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- From: nrichers@trentu.ca (Nikolaj Peddie-Richers)
- Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.reviews
- Subject: REVIEW: Retina 24-bit graphics board
- Followup-To: comp.sys.amiga.graphics
- Date: 19 Apr 1993 02:20:26 GMT
- Organization: The Amiga Online Review Column - ed. Daniel Barrett
- Lines: 546
- Sender: amiga-reviews@math.uh.edu (comp.sys.amiga.reviews moderator)
- Approved: barrett@math.uh.edu
- Distribution: world
- Message-ID: <1qt29a$er1@menudo.uh.edu>
- Reply-To: nrichers@trentu.ca (Nikolaj Peddie-Richers)
- NNTP-Posting-Host: karazm.math.uh.edu
- Keywords: hardware, graphics, 24-bit, Zorro card, commercial
-
-
- PRODUCT NAME
-
- Retina 24-bit graphics board
-
-
- BRIEF DESCRIPTION
-
- High-resolution, 24-bit graphics board for the Amiga 2000/3000/4000
- with 1, 2, or 4MB of on-board 32-bit wide RAM. (The 4MB version is tested in
- this review.) Comes with a Workbench emulation and VDPaint, a 24-bit paint
- program.
-
-
- COMPANY INFORMATION
-
- Name: MacroSystem Computer GmbH
- Address: Friedrich-Ebert-Strasse 85
- 5810 Witten
- Germany
-
- Phone: (+country code) 02302/80391
- FAX: (+country code) 02302/80884
-
-
- DISTRIBUTORS
-
- The card was bought from:
-
- Promigos Switzerland
- Mr. H. R. Wenger
- Hauptstrasse 37
- 5212 Hausen bei Brugg
- Switzerland
-
- Phone: 011-4156-322132
- FAX: 011-4156-322134
- BBS: 011-4156-322133
-
- The North American distributor is (thanks to Rudolf Neuhaus for this
- information):
-
- MacroSystem US
- Mr. Robert Tingley
- 17019 Smugglers Cove
- Mount Clemens, MI 48038
-
- Phone: (313) 263-0095
-
-
- LIST PRICE
-
- DM 798,- for 4MB version plus shipping and handling; 1 and 2MB are
- versions cheaper. Paid sFr. 798,- plus s&h (1 DM = sFr. 0.85, I think).
-
- In American money, that's about $570, subject to variations in the
- exchange rate. Your bank can tell you what the exact exchange rate is.
-
-
- SPECIAL HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS
-
- - Amiga with an empty Zorro II slot.
- - Monitor (at least a VGA one recommended) and monitor cable.
- - Kickstart 37.175 and Workbench 37.67, or higher.
-
- MacroSystem recommends 1MB Chip RAM, 4MB Fast RAM, and a 100MB SCSI
- hard drive. You can run with less, but the recommended minimum
- configuration for VDPaint is 5MB RAM and lots of free hard drive space, due
- to the size of 24-bit pictures. Plus I recommend a _big_ screen. At high
- resolutions, things get small.
-
-
- COPY PROTECTION
-
- None. The VDPaint version included will run only on the Retina.
-
-
- MACHINE USED FOR TESTING
-
- - Amiga 3000/25
- - 2MB Chip RAM, 8MB Fast RAM, 100MB SCSI HD
- - Kickstart 37.175 (2.04) and Workbench 37.71 (2.05)
- - Samsung Syncmaster 17-inch multisync monitor
- - Retina with 4MB RAM
-
-
- REVIEW
-
- The following discussion consists of a short introduction, the "ins
- and outs" of software and hardware installation, the setup of the Workbench
- emulation, and some real-life impressions of the card with the programs I
- use. All of it carries personal bias; I bought the Retina for a specific
- purpose, and I can tell you how well it lives up to my expectations. That
- is, I am not interested in (or capable of) a full technical review of the
- card, nor in some general, lofty, can-she-fly-to-the-moon-in-principle kind
- of discussion. Furthermore, I have had the card for four days only, and I am
- discovering new features all the time. This review is not exhaustive, then.
-
- For a long time, I have wanted to use higher resolutions on my
- Amigas. I spend much of my waking life researching and writing philosophy
- papers on a bizarre Austrian philosopher called Ludwig Wittgenstein, and I
- am tired of flickering, dog-slow overscanned screens on a small monitor. If
- you spend entire nights writing, then you certainly know what I mean: the
- standard Amiga output, including AGA, doesn't quite do the trick for this
- kind of work.
