Mediator 1200 and a new monitor!

[Stephen Coates]

Been spending a bit of money on ebay today.

Firstly, I bought a new monitor (second hand). I have been putting off getting one since about 2006, so due to the big scratch and slight blurryness of my current 17" monitor, I thought it was about time I got a better one. (See http://emaculation.com/steve/scratch.jpg and http://emaculation.com/steve/highres.jpg)

So, I got a Sony E530 with a 22" Trinitron. Looks like a lovely display. I know it will be a few years old now, but it is still newer than my current one and the display should still be better. I just have to make room for it as it will be very big. This cost £78 + £22 postage and should come tommorow. I could have got a 19" monitor as that would still be an improvement on the monitor which I have at the moment but the choice of ones which offered postage was limited. Probably due to the fact that alot of people selling these monitors were individuals who didn't want the hassle of postage. Link: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...MEWN:IT&ih=005

The second item which I got today for £102 was a Mediator 1200 with 4 PCI slots and a graphics card, a sound card and a network card. Great bargain when compared to the cost of new ones. I look forward to be able to use high resolutions and colours with my 030 amiga. It will also mean that I can make use of the new monitor's dual VGA inputs and have the PC connected to one and the Amiga1200 connected to the other . Link: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...MEWN:IT&ih=019

Just got to wait for them to arrive now. I will post more about them and some photos when I get them.

[Buleste]

I was watching the Mediator bundle as theres a lot of kit there. The one thing that put me off that (apart from the fact i'm skint) was it's obviously an older version as it's using a ATX power adapter so you may have to buy a AT to ATX power cable if you use a good PSU (Don't forget those new cards will up you power usage so you'll need at least a 300W PSU although that depends on the accelerator you have as with a 030 you might just be able to get away with it.) Let us know how it goes.

[Stephen Coates]

I already have an ATX power supply and it should be more than powerful enough, but if not I can easily get another one.

What would the AT to ATX power adaptor be used for?

[Buleste]

OOPs i meant to say it uses a AT power connector so if you have a ATX PSU then you'll need a ATX to AT cable so you can use the PSU with the board.

If you notice on the picture on the top left is the power connecter with uses the P8 P9 AT configuration.

[Harrison]

Some nice hardware Steve. Have you already put your A1200 into a tower case? Or are you doing a conversion once these bits arrive?

Those Sony monitors were nice. I used to have two IBM branded 21" ones that used the same tube as your new one, and it produced a nice picture. I used to run them at 1600x1200 at 85Hz. Just remember that these big CRT monitors have huge cases and are about 2 feet deep so take up a lot of desk space.

[TiredOfLife]

Good deal mate.

That should make life easier for you.
Internet surfing with a decent size monitor and a graphics card makes a world of difference.
Javascript might be a bit slow with an 030 but you should be fine for everything else.

[Stephen Coates]

Not done a tower conversion. For now I'm just going to connect everything together to see how it works (sellotape here I come ).

Don't worry, I will be careful enough to not break it. I will do a tower conversion eventually though.

I checked the dimensions of the 22" monitors and it only seems to be a couple of inches deeper than my 17" one. Will be a much bigger screen though. I may have to do a bit of reorganising to get it to fit well but that won't be a problem. The guy selling it also has some newer IBM ones which have a DVI connection as well, but I thought the VGA connectors would be more useful for me.

Ad for internet, I wouldn't expect it to be any slower with a graphics card than it already is with AGA, although I will be sticking with the PC for most web browsing.

[Harrison]

All Workbench based graphics will be much faster at updating on the graphics card compared to AGA. The graphics card will be using it's own memory and GPU for data and refresh so will now be restricted by the slow Amiga bus. You will notice a huge increase in screen speed.

I'm not sure it is wise to try and connect it all up outside of a case. Too many connections to bend or break without being properly aligned and screwed down. Plus the big possibility of short circuiting.

[Stephen Coates]

We will have to wait till it arrives to see what how it connects together. I have never actually seen one so can't say how it connects up.

[Buleste]

I have a ZIV busboard and purely from a keyboard point a view you'll not be able to leave it open as theres only a small ribbon to connect the keyboard to the MB and the connecting slot will be covered by the Mediator and then the cards in the top slots will cover that up even more. Thats without mentioning the shocking results that can happen when you leave exposed electronics lying around when powered up and then theres the static problems. Believe me a tower conversion is the only option.