Re: Second Sight

[spec@vax2.concordia.ca (Mitchell Spector)]

In article ballweb@PEAK.ORG (Brian Ballweber) writes...
>
>I am considering buying a second sight to reclaim some desktop space
>that my IIgs RGB is taking up (and to eliminate the EM interference
>it is causing my other monitor).  Where can I get one of these, and for
>how much?  How reliable and/or worthwhile are they?

    You can purchase one directly from Sequential Systems, the current
cost is US$149 for the 24-bit color version (incidentally, all boards
now ship with 1MB as standard, whether 8-bit or 24-bit).

    As far as reliability goes, I wouldn't rate it very high. The card
is made up of inexpensive parts (Oak VGA chipset and other leftovers)
and seems as if it were rushed. I've heard various reports of it being 
a "power-hog" and interferring with high-speed ZipGS accelerators.
The firmware is a complete mess, it is exteremly buggy, lacking in
features and even incomplete! Due to limitations of the board and
the unfinished state of the firmware, it cannot be considered a total
replacement for the AppleColor RGB.

    The Second Sight is also sorely lacking in terms of software 
support. There are a handful of non-commercial graphic viewers, 
and very little, if anything, beyond that. Projects like a patched 
QuickDraw II, support for Spectrum and SuperConvert are being hampered 
by the firmware. With Jawaid Bazyar no longer involved, the possibility 
of a firmware update remains uncertain until a 3rd party can jump in 
(Sequential _claims_ they have one, but I'd question that since they 
refuse to connect up developers with him/her/them).

    My personal opinion is, if nothing significant isn't announced
by January 1st, 1997, the card will have been a flop. Perhaps a
renaming would be in order to something more fitting then, such as
"Second Sunk". ;-) I'd only recommend a Second Sight if you _must_
connect a modern PC SVGA display to your Apple IIgs, beyond that it
isn't of much use (again at present).

Mitchell Spector
spec@vax2.concordia.ca