-
- There are a number of Amiga graphics boards on the market; but until
- very recently, all of them were aimed at the graphical artist or CAD users.
- Often, these boards are very expensive, putting them out of my reach.
-
- Enter the summer of 1992. I was in Switzerland and heard of a
- high-resolution board called Domino by XPert systems. I didn't get one in
- time, having to leave for Canada before any boards were actually shipped.
- Some time later, I heard that the board is actually quite slow, since it
- relies on the CPU for blitting operations; it's a "dumb" VGA card with a
- Zorro II adapter. But its most interesting feature, besides its
- high-resolution, is a so-called Workbench Emulation, which allows the card
- to be integrated into the Amiga Workbench environment.
-
- Winter 92-93: through USENET discussions, I get to know Rudolf
- Neuhaus, who tells me about a card he bought at a computer show; it's called
- "Retina" and does the same as the Domino, but more. In particular, it has
- 24-bit display modes and comes with its own blitter. It sounds great. In
- fact, it sounds so great that I decide to take the plunge and order one
- blind through my father in Switzerland in early March. Promigos is
- back-ordered, and it takes _three_ shipments from the manufacturer to fill
- my order. My card has the serial number 18086, the 102nd Promigos sells.
-
- A 17-inch monitor rounds off my leap into serious Amiga power;
- judging by how small things get even on a screen like this, I would
- recommend this as a minimum configuration.
-
- Three days ago, my card arrived via courier; the packaging is OK.
- Two disks and two manuals are included: one each for the Workbench
- emulation and VDPaint. The card itself is quite small, full-length, but
- about half-height with relatively few chips on it; my (untrained) eye can
- discern some ZIP RAMs, a big NCR chip, which must be the VGA/graphics chip
- itself, a memory controller, and EPROMS. The card has a 15-pin VGA socket on
- the back. With 4MB, the limit for the Retina, every other ZIP RAM socket is
- populated; with 2MB, all sockets are populated, but with lower-density
- chips; at 1MB, every other sockets is populated again. All cards are
- identical except for the amount of RAM on them; a jumper alters timing
- slightly for the different configurations. Most applications don't need 4MB
- RAM; it is only once you get into 24-bit graphics work or need to open a
- large number of Retina screens under the Workbench emulation that things get
- memory-intensive. The card itself is a 32-bit card with a 16-bit Zorro II
- interface and connector.
-
- The hardware installation is relatively simple; always ground
- yourself to prevent static build-ups, and let a technician do the
- installation if you don't trust yourself fully.
-
- [MODERATOR'S NOTE: As the review mentions, do not attempt to
- install any hardware device unless you are comfortable and
- experienced at doing so. If you are careless, you may void your
- warranty or even damage your Amiga. If you are in doubt, have
- a professional do the installation. - Dan]
-
- On my Amiga, the warranty seal was broken by CBM itself when they installed
- additional memory after I bought the machine directly from CBM Switzerland.
- Be aware that opening your machine voids any warranty, at least in some
- countries. After unscrewing five screws, the A3000 cover can be slid off,
- and the daughterboard with the expansion slots becomes visible. Unscrew one
- of the slot covers on the back, and slide the card into the corresponding
- empty slot until it sits in the slot firmly. Screw in the one screw that
- holds the backplane of the card. On my card, the was a small gap between
- the A3000 case and the Retina backplane; to screw it on, I would have had to
- bend the metal backplane, the thought of which went against my very soul.
- Two small washers from Home Hardware solved the problem, and the card now
- fits _perfectly_, much to my delight. I recommend you do not re-assemble
- your machine fully until you've successfully installed the included
- Workbench emulation and have run it. If you're afraid they'll arrest you
- for running a pirate radio station, slide the cover back on.
-
- Once the hardware is installed, you can power up your Amiga and
- install the software. First gripe: if you just click on the HD_Install icon,
- nothing appears to be copied, contrary to what the manual says. It turns out
- the install script works fine when run from Shell. I just copied the entire
- disk onto my "System:" partition. Later I re-installed everything with the
- install script; both ways work. The software includes the retina.library
- for the Workbench emulation, RetinaEmu (the Workbench emulation itself),
- RetinaScreenMode (to set your display preferences and your monitor type),
- RetinaComm (a utility-commodity), a harlequin.library (the card can run
- programs written for the Harlequin graphics card), and some utilities which
- allow you to test the Retina, define new monitors, or to display pictures
- and animations. Information for programmers is included also. Further, the
- software comes with support files for VLab, apparently a digitizer also from
- MacroSystem, a saver module for ADPro, and an ARexx script for ImageMaster.
