Subject: REVIEW: Amiga 4000T computer
From: [email-masked] (Eki Tapola)
Date: 30 Jul 1996 18:04:24 GMT
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.reviews

PRODUCT NAME

	Amiga A4000T '040 25 MHz

	[MODERATOR'S NOTE:  This review was updated on 28 October 1996.
	Search for the text "[UPDATE:" to find updated information.
	-Dan]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION

	Tower encased Amiga A4000 workstation with SCSI-2 and IDE
interfaces and a 1 GB SCSI Seagate hard drive.

MANUFACTURER INFORMATION

	Name:		Amiga Technologies GmbH

	Address:	Berliner Ring 89
			64625 Bensheim
			Germany

	Telephone:	(+49) 6251 802 100
	FAX:		(+49) 6251 802 179

	World Wide Web:	http://www.amiga.de
	For dealer
	addresses:	http://www.amiga.de/links/trade.html

VENDOR INFORMATION

	Name:		AIC Systems

	Address:	Meteorinkatu 5
			FIN-02210 Espoo
			Finland

	Telephone:	+358 0 8817 0004
	FAX:		+358 0 8817 0005

LIST PRICE

	15900 FIM

MACHINE USED FOR TESTING

	1 internal DD floppy drive
	16 Mb fast, 2 MB chip memory
	Quantum Maverick 540 MB (SCSI)
	Toshiba CD-ROM (SCSI)
	Syquest 44 MB disk cartridge (SCSI)
	MultiFaceCard III
	Merlin Graphics Card / CyberGraphX software
	Amiga M1438S monitor
	Kickstart 40.70
	Workbench 40.42	

INSTALLATION

	After unpacking I connected the mouse, keyboard, power cord
and my existing SVGA monitor.  As I anticipated, there was no picture.
The default screenmode being PAL, the monitor couldn't handle it.

	I disconnected all cables and dragged the 16 Kg (35 lb)
computer to the living room where I plugged it to the TV set by a
modulator.

	After changing the screenmode I returned the computer to the
room where I work.

	Before installing my expansion cards and drives into the tower
casing I had to test drive the computer to see that it works.  First
the screen filled with different nationalities' flags.  The system
asked me to choose the language and after that the keyboard layout.
Then I got the familiar Workbench on the screen.

	I installed my old hard drive, CD-ROM, MFC3 and 12 MB
additional memory.  It went mostly like a breeze, except that there
were no extra 3"1/2 mounting sets, so I had to replace the DD floppy
drive temporarily with my Quantum Maverick.

REVIEW

	The computer is shipped with the Magic software pack and Scala
MM300.  The Magic Pack includes (according to the manuals):

		- Personal Paint V6.4
		- Wordworth V4SE
		- Organiser V1.1
		- Datastore V1.1
		- Turbocalc V3.5
		- Photogenics V1.2aSE
		- Whizz
		- Pinball Mania

	I understand that the tower casing is a standard PC case used
by Escom.  Opening the case reveals six 5"1/4 drive bays, two of which
are occupied by the floppy drive and hard drive.  The mounting is done
by attaching a rail on each side of the drive.  The drive is kept in
place in the bay by metal clips which are on the end of the rails.
It's real easy to insert and remove the drive with the rails attached.
The casing has two fans, the first blows air in from the bottom front
corner and the other blows air out from the top back corner.

	The A4000T is shipped with 4 MB fast and 2 chip memory.  The
motherboard has four SIMM sockets.  Without changing any jumpers, you
can install 4 and 8 MB SIMMs.  1 or 2 MB SIMMs require a change in
jumper settings.  The maximum amount of memory on the motherboard is
16 MB fast and 2 MB chip.

	The processor module is a standard A3640.  It can be fitted
into an A3000 or an A4000 when upgrading the A4000T with a new
processor.

	The audio and video and disk I/O are on separate cards which
attach to the motherboard with a special connector.  On the audio
board there is an input connector for CD-ROM/DSP audio.  The sound is
mixed with the Amiga audio so that you can listen to audio CD's with
the equipment attached to your Amiga's RCA connectors.  There is no
external connector for an external floppy drive.  The connection
exists on the I/O-board, but you'll have to solder a short cable and a
connector or a 90-degree connector.  Inside the casing there is a
cable for two internal floppy drives each of which can be DD or HD.
The IDE connector is on the motherboard.

	There are five Zorro III slots, two video slots and four PC/AT
slots.  Three of the PC/AT slots are in line with Zorro slots.

	The front panel has:

		- a key/mouse lock with a very simple key
		- the power, reset and internal speaker
		  mute switches
		- power, SCSI bus and internal speaker leds.

	The internal speaker is really small, as you might expect in a
PC casing.  The bass is quite nonexistent.  The plastic front panel
has a door with a darkened window.

	[UPDATE: Peter Kittel reports that a fix for the speaker
	bass is on Aminet in hard/hack/loudspeaker.lha.  - Dan]

	The Kickstart and Workbench have changed a bit.  The guys at
AIC Systems suspected that the IDE controller software didn't fit into
Kickstart ROM without taking something out.  Workbench.library resides
now on disk.

	The two-button mouse is the same model shipped with A1200.  It
looks remotely like a drop of water on a vertical plane, smooth and
aerodynamic.

DOCUMENTATION

	The following manuals are included:

		- A4000T
		- Workbench
		- DOS
		- ARexx
		- Hard disk
		- AGA Supplement
		- AmigaDOS quick reference
		- Wordworth, Organiser, Datastore,
		  Turbocalc, Photogenics
		- Personal Paint
		- Whizz, Pinball Mania

	According to Dr.  Peter Kittel the documentation is the
original Commodore documentation (I suspect excluding the
A4000T manual and the Magic Pack documentation).

	One thing I couldn't find from the documentation is which
way the floppy cable should be connected.  Physically it fits
both ways to the drive.  The documentation is mostly quite
detailed and seems to be written for a beginner.

LIKES

	- You can use the cheap IDE CD-ROMs, IDE hard drives and
	  Jedec SIMMs.
	- The casing is quite practical.

DISLIKES AND SUGGESTIONS

	- No more "standard Amiga color" casing

	- The DD drive is quite useless beside installing
	  commercial software.

	- The keyboard is stiffer than my A3000 keyboard
	  (so I switched keyboards).

	- The mouse is not sensitive (so I kept the old one)

	- There is no external connector for an external floppy drive.

COMPARISON TO OTHER SIMILAR PRODUCTS

	Compared to my A3000 the A4000T has very much room for
expansion devices.  The A3000 is a very beautiful machine, which I
can't unfortunately say for the A4000T.  Though it looks more
professional with it's huge size it lacks the elegant design of the
A3000.

BUGS

	The DD-floppy is connected through a small circuit board, which
fixes a bug concerning track-loading games.

VENDOR SUPPORT

	The guys at AIC Systems are very helpful and they know their
merchandise well.  I have done some projects for their advertising
and I'm also translating the system software in Finnish.  I
made this review on my own initiative because I consider the
comp.sys.amiga.reviews very handy.

WARRANTY

	1 year.

CONCLUSIONS

	I do 3D animation and graphics so the A4000T is a good
workstation.  I'm waiting anxiously for my '060 turbo
board, but I also like the speed increase from an
A3000 '030 to an A4000T '040.

	I'll give it a rating of 5/5.

COPYRIGHT NOTICE

	Copyright 1996 Erkki Tapola

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