Newbie dilemma - wait or pull the trigger?
  • Butterfly
    Butterfly
    insurgent
    Posts: 64 from 2007/7/8
    Let me introduce myself - long-time Amiga fan, AROS groupie but by no means developer material from Down Under.

    It looks like MOS 2 release is imminent. How things have changed with time! I really want to get on with something that can be used.

    Should I wait for next release of MOS (in hope it may be bundled with updated hardware - EFIKA 2 perhaps) or should I just get EFIKA now? The mobo itself is fairly reasonably priced but the whole package i.e. the Open Client products are a pricey and it is certainly looks underpowered when compared to old Pegasos boards.

    How does XGI Volari V3XE graphics compare to ATi 9250 that everyone here seems to be recommending? My understanding is that XGI has a better driver support (open sourced drivers) and is a more capable card overall? Is it worth the price? Alternatively, can someone point to a good source of low-profile 9250 in Australia?

    Thanks.
    :-)
    Registered MOS 2.7 + Pack Ultimate 1.6.2 running on:
    Power Mac G4 FW800 1.42GHz 2GB / Radeon 9000 Pro 128MB / SB Live! / NEC USB 2.0 / SuperDrive
    Mac Mini G4 1.5GHz 1GB / 64MB VRAM / SuperDrive
    Dell UltraSharp 2407WFP 1920x1200
    PowerBook G4 ready :-)
  • »08.07.07 - 05:47
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  • Order of the Butterfly
    Order of the Butterfly
    judas
    Posts: 175 from 2005/1/14
    From: core of universe
    Hi,
    the PEGs are "old but gold". You can expand much more, get more speed ... they are real computers.. and morphos is proven to work well..
    ..but they're more expensive, the hardware support might be a problem ..

    Efika is supposed to run MorphOs ..right. But as MorphOS 1.5 was announced for years .. now it's dead, they're speaking of MorphOs 2.0...
    There's a risk, that you'll have to wait for years, to get MorphOS 5.0 someday.

    ( I bought my Peg2 about 3 years earlier from today, where MorphOS 1.5 was "close to be released" ... :-)

    If you're a linux hacker guy, Efika might attractive no matter if MorphOS will appear or not ...
  • »08.07.07 - 08:11
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  • Yokemate of Keyboards
    Yokemate of Keyboards
    magnetic
    Posts: 2129 from 2003/3/1
    From: Los Angeles
    well there are no drivers for XGI cards on Morphos is why.
    Pegasos 2 Rev 2B3 w/ Freescale 7447 "G4" @ 1ghz / 1gb Nanya Ram
    Quad Boot: MorphOS 2.7 | Amiga OS4.1 U4 | Ubuntu PPC GNU/Linux | OS X 10.4
  • »08.07.07 - 15:58
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  • Yokemate of Keyboards
    Yokemate of Keyboards
    takemehomegrandma
    Posts: 2720 from 2003/2/24
    If you need a Pegasos class desktop computer, try to find a second hand Pegasos 2 G4.

    If you think the Efika will be enough for your MorphOS needs (chances are it will be, depends on what you will do with it), then go for that one instead.

    All motherboards (even the Pegasos) needs peripherals like a case, gfx card, hdd, psu, etc. If you want it real cheap you can always buy a $99 board and put it bare on the desk, plug in a used PSU and graphics card from another computer (doesn't everyone have this kind of stuff lying around? ;-)), *or* you could go for the option that has case, PSU, GFX, HDD etc included already. :-)
    MorphOS is Amiga done right! :-)
    MorphOS NG will be AROS done right! :-)
  • »09.07.07 - 08:37
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  • Priest of the Order of the Butterfly
    Priest of the Order of the Butterfly
    Velcro_SP
    Posts: 929 from 2003/7/13
    From: Universe
    |||