- I am not familiar with any of these programs; maybe someone else can write
- how well the Retina works in conjunction with these. VDPaint is installed
- separately (cf. below). To redirect all output to the Retina automatically
- upon boot-up, you also need to either copy RetinaEmu into your WBStartup
- drawer or include in your s:Startup-Sequence or s:User-Startup; the startup
- file is better, since you start displaying "stuff" earlier.
-
- The Workbench emulation is a piece of software that allows all or
- some output to be redirected from the Amiga's custom graphics chips to the
- Retina. This means that you can run most programs on the Retina, but at
- higher resolutions and/or higher refresh rates, making use of the Retina's
- capabilities, but not loosing Workbench support at the same time; this is
- the best of both worlds, as it were. So that, with the Retina, your Amiga
- _behaves_ and _looks_ like an Amiga, just at much, much higher resolutions.
- RTG support for the Retina has been announced in the manual; but until this
- by now mythical animal is ready, the Workbench emulation of the Retina is an
- excellent solution. For the installation process, two monitors are
- preferred, since until you've fully installed the Workbench emulation, some
- output will be through your normal Amiga monitor socket or the Retina's. So
- I deprived my understanding wife Jennifer of the CBM 1960 multisync from our
- flicker-fixed A2000 for the duration of the operation.
-
- Once the software has been transferred to hard disk (you could run
- the card on a floppy-based system, if you had to), you need to run
- RetinaScreenMode to set the preferences for your monitor; particularly what
- your vertical and horizontal frequencies are; this will limit your display
- possibilities, and you will be given a list of possible resolutions for your
- monitor. You select your frequencies by choosing from a list of monitors on
- the left of RetinaScreenMode's windows, having the list of possible display
- resolutions on the right. Beware, though; you need a monitor that can do
- 64KHz (?) vertically to make full use of the Retina; mine can do 49.8KHz
- only, excluding me from some of the nicer (more flicker-free) resolutions.
- Then you need to run the ScreenMode program from your Prefs drawer; you have
- to enter higher values for your horizontal and vertical pixel number. I
- entered 1024x768. You need to activate auto-scrolling. In IControl, also in
- your Prefs drawer, you also need to switch off "Screen Menu Snap." Now you
- can run RetinaEmu and select your Workbench screen resolution; I have mine
- set to 1024x768 at 57Hz non-interlaced. (Actually, since writing this
- review, I now have a virtually flicker-free 1280x1024 @ 87Hz. See the end
- of the review.) Rudolf Neuhaus can run his at the same resolution, but at
- 76Hz since he has a 64KHz monitor! RetinaEmu is written as a Commodity and
- can be called up through a hotkey or Commodities Exchange.
-
- In RetinaEmu, you can define a default screen resolution; for each
- program, display can be on the Amiga graphics chip or on the Retina board
- (I set all screens to be displayed on the Retina). Whenever a program
- opens a screen, it will be opened on a default-size Retina screen. But, once
- you've run a program, the Retina emulation usually can identify the screen
- by i) public screen name, ii) screen title (in titlebar), or iii) path and
- name of the program run; a list is kept of all programs run. You can now
- change the parameters for the screens of specific programs from the list
- of possible screen resolutions. I have not yet found a program that cannot
- be identified. This method of allowing you to customize screens is extremely
- flexible and _very_ reliable; I have not had any problems.
-
- The manual of the Retina does not say what the limitations of this
- card are, so here is a _partial_ list of the possible resolutions and
- refresh rates which you would get if you had the monitor with the highest
- vertical frequency range in the monitor list (79KHz). This is at 8-bit (256
- colours):
-
- - 1024x768 @ 76Hz non-interlaced
- - 1280x1024 @ 87Hz interlaced
- - 724x566 @ 76Hz (maximum overscan PAL)
- - 1440x1132 @ 87Hz interlaced)
- - 800x600 @ 76Hz
- - 364x283 @ 76Hz
-
- Group modes (cf. below) include:
-
- -1900x1426 @ 70Hz
- etc.
-
- My monitor's list (50KHz) includes some other resolutions like:
-
- - 1024x768 @ 57 Hz non-interlaced
- - 1280x1024 @ 87Hz
-
- Group mode:
-
- - 2400x1200 @ 50Hz interlaced
- (it works; I've _run_ a 2400x1200 WB! But it does flicker.)
