It has a much faster filing system though, and far more potential for expansion.

But can it be upgraded to Omega specs?

Also they do a graphics card.

Doubt it. You'd need a new motherboard for starters, and we don't know about mechanical compatibility yet.

But can it be upgraded to Omega specs?
Also they do a graphics card.

Adding graphics card to an existing mico would be sensible, but buying one with it, too close to cost of Omega.

Mico is an ATX design, could almost certainly be upgraded to Omega (as could most clone PCs), but it wouldn't be cost effective, unless a special deal were offered. All that would be re-used would be case and drives (~ £150 worth). (newish PC would possibly be a better candidate for upgrade, could use RAM too and OS license and leftovers could be sold on)

Is it a technical limitation that is stopping say an 8meg VRAM module being produced for the RiscPC?

Indeed. Kinetic is incredible. As regards graphics, if only a module was written or RISC OS slightly altered so that main memory could act as screen memory (the reverse of screen memory acting as normal memory) it would avoid the problems with ViewFinder and bring the grpahics up to do the Kinetic some justice!

The real problem is the video is obtained from the motherboard not the kinetic. Simply writing a RISC OS module will not solve the problem. The connection between the RPC mainboard and the Kinetic is (probably) limited to something like 16MHz and 32 bits (a bandwidth of 61MBytes/sec) to transfer a 2MByte bufferful to the VIDC would take 2/61 or (about) 1/30th of a second (a bit slow really).

Is it a technical limitation that is stopping say an 8meg VRAM module being produced for the RiscPC?

Yes, but it depends on if Acorn designed a limit in. If the address bus is only 21 bits wide to the VRAM your limit is 2MBytes and that's that (I don't have access to the RPC technical specs so it may well allow more than 2MB, but again it depends on the number of address lines fed to the VRAM). A second limitation is that the VIDC has a bandwidth limit that means a single screen buffer of 8MBytes would probably refresh too slowly (whereas 2MBytes is manageable).

What's needed is a full revamp of the display hardware and that is most likely to occur with the Millipede Imago (I've seen a better than 1 megapixel sprite at 24 bit colour moved FULL SCREEN in real time on the prototype board and it is VERY IMPRESSIVE !). That was done with no video graphics acceleration and just using a bog standard SA-110 at 233MHz. Its the speed of the memory system (over 1.6GBytes/sec) that allows this.

The MD Omega will also allow it to display at high frame rates and high resolution (its bandwidth is lower than Imago at just over 1GByte/sec).

Viewfinder as a solution only really works for bit-blit operations for RPC mediated screen updates it suffers (due to no fault of its own) because it operates over the slow Podule bus (something even VIDC doesn't do). Anything involving the ARM updating the VF Memory is going to get hit badly by that bus bandwidth limitation.

Something must be happening...

I believe you can't use the podule slot on the A7000(+) if you have a CDROM drive fitted though! There might be an extension which lets you do it, but I'm distressed about that, as it means I can't fit a network card

I believe you can't use the podule slot on the A7000(+) if you have a CDROM drive fitted though! There might be an extension which lets you do it, but I'm distressed about that, as it means I can't fit a network card

I did like the 2GB hard disc that they fitted with the A7000 though RO4 is a bonus as well.

It's a shame there's nothing in between an A7000+ and a RiscPC (4-5 fold speed difference between the two).

Stop worrying about filling in between now and the fabled new machines and get a Kinetic

Although to be perfectly honest, for most of the things that I want to do, I'd rather spend the 5 hundred odd quid to get a ViewFinder and a Kinetic upgrade on upgrading my PeeCee - I can't afford to do both unfortunately.

At least you'd get automatic package upgrades, massive amounts of stuff in the pipeline, and a half-decent web browser

You could even use ROX so the desktop feels like home.

I'm persuaded to wait mainly by the better expandability without an expensive extra slice, and by the USB/PCI and 32-bit "readiness".

AJS Computers do second hand machines at good prices (http://www.ajscomputers.co.uk), although I'm not quite sure about how good an A7000 is (I got an A7000+ from them though, and I like it )

I'd be surprised if they do a great deal of national advertising - I doubt that they have the budget for it.

Or, sad to say, even the ability to advertise it effectively. Just look at what has happened so far with the Omega, and look at Microdigital's website for some idea of how good they are at advertising...

I'd love to see it happen, I just don't think it will.

Yes but they have stated that they have a European distributor in Holland

SO things must be going somewhere with it?

Hey maaan, the A3010 is cool. Those green F-keys rule dude!

I have an RPC and scooped up a 2nd hand A3010 as well

I wonder how many other people have held back purchases while they wait for the Omega to turn up ? With nothing to confirm that the machine even exists (I've seen and heard no statements from anyone who has seen the beast running), I'm not convinced about it. It promises a lot, but how much of it is actually believable ? Who is doing the work on RISCOS to make it utilise all of the features, such as USB etc that have been promised ?

And if no one is buying new machines because they're waiting for the Omega, this can't be a good thing can it ?