    [ Edited by Velcro_SP 28.08.2011 - 07:19 ]
    Pegasos2 G3, 512 megs RAM
  • »09.07.07 - 09:47
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  • Order of the Butterfly
    Order of the Butterfly
    kriz
    Posts: 309 from 2005/10/18
    From: No(R)way
    Yes a peg 2 is something you will like. I got my 2. hand in november,
    and now it is my main machine... Very lovely stuff :)
    MacMiniG4 MOS 3.18 rulez ... For music check: Horrordelic Records - Dark Psychedelic Music Since 2011 -
  • »09.07.07 - 13:38
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  • Moderator
    guruman
    Posts: 461 from 2003/7/21
    I'd say: wait until the 2.0 release. Those who already have the
    hardware have nothing to wait, and can enjoy the OS right now, and
    rightly so, but I think decisions will be more informed after the
    new release has happened and we get to know all the facts (HW
    supported, possible bundles, retail price, and so on).

    BTW, right now some ATI cards are supported very well by MOS, while
    the Volari chips are not (check the morphos-team page, 3d subsection,
    for more infos).

    Kind regards,
    Andrea
  • »09.07.07 - 18:03
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  • Just looking around
    Posts: 4 from 2007/6/12
    Quote:


    kriz wrote:
    Yes a peg 2 is something you will like. I got my 2. hand in november,
    and now it is my main machine... Very lovely stuff :)


    Yes I agree, I only have had my Peg 2 for a few weeks, but it's now my main machine also, and my main Amiga!!!

    :-)
  • »09.07.07 - 18:56
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  • Butterfly
    Butterfly
    insurgent
    Posts: 64 from 2007/7/8
    Well, that was a long wait indeed... I got a pre-loved EFIKA about 6 months ago. It included unregistered 2.2, however the meagre RAM was a real let down such that I didn't even bother to proceed with the registration. Then Mini arrived this week and I have promptly installed 2.4 in place and have just completed registration and are waiting for the key. These two machines are world apart. Now I'm looking forward to some very exciting times...

    8-)
    Registered MOS 2.7 + Pack Ultimate 1.6.2 running on:
    Power Mac G4 FW800 1.42GHz 2GB / Radeon 9000 Pro 128MB / SB Live! / NEC USB 2.0 / SuperDrive
    Mac Mini G4 1.5GHz 1GB / 64MB VRAM / SuperDrive
    Dell UltraSharp 2407WFP 1920x1200
    PowerBook G4 ready :-)
  • »19.02.10 - 10:01
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  • Priest of the Order of the Butterfly
    Priest of the Order of the Butterfly
    osco
    Posts: 680 from 2009/10/21
    From: Boston, USA
    Welcome and many sleepless nights await :)
    Curious how are two machines worlds apart?
    Mac Mini 1.5GHz, 1G, 250G Drive, Apple Cinema Display, MorphOS 3.1 registered, MacOS 10 PowerBook (5,8) 1.67Hz, 2G, 80G Drive,........Waiting
    PowerBook (5,8) 1.67Hz, 2G, 40G MorphOS 3.1 unregisterd
  • »19.02.10 - 12:38
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  • Order of the Butterfly
    Order of the Butterfly
    DiskDoctor
    Posts: 306 from 2009/4/17
    From: Rzeszow, place...
    Why is nobody mentioning Apple?

    Right now, Mac mini G4 supports MorphOS2.4, to be gotten cheaply and it's powerful.

    Also another HW is planned, most likely this year but no one can tell that. Not sure if it's PowerBook or some other.

    I would give myself say two months, wait for any PowerBook progress news and then decided. Te mini or waiting for PowerBook.

    And btw I wouldn't expect any Efika update, all the more this HW is discontinued now. I suppose all efforts are put now in PowerBook.

    EDIT* Now I'm lost since I just noticed Efika also supports 2.4. So what this said waiting is all about??