- - 1280x1024 @ 87Hz
-
- There are a large number of screen resolutions, and I have not tried
- them all; this list is just to give you an idea of the kinds of resolutions
- the Retina is capable of. In 24-bit mode your refresh rate drops; I've used
-
- - 1024x768 @ 60Hz interlaced
- - 800x600 @ 50Hz non-interlaced
-
- Group mode:
-
- - 800x600 @ 50Hz
-
- With a bit of calculation you can also figure out why the Retina
- comes with up to 4MB of RAM; at 1024x768x24 bitplanes, you need a whopping
- 1.8MB of RAM just for the picture, independent of the RAM needed for program
- requirements or picture manipulations!
-
- A group mode defines the range of possible screen resolutions, all
- of which must fall within the bounds of the group mode definition. Depending
- on the resolution you need, a screen will open with the _best-suited_
- resolution.
-
- Surprisingly, interlace at high resolutions is actually quite
- usable; I have not experimented too much with this yet, but it seems that
- 1024x768 @ 57 Hz non-interlaced flickers more than 1024x768 @ 91Hz
- interlace! In fact, 1024x768 @ 91Hz _doesn't_ flicker. The loss of picture
- quality is small, and further experimentation with interlace at high-refresh
- rates seems worthwhile. I wonder what 1024x768 @ 114Hz interlace would look
- like. But then maybe it wouldn't be interlace... I don't know. With the help
- of an included ARexx script, you can make up your own monitor definitions.
-
- The Workbench emulation is limited to 16 colours at this point. The
- card itself is capable of displaying 256 to 16.8 million colours at the
- resolutions mentioned above. Since 16 is less than 256 we can conclude that
- the Workbench emulation does not make full use of the card yet. For that,
- we'll have to wait for RTG to make its debut. However, having said that,
- the RetinaEmu allows you to open screens with "extra" colours. This means
- that, for example, if I want to run my ancient DPaint II in low-res at 32
- colours half-bright I can use this mode to do it -- and it works. If I don't
- chose "extra colours," I get 16 colours with the palette repeated where the
- other colours normally are. The manual warns you that, because the Amiga
- has to re-calculate data for these extra colour screens, this mode is quite
- slow. DPaint II seems all right in this respect. VDPaint opens its screens
- in 24-bit, so you can work in 16.8 million colours without problems. Since
- this card has far better output than AGA chips in terms of resolution and
- number of colours, it would be nice to run all those AGA specific programs
- with it. Since I don't have any, I don't know whether it works, but I
- suspect it doesn't, since I don't have Workbench 3.0. However, the display
- program that comes with the Retina, which can display pictures and
- animations, does support formats like HAM8, IFF-ILBM 24 bit, IFF-DEEP,
- IFF-ILBM in 2 to 256 colours, etc.
-
- OK, enough techno-speak. How does the Retina fare when actually put
- to use? The short answer is: very well. You have to see it to believe it!
- I now run my Workbench on a 1024x768 [1280x1024 at the end of review] screen
- with lots of space for my various docks under ToolManager 2.0 and for
- programs that open windows on the Workbench. I can run Term 3.2 on my
- Workbench, having it take up about a quarter of my screen 80x25 mode with
- Topaz 11 as my terminal font. Term 3.2 scrolls in 16-colour mode without the
- usual flicker now; CPUBlit has finally made its way into the Trashcan on my
- system. I don't have a high-speed modem right now, so this is at 2400 Baud.
- Clock, Calculator, Notepad, Agenda, Docks, File Finder, etc., all fit onto
- the screen at the same time, leaving lots of space for other activities. I
- can open about fourteen shells at the default size [at 1280x1024]. Much
- unlike the native Amiga display, things don't slow down on the Retina when
- you have, say, ten or twelve windows open. This is a big bonus, for what
- good is a big virtual desk (the Workbench) if you cannot spread your stuff
- out? The Retina has more than fulfilled my expectations in this way. You
- now have a real Workbench where you can spread out your windows, not having
- to scroll around; seeing everything, but not dying from clutter. It's a
- state-of-the-art work environment.
-
- PageStream 2.22: Since PageStream can be run on the Workbench, using
- it in high resolutions is easy. Suddenly, the page that one could see very
- little of at NTSC-interlaced resolution with maximum overscan can be seen in
- full and flicker-free at a size that is readable [at 1280x1024 resolution].
- You can see two pages at the same time, readable. The detail is incredible; a
- Times outline font looks like Times, without jaggies that usually accompany
- on-screen display; documents are displayed with great detail. A page _looks_
- like a page now. This is a dream come true.
