Subject: REVIEW: Network CD and CD32 Sernet cable
From: [email-masked] (Aaron Smith)
Date: 20 Oct 1994 18:08:52 GMT
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.reviews

NAMES OF PRODUCTS

	Network CD
	CD32 Sernet cable (null-serial cable)

BRIEF DESCRIPTIONS

	Network CD is a pre-setup CD with several programs including full
Workbench, Parnet, Sernet, Ncomm, Term, Twin Express, and several PD
collections.

	The CD32 serial cable connects to the AUX port on the left side of
the CD32 and provides a passthough to the keyboard. It also provides a
complete serial port.

AUTHOR/COMPANY INFORMATION

	Name:		Weird Science

I purchased both products from:

			Northwest Public Domain
			PO Box 1617
			Auburn, WA 98071-1617
			USA

LIST PRICE

	$29.95 (US) for the cable and $19.95 (US) for the CD.  I paid a
little less than dealer cost.

SPECIAL HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS

	HARDWARE

		A CD32 is required.

		Mouse and/or keyboard recommended, although you can use the
		CD32 joystick to control the mouse.

		Another Amiga to complete the link.

	SOFTWARE

		None.

COPY PROTECTION

	None.

MACHINES USED FOR TESTING

	Amiga 3000/25, 4 MB Fast RAM, 2 MB Chip RAM
	2 internal 880K floppies
	2 gig Hewlett Packard HD
	ViewSonic SVGA monitor
	Comports 8 port high speed serial cards (for sale BTW)
	AmigaDOS 3.1

	CD32 w/2MB chip only
	AmigaDOS 3.1
	Workbench 3.1 (Kick 40.60 WB 39.29 old WB version??)

	GE S-VHS TV/Monitor.

INSTALLATION

	Installation is rather simple.  Plug one end of the cable (DB-25)
into your Amiga, Plug the round cable end into the CD32's AUX port and your
keyboard (A4000 style) into the passthough connector.

CABLE REVIEW

	I must say I am impressed, not really with the cable but with the
CD32's built in serial port. It doesn't offer RTS/CTS handshaking, yet it
can and did lock at 57600 bps with my A3000 comports serial port and sustain
3900-4200cps with minimum errors. The cable is of good enough quality for
what it does.  The DB25 end has a few parts in it including a small chip to
convert signals to the correct levels of standard serial ports.

	The small AUX end went in the CD32 a little hard, although this may
just be my particular machine.  The keyboard passthough worked flawlessly and
of course allowed serial transfers while active.

	Overall, I believe the cable is worth the $30 that NorthWest PD
sells it for.  With this cable, the Networking CD, a modem, and another
NullModem cable (to reverse it back to standard pins), your CD32 could be a
nice little terminal for calling out to a BBS as well. Seeing as the CD32
handled the 4200 CPS all right, I am guessing it could handle one of my 28.8K
modems without to much trouble.

	In conclusion, for the price of $30, this is a good deal for someone
who would like to download a few small AGA Euro demos from another Amiga to
watch on their TVs (note to AGA demo makers: make these things run on NTSC
CD32s), or perhaps use their CD32 to view some nice HAM-8s. This is a good
solution to for doing so.

NETWORK CD REVIEW

	The Network CD is simple to use overall. Once you put it into the
CD32 and turn the power reset, it gives you a message, "LOADING this may
take awhile."  I believe this message is here for the CDTV owners, as it
takes approximately 1 minute 40 seconds for it to load every little program
including Arq, several commodities, the boot picture and a very annoying
backdrop.  The Network CD boots under AmigaDOS 1.3, 2.0, or 3.1 for any
machine.

	When you open the main CD icon, you get the standard Workbench
drawers (Prefs, Tools, Utilities, Devs, etc.) and all the setup programs.
You also get a Shell, the wonderful trashcan (sic), and few other tidbits.
The pre-setup programs include Terminus, Parnet, Sernet, a PhotoCD converter,
and a few others.  It also includes Fred Fish disks 800-975, Amos PD disks
478-603, Tbags disks 1-74, and approximately 500 images for viewing.

	On to the programs... About the only program I really used was
Terminus. This is what I used for file transfers from my A3000 to the CD32.
I used Terminus because that is what I am used to. Read my dislikes later
about its setup.  I tried to run sernet with the included disk for the host
machine with no luck.  I'm not saying that it doesn't work -- I am sure it
does -- but I tried only once and didn't want to mess with it after that.

	The only networking I have done has been with Envoy using
slip.device and plip.device. I would have much rather seen them use an Envoy
setup and these drivers. It would have allowed for a much cleaner and more
reliable connection with full disk icons and full network compatibility.
Using old junker programs like Parnet and sernet just don't cut it any more.
Actually it never did for me; Parnet has never been a viable choice in my
opinion for networking. Sernet seems to be another hack that just doesn't
cut it. This is only my judgement and whoever decides to use whichever is no
concern of mine. :)

DOCUMENTATION

	All the documentation is in README files on the CD. Most every
individual program had its own README that brings up a text reader.  The
ones written by the makers of the CD were for the most part clear and helped
where needed. The rest were mostly the documents that came with the programs
(i.e., Terminus, ViewTek, etc.).  Everything overall was complete and not to
hard to understand.

