Path: kernighan.cs.umass.edu!barrett From: ah802@freenet.toronto.on.ca (Pat Kushko) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.reviews Subject: MINI-REVIEW: AmiFast Zip-to-SIMM converter Followup-To: comp.sys.amiga.hardware Date: 22 Oct 1996 21:04:47 GMT Organization: The Amiga Online Review Column - ed. Daniel Barrett Lines: 72 Sender: amiga-reviews@math.uh.edu (comp.sys.amiga.reviews moderator) Distribution: world Message-ID: <54jctf$rse@kernighan.cs.umass.edu> Reply-To: ah802@freenet.toronto.on.ca (Pat Kushko) NNTP-Posting-Host: knots.cs.umass.edu Keywords: hardware, memory, RAM, SIMM, Zip, commercial X-Review-Number: Volume 1996 Number 28 Originator: barrett@knots.cs.umass.edu -Mini Review of Ami-Fast- A3000 ZIP to SIMM converter I just got my hands on 'AmiFast' the A3000 Zip to SIMM adapter from ProvTech and thought I'd give my impression of the product. After going for years with the standard 2 megs chip and 4 megs fast and until the later part of this year, 4 megs ran around $160 U.S. (with some stores in the $240 range) this was a product overdue. One of the things I did notice immediately is that AmiFast isn't for every A3000 owner, although I wish it were; it will not work with a ROM TOWER in place because of space considerations (I used to have one, but got around that with EPROMs). I'm not sure about the A3000 tower status, but best to check with ProvTech to see what works. I've even speculated AmiFast and others like it contributed to the lower price of ZIPS lately. But nothing can beat a maxed out A3000 populated for $99 or less (well I guess I'm biased, owning one). The cost of the product is pretty well offset by selling the zips. Because of the nature of some SIMM ram which comes in an amazing variety of packages, ProvTech recommends 72 pin SIMMs in the 8 meg commonly available form (cheap stuff) although the board can accommodate the 4 meg variety and even mix & match, but it's best to go with the companies recommendation unless you have SIMMs sitting on your shelf. There's more than one of these Zip to SIMM adapters around and without first hand experience, it wouldn't be right saying which one is best, but I can tell you about AmiFast. I'm not much for kits (AmiFast is available in some sort of barebones format) so I got the finished product, It's plug & play. Though after seeing the board, it looks like a snap to put together for anyone who has warmed up a soldering iron, and the instructions are clear enough. The quality of the double sided green board is what you would expect from a commercial supplier with one small exception, writing on the board mentions that AmiFast 3000 was designed on, with and for the Amiga 3000. There's not much more to say about this product, it does what it claims to do. I heard that my A3000 would be much slower, it wasn't and out of memory crashes have all but disappeared. (AIBB rates it at slightly faster!) It's nice to see new product for the Amiga and I'm a happy camper: thanks Keith. Pricing at last account was around $75 U.S. and much less for bare board level units. AmiFast is a creation of Keith Siders who can be reached by email at 75507.3170@compuserve.com for more information, ordering etc. or phone him directly at 812-254-1721. I don't work for AmiFast and am not a tech type, so forward and questions to Keith S. -- 01100001 01101000 00111000 00110000 00110010 01000000 01110100 01101111 01110010 01100110 01110010 01100101 01100101 00101110 01101110 01100101 01110100 ----------------> ah802@torfree.net --- Accepted and posted by Daniel Barrett, comp.sys.amiga.reviews moderator Send reviews to: amiga-reviews-submissions@math.uh.edu Request information: amiga-reviews-requests@math.uh.edu Moderator mail: amiga-reviews@math.uh.edu Anonymous ftp site: math.uh.edu, in /pub/Amiga/comp.sys.amiga.reviews Web site: ftp://math.uh.edu/pub/Amiga/comp.sys.amiga.reviews/index.html