-
- excellence! 3.0: excellence! is a typical example of programs that
- are written for lower resolutions like high-res interlace: when you open a
- screen, the program is cramped into the upper left corner. Now, excellence!
- supports high-res, high-res interlace, productivity modes, and the 2024
- mode. I find there are two possibilities here: either run excellence! in
- PAL full overscan, 724x566, but with a high refresh rate (76Hz) and have a
- rock-steady display but at relatively low resolution. Or use the 2024 mode
- and either run it on 1280x1024 or make your own monitor file that is closer
- to the 1008x1008 of the PAL 2024 resolution, flicker-free as well. However,
- since excellence! -- solid word processing as it otherwise provides -- does
- not allow you to scale your page, things get small in the second case. I had
- excellence! set up to use LetterGothic at 13 points as the default font,
- which means that, together with Post and PostDJ, I can generate and print
- out Postscript files without having to change any of the page parameters.
- But you can also use the four Postscript fonts included with excellence!.
- They sort of "fake" Display Postscript, I gather, and they require a pitch
- of 15. On a normally sized PAL screen, you don't see more than two thirds of
- the page, but in the 2024 mode you do. Of course, you lose colours in this
- mode, since the 2024 mode is limited to four. It's a trade-off; philosophy
- deals with universals, not particulars; and as universals are colourless,
- I'd rather have more detail than more colours.
-
- DPaint II: Much to my surprise, DPaint II runs on the Retina;
- however, it cannot take advantage of the higher screen resolutions. 640x400
- is the limit. But, you can run it in 32-colour mode in low-res interlace,
- or 640x400 in 16 colours, always at a 76Hz refresh rate, which is
- rock-steady. I have noticed that the "fill" tool no longer works; but it
- was buggy even on the native Amiga display and sometimes caused DPaint to
- freeze. But not working and usually working are two different things.
-
-
- VDPAINT
- I cannot say much about this program, but give my first
- impressions. It looks very powerful and has all the standard tools and then
- some. Instead of a toolbar, it has sort of a toolbox that pops up on your
- screen, which you can close or leave open after you've selected your weapon.
- VDPaint usually sells for about DM 800,- and the results you can produce
- with it are stunning; I have taken some 24-bit JPEG pictures and played with
- them. 24-bit colour at 1024x768 is like a photograph. Brilliant quality.
- I've actually sat down in front of the TV after working with VDPaint,
- suddenly thinking to myself "Gosh, that's blurry!" One nifty feature is the
- little preview window in the file requester with depicts a miniature version
- of your picture with some file formats. Maybe somebody more knowledgeable
- can review this program and give it the credit it deserves.
-
- Other programs tested: Snap 1.62, MagicMenu, TinyClock, and
- TPP (Text Plus Professional, a TeX front-end) all run. In fact, I have
- not yet encountered a program that doesn't run. The only program I found
- that caused some problems was 'Liner, a shareware outline program I had lying
- around. It produced a "Retina Alert" which looks much like a AmigaDOS
- alert, except it's in green, not red. The alert told me to switch to an
- Amiga output to see an Intuition alert and returned to the Workbench
- emulation screen afterwards, so I suspect the problem is that 'Liner
- misbehaved, but not in a way specific to the Retina. Even on the native
- Amiga display, 'Liner gets messed up with different font sizes and produces
- Enforcer hits, if I remember correctly.
-
- Things like your pointer preferences make for some comic relief the
- first time you run them. How much space does a 320x200 screen (the pointer
- preference program's screen resolution) take up on a 1024x768 screen? Not
- much! For all later runs you can set the resolution in RetinaEmu, though, so
- that you can have your low-res screen back.
-
- Since the Retina can run Harlequin-specific programs, I'd be
- interested to hear from someone who actually does it.
-
-
- DOCUMENTATION, LIKES AND DISLIKES
-
- The card itself delivers excellent performance at a good price. My
- only gripes are with the install script and the documentation.
-
- The documentation is very good for someone who already has some
- grasp of the fundamental concepts in the graphics card business. I don't,
- and I found it quite difficult to find my way round the first time, since
- you have to do this and that and you don't really know why. When things
- don't work out -- the install script is just one instance -- you're in
- trouble. The second day I had the Retina, I powered up my Amiga in the
- morning -- and nothing appeared on the screen after it finished booting. So
- I had to get the second monitor again and go trouble-shooting. There wasn't
- much in the manual. It turns out that for some really _bizarre_ reason,
- RetinaEmu tried to re-direct a screen called "Workbench" onto the Retina,
- which worked the first day I had it. After _hours_ of fiddling,
- desperation, frustration, and an increasingly strong headache, I found out
- that I have to enter "Amiga Workbench" for the screen name to re-direct the
- Workbench output to. (It pays to read screen titles 8-).) Since then, the
- Workbench emulation has worked flawlessly, but I don't want to be in the
- shoes of someone who has even less knowledge about the inner workings of the
- Amiga than I do.
