Re: Apple ][gs VGA Card

[jp1@aol.com (JP1)]

In article <35felj$5s1@blackice.winternet.com>, daver@drift.winternet.com
(Dave Roberts) writes:

>> Yep. I have one, and there are at least 5 or 6 cables running around
>> to support it, along with an extra card to handle switching between
video
>> modes. BTW, the processor is actually a Z80 (?), and the graphics are
CGA,
>> not EGA, though they could have easily done EGA on the GS monitor.

It's an NEC V30 processor.  I've checked mine against a couple of PC
benchmarks, and it seems to score nearly at AT level.  Yeah, yeah, that's
poop these days, but remember, the PCT was designed back in the '86 - '87
era and was never improved in performance.

As far as cables and jumping through hoops is concerned, there's a ribbon
cable from the PCT card to the 'Color Switch' card (that doesn't occupy a
slot, FWLIW), a short cable from the Color Switch card through the
backplane to the GS's video port (the GS moitor cable plugs into the Color
Switch's port), and a cable from the PCT card to the backplane for floppy
drive connection.  That's not really _that_ many cables...though if a GS
is already card-well-endowed, it can get crowded.  (I find that the Color
Switch card is best placed all the way up against the GS power supply, w/
an insulator sheet.  That keeps from covering any GS slot)

The PCT is antiquated by modern standards and has its quirks, but back
when it was first released, there weren't many other desktop platforms
that had readily available 'co-processor' cards, were there?  The co-use
of system components (monitor, keyboard, and even HD) was sorta slick.
IMO.   I sure as h*** wrote several hundred thousand words professionally
in WordPerfect via the PCT, at speeds and with flexibility that could not
be matched by any Apple II 'native' software.

But back to the real subject: The Second Sight card looks to be great. 
Something like this was going to be one of the first products by Vitesse
in 1990, but it never went beyond the 'talk' stage.  My checkbook's at the
ready, if the Sequential ad in GS+ is a true indication of potential.

John P.