LIKES

	The setup was simple, and I transferred a file just fine on my first
try with no reconfiguration whatsoever.  I liked that they used such programs
as Arq. I hope future CD32 utility CD's use more of such programs.

DISLIKES AND SUGGESTIONS

	Well, here we go....  I like to complain. The first thing I noticed
is it seems they set up Workbench with nothing but the ugly, "blah" defaults
that no one likes. The background is setup with a group of tiled NETWORK CD
pics that helps to steal the precious 2MB of Chip RAM that is very much
needed to run about any program you want to pull over the network. The only
place to put programs pulled over the net is into the RAM: drive.  This
means that the bigger the program, the less RAM that program has to use. This
can be cured with the use of Virtual mounted drives (which Sernet and Parnet
allow); take note of my Envoy usage example.

	The overscan is set so low (640x200) that is is hard to fit any
windows on the Workbench screen without cluttering things up a bit. The
colors are all set a little blah, and the icons look to be simple 4-8 colors.

	Something that really got to me was the configuration of the
programs included on the CD. Terminus is set to open on the Public WB screen
with WB palette colors, and it isn't even the new version of Terminus! They
are using Terminus 2.0 (latest is 2.0d I believe).  On the other hand, Ncomm
is setup the exact way I have my Terminus setup (color and preference
wise).  I suggest they put a little more work into setup of the programs on
their next version. Although speaking with a salesmen on the phone at
Northwest PD, "Lock and Load 2" should be something very nice.

	Another dislike is the fact that they are using a seriously old
version of Workbench 3.1. The Palette preferences programs and several others
including Multiview are old and are missing several important features.

	I am perhaps looking for too much out of this CD.  It is sold as a
networking CD, and I just would like a few things changed for user friendly
purposes. There were a few little bugs in it, like the "slideshows" area.
They all default to pal, which may be fine for some people, but I find it
hard to watch a slide show while my TV rolls. :)

	I want a CD that is specially made for an AmigaDOS 3.1 AGA CD32.
This CD is set up for any machine and it causes minor problems at times.
Hopefully "Lock and Load 2" will do this.

COMPARISON TO OTHER SIMILAR PRODUCTS

	As for the CD32 cable, I can't compare it with much of anything else.
I did own a SX-1 but sold it after being extremely disappointed with its
ugliness and performance. This cable gives me at least the ability to run
AGA demos and utilities that I want to for $30. The SX-1 stuck out of my CD32
and made it look a little lame in my eyes. I hope someone makes another
expansion box that perhaps fits under the CD32 and gives some seriously
faster serial and parallel ports. If the CD32 had a mere floppy port, I would
be very happy. :)

BUGS

	There are a few minor bugs, but nothing of concern. They used a
separate Workbench backdrop setting program instead of the standard WBPattern
program. This can cause conflicts with some programs including WBPattern and
Font preferences, and the backdrop program itself can crash the machine if
you try to take away the picture.

VENDOR SUPPORT

	Well I called Northwest PD and had a cool chat with someone (whose
name I forget) about a few CD32 topics and the CD he is working on: the
"Lock And Load 2".  We also talked about the jerk companies making CD32 games
using only 880K on the 650MB CD. :) Overall, it's a friendly place and it
did a fine job with my order. I never have dealt with "Weird Science" the
actual company that made the cable and the CD. Don't think I would need to.

WARRANTY

	Nothing mentioned, but from the nice way I was treated by NorthWest
PD, I am sure if anything was wrong with the cable or CD they would allow a
free trade for a good one. At least I think so. :)

CONCLUSIONS

	Both of these are good products, I give the cable a nice "A" and the
CD a "B". These are good solutions to a slow method of getting files to your
CD32 until something other than the SX-1 becomes available for a decent
price.

	I have never done a review before and yes, it shows. My grammar is
terrible and I make several typos. Other than this I am fine. :) I hope this
review provided some insight.

COPYRIGHT NOTICE

	Party with this review and do whatever you want - just don't make me
look stupid(er).

	A quick ending note:  Monday, I ordered 3 CD32s from DarkSoft
computers. They were the ones going for $220 on the Internet.  I believe
these are C= liquidated. I will be ordering another 2 CD32 Sernet cables and
using the CD32s as null modem computers and AGA toys. I will be hooking them
up to 1084s Monitors Via the SVHS port with a homemade cable. These cheap
wonderful little machines will make for a lot of fun when I throw another BBS
party. These will allow several users to jump online my BBS locally for
cheap... yet another cool use of the CD32. :)

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