08/1997
Path: rcfnews.cs.umass.edu!barrett From: hellers_m@istvax.ist.lu (Mike Hellers) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.reviews Subject: REVIEW: SX32 CD32 internal expansion Followup-To: comp.sys.amiga.hardware Date: 19 Oct 1995 19:09:59 GMT Organization: The Amiga Online Review Column - ed. Daniel Barrett Lines: 196 Sender: amiga-reviews@math.uh.edu (comp.sys.amiga.reviews moderator) Distribution: world Message-ID: <4667q7$1f0@kernighan.cs.umass.edu> Reply-To: hellers_m@istvax.ist.lu (Mike Hellers) NNTP-Posting-Host: astro.cs.umass.edu Keywords: hardware, CD32, A1200, ports, storage, commercial Originator: barrett@astro.cs.umass.edu PRODUCT NAME SX32 BRIEF DESCRIPTION An internal expansion that gives your CD32 almost all the specifications of an A1200. AUTHOR/COMPANY INFORMATION Name: DCE Computer Service GmbH Address: Kellenbergstr. 19a D-46145 OBERHAUSEN Germany Telephone: ++49-208-633151 FAX: ++49-208-630496 LIST PRICE 449.- DM (without hard disk). I paid only 333.- DM, since there had been a special offer for "beta testers" until September 1. SPECIAL HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS HARDWARE Requires a CD-32, of course. :-) SOFTWARE You will need AmigaDOS. COPY PROTECTION None, since it is only hardware. MACHINE USED FOR TESTING CD32 20 MB 2.5" IDE hard disk A1010 external disk drive AmigaDOS 3.1 CommunicatorIII A2000 keyboard and mouse INSTALLATION The installation of the SX32 is very easy, but you will have to open your CD32! You must first remove the back plate of the CD32. In a next step you have to unscrew the screws on the bottom of it to be able to "open" the CD32. After having done this, you can slide the SX32 onto the expansion bus. REVIEW At first: I wrote this review up very quickly because there seems to be a big demand of information on the Net concerning this brand new product. After having seen the announcements in some German magazines, I called DCE to get more informations about the SX32. This was 2 months ago. Well, they said that it would be available during the first week of September. So I ordered one and got it in the mid of September. It was packed in a nice and colorful box which contained the SX32 itself, document about the A1200, some sort of documentation concerning the SX32 (read more about the docs later in the review), some screws, and the 2.5" hard disk. The installation of the hard disk was very simple. The cable was already connected to the SX32, so I only connected the drive and fixed it in place with the provided screws. The SX32 has five connectors at the back side: parallel, serial, video, VGA and disk drive port. On the expansion itself is a socket for a PS2 (72-pin) memory module, and the connector for the hard disk. You will also see the two 8520 chips, which are also in sockets. Ok, time to insert the SX32 into my CD32 and try it! I switched the CD32 on, and only a short time later, I did have the Workbench running on the screen. Workbench 2.0 was already installed on the drive. Everything works fine up to today! FLOPPY PORT You can connect up to three drives (DF0-DF2) to this port. It is of course the normal 23-pin AMIGA port. It is of course also possible to boot from the drives connected to this port. PARALLEL PORT Standard 25-pin port. I'm using it at the moment to connect it to my A2000 using PARNET. SERIAL PORT Standard 25-pin port. VIDEO PORT This is a standard AMIGA RGB port (23-pin). I have connected it to my good old A1084. You may of course use it also to connect to a Genlock. VGA PORT Standard VGA port (15-pin). DOCUMENTATION The documentation consists of 6 DIN A4 pages. Well, this isn't very much, but it does include all the information you need to install and use the SX32. They included the pinouts of the external ports and some information concerning the jumper which has to be changed if you add memory. It is only in German! LIKES What I most like about the SX32 is that it fits completely into the CD32. I do have now a very small AMIGA with AGA and CD-ROM! I tried a lot of software until today on the SX32 and had no problem at all. As stated in some German magazines, it seems that the compatibility is very high. DISLIKES AND SUGGESTIONS Well, at the moment I don't have any dislikes concerning this product. Perhaps, they could have added a external IDE port for another hard disk. Of course, using the SX32 makes it impossible to use an FMV (Full Motion Video) card, but who cares, since it is nearly impossible to get such a card. ;-) COMPARISON TO OTHER SIMILAR PRODUCTS The only product it can be compared with is the SX-1. Since I have never really seen such a beast (only in photos), I can't really compare the two products. Of course there is the big difference that the SX32 is INTERNAL and the SX-1 EXTERNAL and, in my eyes, ugly. BUGS None. VENDOR SUPPORT They do have service hotline for the users of the SX32. I have not had to call them to date. WARRANTY 2 years warranty. CONCLUSIONS The SX32 transforms the CD32 from a "game console" to a "real computer." It is a must for every owner of a CD32 who wants to do more with his computer. I would rate it 5 stars of 5. COPYRIGHT NOTICE Copyright 1995 Mike Hellers. --- Accepted and posted by Daniel Barrett, comp.sys.amiga.reviews moderator Send reviews to: amiga-reviews-submissions@math.uh.edu Request information: amiga-reviews-requests@math.uh.edu Moderator mail: amiga-reviews@math.uh.edu Anonymous ftp site: math.uh.edu, in /pub/Amiga/comp.sys.amiga.reviews