helf
21/5/05 3:48PM |
*drool* |
TTX9
21/5/05 4:08PM |
"The machine is to retail at 499ukp not including VAT - for developers only who wish to beta test the > unfinished system."
I am not sure I understand this sentence? Are you saying that it will eventually retail for more than 499ukp+VAT to ordinary punters? Sorry, I used to be a bean counter in my last profession.
|
charles
21/5/05 7:59PM |
no. The "developers only" bit applies to current sales. |
sa110
21/5/05 9:22PM |
Current pricing is 449 + VAT for the Developer Issue (not quite finished one - free upgrade to finished version), with £499 being the retail price for the finished version.
Optional extras include: -
external dvd drive £79.75 + VAT
Colour matched wireless keyboard/mouse £39.75 + VAT
Flight Case (purchased with) £10.00 + VAT
Flight Case (purchased later) £30.00 + VAT
Carriage on machine £15.00 + VAT |
sa110
21/5/05 9:24PM |
I beleive I was the only one walking round the show with the A9 flight case, having purchased one with Flight Case and external dvd drive. The A9 itself will be sent out to me in the week. |
mavhc 
21/5/05 9:47PM |
I'd rather a cheaper machine than a smaller machine, wonder if they'll do one in a larger case with 3.5" HD, normal DVD drive, room for expansion etc.
Does it come with a keyboard and mouse?</macmini> |
sa110
21/5/05 9:57PM |
Wired PS2 keyboard and mouse are standard. |
Sawadee
21/5/05 11:05PM |
Is the A9home running RO4 / 32 bit like the Advantage Six says?
If it could run !Sibelius7 music software, is there room for a MIDI card or would it need an external MIDI card?
The small size and the flight case part is interesting as a portability feature, does the flight case have not only have some room for the A9, keyboard, mouse, but also a flatscreen monitor and some extra external devices? |
sa110
21/5/05 11:55PM |
In reply to Sawadee:
The A9 is running 32 bit Adjust, RO 4.4.
There is no room for internal expansion.
External expansion is via the Serial or USB ports
You might be able to squeeze and 4"or 5" screen in the case.
a fold away keyboard would fit, but not a standard one.
Mouse may also fit.
Will see what I can fit into it when the A9 itself arrives. |
SimonC
22/5/05 12:08AM |
In reply to mavhc:
Considering the RISC OS market, I think £500 is a pretty good price. Having said that, I was too impatient to wait and walked out of the show with an Iyonix. |
jlavallin
22/5/05 2:05AM |
I am looking for a new RISC OS computer but the A9 doesn't seem to fit the bill. If futher expansion became available it could turn into a rash of little blue boxes. Iyonix then |
JGZimmerle
22/5/05 2:07AM |
What about Sound? I see "Microphone in" mentioned, but no line out? |
sa110
22/5/05 9:25AM |
In reply to JGZimmerle:
There is no line out,but it does have a head phone socket. |
nijinsky
22/5/05 9:41AM |
Blooming heck....
I looked at the we picture and thought that there was a blue bit on the side of the main casing. However, I just clicked on the picture and saw that, in the large image, the blue bit is the whole computer. WOW.
What kind of weight is is. I as impresseed with the mac mini but thought it was a bit heavy. Is the A9Home a lot lighter than that?
cheers
bob |
flypig
22/5/05 2:03PM |
In reply to nijinsky:
I picked up one of the machines at the show to see how heavy it was. I was expecting it to feel like a block of lead with everything crammed in.
As it turned out it I was pleasantly surprised. As well as being tiny, it's also quite light and wouldn't be a burden to carry around. Unfortunately I don't know the exact weight though. |
hzn
22/5/05 2:48PM |
The small case is nice for traveling ... but since it needs the external power supply and a monitor I guess a bit bigger case with the power supply built in and a built-in CD/DVD drive (and be it a slimline one) would be a good idea and they exist as CD/DVD writers too. |
andretim (+1.5)
22/5/05 5:17PM |
Anyone noticed the module list from the pictures on IconBar? The addresses are the same as in 26-bit.
I guess that at the moment it's 32-bit OS in the strict sense of making it run on a pure 32-bit hardware and that they have morework to do before they can offer large wimpslots. |
alex
22/5/05 5:34PM |
We have been slashdot-ed:
[Link: hardware.slashdot.org]
Alex. |
JGZimmerle (-1.4)
22/5/05 5:47PM |
Yes, and as usual the /. Community think they know enough about RISC OS to slagg it off, even if they know next to nothing about it and have never used it. |
maus
22/5/05 9:30PM |
IMO, a majority of the ./ comments was rather well founded. Unfortunately, they compare the A9home with a Mac Mini, just because the machines have similar dimensions. |
Sawadee
22/5/05 11:43PM |
Maybe the A9home could soon have a choice of a "2 slice" set box for those who want to expand later?
The "2 slice could even be only half the thickness again if double is too much? |
SimonC
23/5/05 1:01AM |
The majority of the /. comments seemed to think that the only thing that matters in a computer is the price : MHz ratio. |
markee174
23/5/05 9:02AM |
They also miss the point the base Mac mini needs a ram upgrade to make it really usable, which ups the price. The A9 has enough memory as is...... |
olster
23/5/05 9:37AM |
In repy to sa110:
I'm pretty sure there was a line-out on the front, it's just it doesn't work yet. There were definitely two jacks on the front anyway. |
Archie
23/5/05 11:13AM |
In reply to markee174:
I wonder if they should double the memory given the expected requirements of Firefox? |
ninja
23/5/05 1:49PM |
Am I wrong to be wondering if that 8MB of framebuffer RAM is going to be sufficiently futureproof? Could the resolution of LCD screens rise that much in the next few years - certainly higher dpi LCDs exist already, though I haven't seen them in 17" and larger sizes.
Still, I'm happy with a 1024x768 display on my RiscPC. So long as there's enough video bandwidth to cope with an 8MB screen mode at a decent frame rate, I'll be content. |
guestx
23/5/05 2:23PM |
The A9home would be pretty interesting for certain embedded Linux projects, I suspect. Are there any plans for a non-RISC OS version of the product? (In other words, does Linux run on it yet?) |
Spriteman
23/5/05 5:16PM |
The price:MHz ratio is important. Being a RISC OS user I love the look of this new machine but what does it offer a PC/Mac/Unix user that they can't already get for less money in their own world? Sure, the UI of RISC OS is nice, but if you aren't used to it then it's a pain to swap over. I mean, how many of us still don't get on well with Windows? 
--
Spriteman |
ninja
23/5/05 5:44PM |
To answer my own question, if the video chip is what it is rumoured to be, the biggest screen mode should be 5MB or thereabouts - so until that changes you'll have VRAM to spare.
You couldn't have two screenbuffers of the biggest mode, but drop the colour depth or resolution a notch and you'd be able to run games in those modes. |
Loris
23/5/05 5:49PM |
Noone gets on well with Windows. Apart from the Nunlad, and his magical crash-preventing stick.
With regard to the Mhz thing, I think some of the defenders on slashdot go a bit too far. OK so maybe an ARM does more per clock tick in integer arithmatic (although perhaps not nowadays). But I'm fairly confident that the real difference in responsiveness is down to the load on the machines by their respective operating systems.
I think we really are going to need wads more power in the not so distant future, simply to crunch the data we want. But for now, the RISC OS world looks to be doing well. |
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