Re: Innocent Apple 3,5" drives are getting slaughtered!

[heuser.marcus@freenet.de]

On Sep 4, 9:07 pm, "Bill Garber" <willy4...@comcast.net> wrote:
>
> And not merely accelerators, but ones that go 20-30 MHz.
>
> I have a IIgs that goes up to 100 MHz, it's called
> a 1.3 GHz PC running Kegs on full speed. I think
> that if you really want it fast, run an emulator.

First of all - you are most certainly right about the speed.
And this comes both as a blessing and as a curse.

The good thing about getting a "ridiculously fast" Apple II is
that you don't have any speed problems with certain applications
any more. These include tasks where you used to wait in the past
like compilers and stuff - the faster the better. No doubt about
it.

But other applications like lots of games aren't that fun at that
speed. Of course you can set the emulation to 1x - but some games
actually like an accelerator card and the "mild" performance bump
it gives. In fact I believe that some games were even designed
that way.

What I'd like to see here are two things:
a) the application running at the systems native speed (supported
   by all emulators I know of).
b) the application running at the speed of popular accelerators
   like the TransWarp I, ZipChip 8000 or IIgs accelerators (not
   supported by all Windows emulators I know of).

That way you can better judge how a game would run, for example,
and I don't see that as a real challenge for an emulator developer.

Additionally, emulators are still aren't "perfect" in my opinion,
though some offer features you simply don't have on the original
platform like ultra-convenient debugging.

Add to that the glitches that even the more popular emulators
like AppleWin have and the not-NTSC-authentic looking video
quality.

It's not that I'm not thankful for what the guys that made them
have accomplished - far from it! - but I still see much room for
improvement.

> I have actually taken my ZIP-GSX out of my ROM03,
> and am running it at the normal 2.4, er, 2.8, er,
> whatever the hell the speed is. Storage is what
> makes the 8/16 bitters better.

Today I see two uses for an accelerator for myself as I don't use
an Apple II for my "everyday computing" (a lot of uses would elude
me):

a) For compatibility tests
   This does not only include "does the program run at all?" and
   "are there any issues with hardwaree timing?" but also "will
   my game run too fast to be enjoyable?" resulting in "where do
   I have to put additional loops in case the user has a certain
   accelerator?" or "can I add something of value (more detail,
   bigger screen) for an accelerator owner?".

b) Simply for a more enjoyable IIgs GUI experience.
   This system is IMHO in it's native "fast" speed slow as a dog
   with three legs walking backwards in syrup under the influence
   of Valium! When I watch the screen being drawn in slow motion
   I'm constantly reminded of some debug code running extra cycles
   on a faster machine to visualize bugs better. I really would
   like to do more on this machine but I spend more time with
   waiting than with anything else.

Personally I don't see myself buying a GS-accelerator soon, though,
as I would've to do more than simply popping it in and experience
instant happiness!

Power and heat are two problem I just don't want to solve with
leaving the case open (I guess, I'm more of a user, Michael!)
and/or hooking a freaking PC power supply to it like an iron ball
to a prisoner!

So I guess, I keep my GS running at 2.x MHz as an "accelerated
IIe" while mostly using text mode (fast enough) or the 280x192
pixel mode. That way I can comfortably test out what I have to
compare it with a bog-standard IIe, which I have hooked up to
a NTSC-capable TV-set.

bye
Marcus