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[X-ray]

I've been having a look a what's available to stuff into the A4000T. I will probably get a X-Surf at some point but while I was looking at some specs on Individual Computers' website, I noticed that there is a large range of I/O devices for Amigas. Things like the VarIO, Hypercom, SilverSurfer etc.
And this got me thinking: what do people use these devices for? I'm particularly interested in what you have used a fast serial port for.

So...let's have it...what I/O cards do you have and what do you use them for? Any good and bad experiences?

[Chain]

I have IOBlix in A2000. Conected with nullmodem to PC, little bit fiddling with TCP/IP and you have usable network connection. 400kbps is enough for small transfers and emails/icq/irc chatting
It just need fast port card in PC too, but they are cheap.

[X-ray]

Thanks Chain

Does anyone else have a card with extra serial or parallel ports? I can't believe only Chian has one, when they are so widely produced.

[Argus]

Sure, I think I have just about every one ever made (except C='s A2322 and the Spider board. They come in handy for fast dialup connection with an amiga or better printer support, or setting up Sernet or Parnet network. The native amiga serial port uses Paula heavily, so there is noticeable system slowdown with heavy serial port use and sound at the same time. Here's a list of one's I've used:

BSC MultifaceIII
GVP I/O Extender
ASDG Dual Serial
VMC Hypercom 3/4
RBM IOBlix
Individual Computers Silversurfer
Kato Developments Twister1200 Mk2

[odin]

I had a SER/PAR Zorro 2 card in my A4000 when I got it but I quickly removed and flogged it on EBay or somesuch. I think I only got ~7EUR for it. In this day and age SER/PAR extenders have only very little use for me.

-edit- No idea which card it was..

[Wol]

@ X-ray


The best performing i/o card I used was Multiface III card,
this card generates interupts so no data is lost even on
slower Amigas.


The worst card was a Hypercom (no interupts), lot's of errors and slow thro put...

Wol.

[X-ray]

Thanks guys for opinions...

Argus, do you have a favourite amongst your collection?

edit: @ Odin

OK, I can take it no longer...what is that fish and what were the circumstances of that photo, in your avatar?

[Argus]

For Zorro cards, I'd say it's a toss up between the Multiface or GVP cards (which also happen to be the most common out there). The GVP card probably wins out with a little better software (though there's a bug fix on aminet for the prefs program if you use an rtg workbench) and use of surface mount technology (so it looks nicer). The Hypercom is a nice card if you only want a small footprint card (only the length of a Zorro connecter) in case you are worried about heat and airflow in an overcrowded desktop case (the GVP and MF cards are full length).

The SS and Twister are for a 22-pin clockport (like in A1200s, A500/600 clockport adapters, Z4 boards, Buddha, X-Surf, etc.). The Twister Mk2 is supposedly the fastest I/O card out there.

[X-ray]

Thanks Argus...

One other thing, I have Zorro slots free and I also have a clockport on my Kickflash card, in my A4KT. If you were in my shoes would you get a Zorro card or a clockpart one? (Pretend I have infinite Zorro slots, so taking one isn't an issue)

[Frags]

I`ve got a SilverSurfer in my old 1200, you have it for a tenner or something if you like.

[Argus]

X-ray wrote:
One other thing, I have Zorro slots free and I also have a clockport on my Kickflash card, in my A4KT. If you were in my shoes would you get a Zorro card or a clockpart one? (Pretend I have infinite Zorro slots, so taking one isn't an issue)

I personally would go for the Zorro card if you have slots free in an A4KT. I'm not positive about this, but the zorro 2 slot card should be *slightly* faster than a clockport card (plus you'll get an extra/better parallel port with either a GVP, Multiface, VarIO, Hypercom or IOBlix). Besides, I don't know if the silversurfer will work on the kickflash card even though it has a 22pin header (where pin 19 is exactly I don't know). You may need a special address driver to get the surfer to work on the kickflash. I'd ask Jens about it if I were you.

[magnetic]

Hi
We have a Multiface III on ebay atm.. its the best I/o card IMHO - better than the I/O blix..

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=019&item=290038412074&rd =1&sspagename=STRK%3AMESE%3AIT&rd=1

magnetic

[sdyates]

But X-surf from AmigaKit!

They offer Easynet which installs TCP and everything you will need to get your network card up and running.

HOWEVER!!!! It will not copy the driver x-surf.device to devs:networking. You have to copy the driver from the x-surf driver cd. And rename it to x-surf.device as it has a slightly different name.

I have been using this card for several weeks and it runs well. I have easynet auto start on startup.

NOTE::: Make sure to install easynet first!!!

X-ray wrote:
I will probably get a X-Surf at some point but while I was looking at some specs on Individual Computers' website, I noticed that there is a large range of I/O devices for Amigas.

So...let's have it...what I/O cards do you have and what do you use them for? Any good and bad experiences?

[motrucker]

I use an old, original version of the X-Surf card in an A2000, to a router/Cable internet. This card is great! The new ones must be better.

[Hyperspeed]

From what I read it was the Twister MKII that was the best serial port for Amiga. It was buffered and could do 960kbps if I remember correctly.

I still use a Whippet serial interface on the PCMCIA port of my A1200 and use the standard serial port for transferring the occasional digital photo.

I suppose serial ports are becoming less useful now due to the ethernet adaptors and broadband.

Turborpint has special support for Hypercom cards because they, unlike the Amiga parallel port, can check ink levels due to a different type of bi-directional standard.