-
- The manual does not give you the full technical specifications of
- the card. I think it has an advanced VGA chip with a pixel clock of up to
- 90MHz. It does state that the card has some BitBlit logic on-board, though,
- which I take to be something like a blitter.
-
- Finally, since the card is now available through a North American
- distributor, there must be an English manual available. In case I haven't
- mentioned it yet, all documentation I received is in German, though the
- programs that come with the Retina are localized/multilingual. That's fine
- with me, but then not everyone reads weird Austrian philosophers for a
- living....
-
-
- COMPARISON TO OTHER SIMILAR PRODUCTS
-
- - Domino; simple VGA card with Zorro II adapter card. Slow.
-
- - Merlin; similar specifications, but apparently with Zorro III
- support. This card is vapourware still, and the one time I called
- the company about the Domino, they were quite rude. I took my
- business elsewhere in the end, and I haven't regretted it.
-
- - Picasso II; not much information here. Vapourware still, from what
- I can tell, although some people report having seen one on shows.
- Possible 1MB on-board RAM limit.
-
-
- BUGS
-
- None found. One behavior that is a feature and not a bug is the
- effect of running KCommodity and working with VDPaint whilst leaving the
- screen blanker option of KCommodity on. Since VDPaint seems to avoid the
- Workbench emulation and run on the card directly, inputs under VDPaint don't
- seem to count for KCommodity. So your screen blanks. But since you can't
- hit a key or move the mouse that would "un-blank" your screen, you're sort
- of stuck. I have managed to switch back to the Workbench screen, but
- without a mouse pointer. Included with the Retina is RetinaComm, though,
- which resolves that problem (my Trashcan is getting fuller).
-
-
- VENDOR SUPPORT
-
- No experience; so far, I have been able to resolve all the problems I
- encountered. Once set up, the Retina is virtually maintenance free. Rudolf
- Neuhaus has been in touch with the programmer at MacroSystem who seems to
- be very helpful.
-
-
- WARRANTY
-
- I have not found anything in the manual about a warranty. I think
- this may be because German law requires some basic warranty to be offered;
- for example, six months or so. Wer weiss mehr?
-
-
- CONCLUSIONS
-
- Buy one! This is an excellent deal for an excellent card. And get a
- big monitor, too. The Retina allows you to enter the realm of
- workstation-level display quality _now_ with a reliable Workbench emulation
- and free-but-fully-functional 24-bit paint program -- at a very reasonable
- price. It integrates fully into your normal work environment, once it is
- installed. The software makes the Workbench emulation setup for your
- applications painless (after you've installed the Retina emulation itself);
- all they need to do now is to provide a manual more aimed the beginner and
- get rid of that install script problem. An advanced user will find the
- current manual quite satisfactory, I think.
-
- The Retina represents a new breed of Amiga display card which is
- guaranteed to become much more important, once the fabulous RTG makes it
- into broad daylight. The Retina deserves highest marks for its resolution
- and colour capabilities, outstandingly well-done Workbench emulation, speed,
- and availability. A Retina-equipped Amiga is a competitive workhorse.
-
- [Writing this review has had one positive side for me also; after
- all the experimentation I did with settings to get straight about the
- workings of the Retina emulation, I have settled for a new screen
- resolution; 1280x1024 @ 87Hz interlaced; the whole screen is virtually
- flicker-free and I get even more space! Once you get this feeling of having
- lots of space to work on, sitting down at a 14" monitor running a 600x400
- screen makes you feel almost claustrophobic! Freedom is addictive.]
-
-
- COPYRIGHT NOTICE
-
- Copyright 1993 Nikolaj Peddie-Richers. All rights reserved.
-
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- profit; for example, not in a publication of the IDP Communication
- Publication Group. If you wish to include this review in any commercial
- publication, written permission of the author is required. Furthermore, no
- part of this review may be altered without permission of the author under any
- circumstances.
-
- All copyrights and registered trademarks of products mentioned in
- this review are acknowledged. No copyright infringement is intended.
-
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