    :-(

    [ Edited by DiskDoctor on 2010/2/19 14:50 ]
    Was: Mac Mini PPC running MorphOS 2.4
    Now: Amiga Forever 2010 with AmiKit and AmigaSYS
    Not used: Icaros Desktop 1.2 (reason: no wifi)
    Planned soon: an OS4 system
    Shortly then: a MOS notebook (wifi is a must-have)
  • »19.02.10 - 12:48
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  • Moderator
    Kronos
    Posts: 2323 from 2003/2/24
    @DiskDoctor

    Don't worry, it's just a severe case of thread-necrophelia :roll:
  • »19.02.10 - 13:00
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  • Yokemate of Keyboards
    Yokemate of Keyboards
    takemehomegrandma
    Posts: 2720 from 2003/2/24
    @ insurgent

    Congratulations! :-)


    @ DiskDoctor

    Check the date stamps on the posts, man! ;-)
    MorphOS is Amiga done right! :-)
    MorphOS NG will be AROS done right! :-)
  • »19.02.10 - 14:12
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  • Cocoon
    Cocoon
    Beamish2040
    Posts: 44 from 2009/4/2
    Quote:


    osco wrote:
    Curious how are two machines worlds apart?

    My experience with MorphOS is much better on the MacMini. On the Efika I am constantly running out of Ram and locking the machine up. The only problem that I see with the MacMini is the lack of video ram.
  • »19.02.10 - 16:08
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  • Order of the Butterfly
    Order of the Butterfly
    DiskDoctor
    Posts: 306 from 2009/4/17
    From: Rzeszow, place...
    Quote:



    @ DiskDoctor

    Check the date stamps on the posts, man! ;-)




    OK you've got me! Gotta watch out for those things... :-)
    Was: Mac Mini PPC running MorphOS 2.4
    Now: Amiga Forever 2010 with AmiKit and AmigaSYS
    Not used: Icaros Desktop 1.2 (reason: no wifi)
    Planned soon: an OS4 system
    Shortly then: a MOS notebook (wifi is a must-have)
  • »19.02.10 - 16:16
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  • IKE
  • Acolyte of the Butterfly
    Acolyte of the Butterfly
    IKE
    Posts: 146 from 2009/11/7
    From: Southern CA
    Pull the trigger, get a Mac Mini, register your copy of MorphOS and enjoy. Absolutely zero regrets here.

    IKE
    IKE

    MacMini G4 1.5Ghz/PowerBook G4 1.67Ghz/PowerMac G5 2.0Ghz DP 7,2 Radeon 9650/256MB

    Join the conversation @ r/morphos
  • »19.02.10 - 21:49
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  • Butterfly
    Butterfly
    insurgent
    Posts: 64 from 2007/7/8
    Yes, my very first post was before MorphOS was available for EFIKA and before anyone even talked about port to Mini. EFIKA is very limited in terms of RAM and processor speed and it shows. All sorted - got top of the line Mini, have registered my installation and can't be happier with what I have now.

    Perhaps I could have hold on until PowerMac G4 is supported, which I believe will be very soon, but then there's always something better around corner. I think PowerMac would be nice to have as it has potential for extensions (e.g. better video card) and double the RAM compared to Mini. Maybe sometime down the track...

    I just want to say that decision to port MorphOS to affordable Apple gear have probably done more to expand its user base than anything else in the past. It would be interesting to know how many users are there per different platform i.e. Amiga / Pegasos / EFIKA / Apple


    [ Edited by insurgent on 2010/2/20 14:28 ]
    Registered MOS 2.7 + Pack Ultimate 1.6.2 running on:
    Power Mac G4 FW800 1.42GHz 2GB / Radeon 9000 Pro 128MB / SB Live! / NEC USB 2.0 / SuperDrive
    Mac Mini G4 1.5GHz 1GB / 64MB VRAM / SuperDrive
    Dell UltraSharp 2407WFP 1920x1200
    PowerBook G4 ready :-)
  • »20.02.10 - 03:23
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